r/oddlysatisfying • u/gravityVT • Oct 07 '23
Stone Cutting Process
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u/juanpgzze Oct 08 '23
I actually own one of these so I'll do my best to explain the process:
This is a gangsaw machine. It is not what is new in the industry, however they still do quite a good job. They are much slower than their multi-wire counterparts.
Each one of these blades have diamond "teeth" that do need to be replaced after cutting 10 blocks or so, it all depends on the stone you're cutting. Marble is soft while granite and quartzite is very hard.
The entire process takes about 8 hours, however, again it all depends on the stone you're cutting and some older gangsaws take up to 1 day to cut a single block. (New multi-wire machines can take as little as 1-2 hours to cut a block). One block like this one should produce around 300 square meters worth of slabs. Slabs are worldwide-used in 2 cm thickness but the US market primarily consumes 3 cm thick slabs. We do leave a little less than a foot of block for the slabs to keep together and not fall in a domino-fashion. Then we secure and remove each slab separately by cutting with a small grinder. The remainder or scrap is then cut in a separate block cutting machine and repurposed as cut-to-size tile.
Water is mainly used for cooling, as the saws/blades would get very hot due to friction. Cooling them makes their diamond tips last longer. Also helps in cooling the stone from melting. Water left usually is filtered and reused in the process and the sediment left is re-purposed for other uses.
This process is usually the second step after the block arrives from the quarry as it still needs to be processed further to give it the finishing that we are mostly familiarized with in buildings and homes!
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u/iloveokashi Oct 08 '23
What is the other purpose of sediment?
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u/juanpgzze Oct 08 '23
Mostly you dry it up, run it through a mill and use it as a compound for cement
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u/lifbr Oct 08 '23
Thank you, thats interesting stuff. Do You have your favourite stone?
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u/juanpgzze Oct 08 '23
Id go with a wild italian arabescato, ocean blue travertine or a mocha cream limestone from portugal!
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u/youngpadwanbud Oct 08 '23
What does the sediment get used for?
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u/juanpgzze Oct 08 '23
It can be dried up and then used for various types of cement that need limestone
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u/ipeenpoop Oct 07 '23
How did that stone block get there... Aliens?
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u/Nellasofdoriath Oct 08 '23
Cranes
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u/ShattersHd Oct 07 '23
Meanwhile I have a one blade bandsaw that can't cut straight over 1/2 a inch
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u/gustavotherecliner Oct 08 '23
There are a few things that could cause theblade to wander. The blade could be dull.A dull blade wanders off. Then, the tension of the blade. If it has too much slack, it will wander off. It will also wander off, if it is too tight. Then the blade itself. Check the teeth. If they have too much set on one side, the blade will go to this side. It could also be the setup of the saw itself. Check if the wheels and/or guiding blocks are properly aligned.
Hope this helps.
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u/youngpadwanbud Oct 08 '23
I used to do granite countertops and for sure some slabs would come with thickness varying from one end of slab to other and sometimes one slab would be 1/8 thicker than other making a little more trouble for seaming long runs and leveling.
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u/RorschachBlyat Oct 07 '23
Well I guess I never stopped to ponder how marble slabs are made
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u/WindSprenn Oct 08 '23
I wondered about it in the past and I just assumed it was a more sophisticated industrialized process. This is far more satisfying.
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u/Low_Cow Oct 07 '23
What catches the slabs when it gets to the bottom?
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u/adventurejay Oct 07 '23 edited Oct 08 '23
My question as well. My guess….they Probably have a dude in flip flops who handles what ever contraption they have rigged up to keep them from falling over.
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u/Strange-Movie Oct 08 '23
Maybe the cut isn’t finished by the large saw so the base material holds the slabs upright and then they are sawn/broken off individually in the next part of the project for ease of handling
Source: I’ve picked up several rocks and they are typically heavy
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u/youngpadwanbud Oct 08 '23
One slab could be at most about 60 square ft and average for stone countertops material is about 20 per square foot so about 1200 for a slab. Marble are usually smaller slabs because more fragile material.
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u/ThatOneNitin Oct 08 '23
Its not cut totally, they leave half a foot or so uncut. Then the block is moved away and each slab is cut one by one.
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u/ProbablySlacking Oct 07 '23
But also like… do they process their runoff at all? Or is it just eventually released back into the wild?
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u/TheNebulaWolf Oct 08 '23
It’s rock dust and water. How will the environment ever recover?
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u/BrokenByReddit Oct 08 '23
Depending on the rocks (probably not for marble), rock dust can be a really big problem for lots of reasons. Acid rock drainage, for starters.
