10 Questions to Ask
at Any Waterjet Booth
at Fabtech 2026

Why a Trade Show Is the Best Day to Compare

Fabtech puts most of the waterjet market in one building. That is rare. In one afternoon you can put the same question to five manufacturers and hear five different answers, and the differences in those answers are usually more useful than anything on a brochure.

The catch is that a booth is built to show the best version of the machine: fresh consumables, a tuned program, and a sample part chosen because it looks great. So don't judge a booth by its sample. Ask the questions that expose how the machine behaves after the show.

Here are ten. Ask them at every booth, including ours.

1. How much does your pressure vary while cutting, in psi?

Pressure stability drives edge finish and taper, and it matters most on delamination-prone materials like composites and laminates. Ask for a number, not an adjective.

Pump architecture is the biggest factor. A hydraulic pump can swing by thousands of psi. A servo-driven pump with digital pressure control holds a much tighter band: around 100 psi of variation on the Tekni, compared with swings of up to 4,000 psi on a hydraulic pump. That tight control is what lets you set a pressure and have it repeat, and it supports better finish at faster speeds.

2. Is there hydraulic oil to leak, change, and dispose of?

Hydraulic oil is a maintenance item, a leak risk, and a disposal cost. Ask whether the pump is hydraulically driven, how often the oil is changed, and who does it. The Tekni pump is not hydraulically driven, so there is no hydraulic oil to change.

3. How precisely do you meter garnet, and what does it cost per hour?

Garnet is the largest recurring consumable on most waterjets. If the machine can't meter it precisely, you are paying for abrasive you don't need. Ask how flow is monitored and controlled. On the Tekni it is monitored and controlled to three decimal places.

4. How do I refill garnet, and what happens to the spent abrasive?

This is a daily-life question. Ask whether you can refill without stopping the machine, and where the fill point is. A waist-high hopper is a different experience from lifting a 50 lb bag over your head.

Then look at the tank. Does spent garnet collect in the corners, or does the design move it out for you? On the Tekni the tank floor is angled toward the center, so the garnet clears itself instead of needing manual dredging.

5. What drives the X and Y axes, and does accuracy hold over time?

Ballscrews lose accuracy with every cycle until they are replaced. Ask what the replacement interval is and what it costs. The Tekni drives X and Y with a stainless steel belt system that doesn't degrade with use, so accuracy holds.

6. How does the 5-axis head handle continuous cutting?

Conventional 5-axis heads often have to unwind between moves, which costs time and can cost accuracy. Ask whether the head can keep rotating without unwinding. The PAC60 is a patented true 5-axis head that doesn't need to, and it will be running on the machine in our booth.

7. Who controls the material library?

Cut parameters are only useful if they reflect what you actually run. Ask whether the material database is a fixed list shipped by the manufacturer, or whether you can build and update it yourself. With Softec, the customer controls the library.

8. What is the real maximum cut thickness, and what does the edge look like there?

Ask for the maximum thickness the machine is rated for, then ask to see a sample cut at that thickness. The Tekni is rated up to 12 inches. Whatever number you hear at the next booth, ask for the sample.

9. Who services the machine, and how fast do they get to my shop?

Downtime is the most expensive line on a waterjet. Ask where the nearest service technician is based, what the committed response time is, and whether the pump can be diagnosed remotely. The next-release NXT40_6000 pump, rated to 88,000 psi, carries remote diagnostics.

10. Can you model my five-year cost, not just the price?

Purchase price is a fraction of what a waterjet costs to own. Ask each vendor to put consumables, maintenance, energy, and downtime on paper for your volume and your materials, then compare the totals. If you want the framework first, read The True 5-Year Cost of Running a Waterjet.

What to Bring With You

Bring a sample of the material you actually cut, a drawing of a part that is hard for your current process, and this list. Ask each booth to answer the same questions in the same order, and write the answers down while you are standing there. Two weeks later you will not remember which machine said what.

Visit Us at Booth C7437

Biesse is at Fabtech 2026 in Las Vegas, October 21-23, booth C7437. The show machine is a Tekni Cut Go with a 5-foot by 10-foot cutting envelope and the PAC60 5-axis head. Bring the list and ask us all ten. If you would rather have time set aside, email me and I will book a slot.