Wire saw

A wire saw is a saw that uses a metal wire or cable for cutting. Industrial wire saws are usually powered. There are also hand-powered survivalist wire saws suitable for cutting branches. Wire saws are classified as continuous (or endless, or loop) or oscillating (or reciprocating). Sometimes the wire itself is referred to as a 'blade'. A wire saw is a saw that uses a metal wire or cable for cutting. Industrial wire saws are usually powered. There are also hand-powered survivalist wire saws suitable for cutting branches. Wire saws are classified as continuous (or endless, or loop) or oscillating (or reciprocating). Sometimes the wire itself is referred to as a 'blade'. Wire saws are similar in principle to band saws or reciprocating saws, but they use abrasion to cut rather than saw teeth. Depending on the application, diamond material may or may not be used as an abrasive. The wire can have one strand or many strands braided together (cable). A single-strand saw can be roughened to be abrasive, abrasive compounds can be bonded to the cable, or diamond-impregnated beads (and spacers) can be threaded on the cable. Wire saws are often cooled and lubricated by water or oil. Mining and quarrying industries commonly use a wire saw to cut hard stone into large blocks that can then be shipped to processing plants to be further refined (in the case of ore dressing) or shipped to distributors (in the case of granite or marble for building). These wire saws are large machines that use diamond-impregnated beads on a cable. The saws allow the bottom of a quarry slab to be cut free (after the cable is passed through access drill holes); with the bottom cut, back and side charges (explosives) can cleanly cleave the slab. Quarry saws on this principle date back centuries; before the era of steel cables with diamond cutters, there were fiber ropes that drew sand through the kerf. The sand (flushed with water) cut the stone (albeit more slowly than diamond does today). Foam manufacturers commonly use an abrasive wire saw, either manual or automatic, to cut foam to certain sizes or certain profiles (shapes). Foam saws are used in many industries, include housing (insulation, pipe insulation), furniture (couches, couch cushions, chair cushions), and entertainment (foam fingers, foam accessories). Abrasive-wire cutting is often done with a computer numerical control device that automatically cuts the pattern (or patterns) that are specified in a two-dimensional (2D) CAD/CAM drawing. The materials to be cut can range from polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyurethane, to high-density or rigid types of foam, such as cellular glass (e.g., Foamglas®). Oscillating saws are used to cut foam rubber. One major advantage of wire saws is their smaller kerf, as compared to a blade. Another is the precision of the cut. Their main disadvantage is the slower speed. Other disadvantages include a greater chance the wire will break and any surface imperfections can cause errors in the cut. Diamond wire cutting (DWC) is the process of using wire of various diameters and lengths, impregnated with diamond dust of various sizes to cut through materials. Because of the hardness of diamonds, this cutting technique can cut through almost any material that is softer than the diamond abrasive. DWC is also practical and less expensive than some other cutting techniques, for example, thin diamond wire cost around 10-20 cents per foot ($0.7/m) in 2005 for 140 to 500 micrometer diameter wire, to manufacture and sells around $1.25 a foot ($4.10/m) or more, compared to solid diamond impregnated blade cutters costing thousands of dollars. Thus a 1,000 foot (300 m) spool of diamond wire costs around $200 to manufacture and sells for around $1,250. Selling cost may vary because of wire grade and demand. Other diamond wire cutting can use shaped diamond rings threaded through cables. These larger cables are used to cut concrete and other large projects.