From the basic experimental beginnings of the 1950’s, waterjet technology has become one of the fastest growing segments of the production cutting machine industry. The real assets of a waterjet system are the short time required to program and set-up the machine to make a part. Today, thanks to the addition of an abrasive to the water, the number of applications for this type of cutting continues to grow. The greatest commonly used abrasive is garnet. The quality of Garnet plays a giant role in how well the machine does. When other abrasives are used, the lifespan of the mixing tubes and orifices are severely reduced. The best quality garnet is blasted and crushed from hard rock deposits, like Barton’s open pit mine in North River, New York. If you’re forecasting on running constant production on materials that can’t be machined by conventional means, waterjet is a very good choice.