Hi!
BLUF: Is waterjet next on Langmuir’s list of market-disrupting product releases?
My story is a lot like everyone else I think: I was looking at a Torchmate plasma table back in 2016 to go with my powermax 85. After a lot of calls with sales people, the $10k price tag for a hobby-grade table wasn’t going to fit the bill. I looked into building my own, but it was just another project amongst many that sounded like I’d just end up spending as much on hardware as tbuying the finished product. Buddy of mine recommended the crossfire pro and I snatched one up; perfect balance of price and capability.
Sounds like the MR-1 was a smash hit. I had my eyes on hobby-grade mills in 2017, where the only thing with a semi-decent reputation being the Tormach. With a few extra minutes of research, their
“top of the line” mill with what I’d consider to be the bare minimum features came in at a higher price than a typical used mill. So I bought a Fanuc Robodrill at auction; $30k with 5th axis table; what a machine. Way too much for what I was doing. If the MR-1 was a thing back then, it’s what I would have gone with.
All this to say I see the trend: Langmuir saw a gap in the market and filled it. I’ve had the same experience with waterjet as I did with plasma tables and CNC mills. The Protomax has the capabilities I need at a $30k price point, and the Wazer hits a good price point at $10k but can’t cut much more than 1/8" thick tool steel. It’s a much more technical challenge given the precision required for making waterjet consumables, but the gap is there. Think they’ll bite?