Some Qualities to Look for in Garnet Abrasive

Many factors determine a good abrasive, and the advantage of using a high-quality abrasive is that you will get faster cutting, higher precision, and less frequent nozzle plugging.

1)Double Sifted

Fine particles and large particles both contribute to nozzle plugging, inefficient cutting, and other problems. While there will always be a range of particle sizes in an abrasive, the narrower the range the better.

2)Purity

Abrasives that have a higher purity level will contain less foreign material. Impure abrasives can contain materials other than garnet that will affect a waterjet’s performance significantly (longer cuts, more abrasive usage etc.).

3)Mesh Size

If cutting thin or softer materials and a good finish is needed, a finer abrasive such as 120 or 150 mesh is recommended. When cutting harder or thicker materials, choose a coarser abrasive such as 50 or 60 mesh. For a smoother surface finish, use a finer abrasive such as 100, 120, or 150 mesh. 80 mesh abrasive is the most popular abrasive size because it provides the greatest versatility for a wide variety of applications.

4)Recyclability

Considering an abrasive recycling system,some garnet grains in both alluvial and hard rock categories have fracture planes in them,and this causes the grains to shatter into smaller pieces when they hit the water stream prior to coming into contact with the material being cut. Even though this type of abrasive will provide a smoother edge finish, it will slow down the cutting of thicker materials.