[Cory]

At the risk of being rude, if you're asking this question you probably aren't ready for (and probably can't afford) a waterjet.

Do a lot of research before deciding that's the right way to go. Waterjets are by far the most expensive machine in a shop to run. Everyone says to expect an actual run cost of $45/hour (consumables, garnet, power, maintenance, etc). They're also very loud and very messy. They most certainly are not a classroom type tool.

That being said there are really only two major players. Flow and Omax. Jet Edge is probably a distant third. Omax sells a "low" (hah) cost Maxiem line. I have no idea what the quality is like, but expect it to cost just as much to run and I doubt you can get a 5'x5' machine for less than $100,000.