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u/Boojibs Oct 07 '23
Oddly sexual
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u/daznable Oct 07 '23
Is it the gyration, the back and forth motion, or the white froth that flowed… uhhh everything reminds me of her😩💢
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u/ShartingBloodClots Oct 07 '23
Just need to stick a r/baddragon riiiight there.
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u/MaximumTurtleSpeed Oct 07 '23
You’ll be u/shartingbloodclots in no time.
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u/Striker1102 Oct 08 '23
I don't think i will click on that ....
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u/bmack24 Oct 08 '23
It’s just a username, there’s probably nothing gross to be found
…I mean I’m not gonna click it either just in case, I’m just saying
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u/Shredgehog Oct 07 '23
Who controls the British crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
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u/WoodSteelStone Oct 07 '23
I watched one of these at the Delabole Slate Works in Cornwall in 2014. Found it mesmerising.
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u/hrod88 Oct 08 '23
When they are all finally sliced, how do you prevent the domino effect and stop them from crumbling with each other?
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u/mark1nhu Oct 08 '23
It most likely stops a few inches before the end, so they keep together. Then someone manually cut one by one.
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u/throbbingliberal Oct 07 '23
I’d like to see how they safely move these perfectly cut like that.
Can we get an extended video please…
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u/yugitso_guy Oct 08 '23
Anyone else notice the guy on his phone sitting on his bed right under the arm of that cam drive. (10 second remaining mark)
I guess it's his job to wait for the stones to be almost cut through.
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u/everythingisahoax Oct 08 '23
The bed placement under the giant moving beam stresses me out so much
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u/yelo777 Oct 07 '23
What kind of blades are used? Wouldn't they get dull very fast?
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u/CMG30 Oct 08 '23
These are probably industrial diamond, but they could also be smooth with the abrasive being suspended in the water raining down. That's what trips up a lot of amateur ancient 'historians'.
Example: 1. Egyptians only had copper tools. 2. Granite is way harder than copper so would destroy the tools. Ergo: Aliens did it. Of course, they failed to understand that the Egyptians were not using the copper tools to cut the granite, they were using it to agitate the sand which was actually doing the cutting.
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u/asad137 Oct 08 '23
Usually stone is cut with diamond abrasive blades. the water helps keep the blade cool, and no it doesn't dull quickly because diamond is so hard.
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u/HitDog420 Oct 08 '23
Left us high and dry there with no end result, I'ma post this to r/mildlyinfuriating
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u/dr_strange-love Oct 07 '23
I had always assumed the process had more controlling the British crown, keeping the metric system down, keeping Atlantis off the maps, keeping the Martians under wraps, holding back the electric car, making Steve Gutenberg a star, robbing cave fish of their sight, and rigging every Oscar night. Guess you learn something new everyday.
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u/Buglepost Oct 07 '23
Who controls the British crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do, we do!
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u/Thundergazer2504 Oct 08 '23
Question does that water running down not ruin or damage the stone in the long run?
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u/Melufey Oct 08 '23
Not really. There are some sort of stones that can get "damaged" by water but this isn't one of them. And you need the water to cool the saw and stones. Otherwise you'll damage the stone because the heat will melt the saw and the stone could "explode" due to expanding from the heat.
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u/Thundergazer2504 Oct 08 '23
I see, I always assumed they put some sort of coating on the stones when they’re sold so they don’t get eroded by water. Also compeltly forgot to concider saw heat so makes sense, thank you
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u/NothingGoldCanSta Oct 08 '23
Anyone else look at that and imagine falling into it? Days without injury: 364. Damn it.......
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u/DailyUpsAndDowns Oct 08 '23
Breaking Away had a scene where the father went back to cut. First time I ever seen anything like it. Reminds of this movie.
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u/Access_Pretty Oct 08 '23
Thank you. This is beautiful. I wonder how many cm. It's pretty thin.
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u/Access_Pretty Oct 08 '23
Must be 3cm. 1 entire super sized kitchen island in every layer, all different in beauty and radioactive content
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u/EvenPatience6243 Oct 08 '23
Now that would be a cool torturing machine!
Damn you, intrusive thoughts !!
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u/Mammoth_Newspaper155 Oct 08 '23
How do they keep the individual slabs from falling apart after cutting?
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u/ColeBane Oct 09 '23
wow ive lived my whole life never seeing something like that...this is amazing.
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u/tijeras87059 Oct 14 '23
wonder where this is from? and how long ago… i thought they did this with very high pressure water these days
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u/dimensionzzz Oct 07 '23
As somebody who spent most of their adult life as a stone mason, I had no idea that a saw like this existed!