WaterJet machining is widely used to create precision parts from virtually any material in the automobile and aerospace industries. It is also used to make medical instruments, food processing equipment, and metal fabrications.

An abrasive jet pressurizes water up to 55,000 pounds per square inch and then forces it through a small sapphire or diamond orifice at 2500 feet per second, or about two and half times the speed of sound.

Garnet abrasive is then pulled into this high-speed stream of water, and mixed with the water in a long composite carbide mixing tube. A stream of abrasive-laden water moving at 1000 feet per second exits the carbide tube. This jet of water and abrasive is then directed at the material to be machined. The jet drags the abrasive through the material in a curved path and the resulting centrifugal forces press the particles against the work piece. The cutting action is a grinding process, but rather than using a solid grinding wheel, the forces and motions of the cutting action are provided by water.