Garnets are a common abrasive material used in the process of water jet cutting in San Francisco, CA. There are many different garnet abrasives you’ll find on the market, so it bears asking—does the quality of the garnet matter for the quality of water jet cutting, and if so, how much?

The answer is yes, it does matter, but how much really depends on your needs and perspective. Most experts will recommend the almandine variety of garnet, as numerous trials have shown this to produce the best results when cutting. Garnet that has high purity levels does not contain any additional materials that might inhibit cutting performance, so by purchasing higher purity garnet, you can guarantee more accurate and sophisticated processing.

Here are just a few examples of some of the issues to take into consideration with your garnet selection if you are to give yourself the best results in your water jet cutting processes.

Particle sizing

One of the best ways to give yourself excellent results with your water jet cutting in San Francisco, CA, while also lowering maintenance costs and preventing interruptions in your production, is to ensure you have consistently accurate particle sizing. If you have garnet particles that are too large, it could result in blockages in the nozzle, which could shut down the machine operation and potentially damage the piece you’re working on. Meanwhile, undersized particles might accumulate inside the feed lines or the cutting head, which could result in an irregular flow.

Finding the perfect size of particles and ensuring they remain consistently accurate at that size is one of the best things you can do when selecting your abrasive garnet material.

Accurate cuts and precision edges

Of course, the accuracy of your cuts is crucial, and exactly how accurate you can expect your cuts to be and how precise your edges will be is determined by the quality of garnet you’re using as your abrasive media. High-precision edges need water jet flows that have a very high quality of garnet in them. Settling for anything less could impact the accuracy of your cut, which is a bigger deal in some circumstances than others, but it makes sense from a business perspective to always shoot for the best results you can get out of your water jet cutting.

Today’s water jet cutting machines have a cutting power greater than ever before, with many operating at 90,000 psi or more. The machines themselves are also more sophisticated than ever before, with higher quality parts and more efficient operations. As companies continue to invest in better, more reliable technology, it only makes sense for them to also invest in higher quality abrasive media.

If you’re in need of additional information about how to select high-quality garnet material for your water jet cutting practices, we encourage you to contact Mach 1 Waterjet, Inc. today. We would be happy to answer any further questions you have about maximizing the quality of your water jet cutting in San Francisco, CA.