The 100-Wire Stone Saw
“We have put a lot of our brains, all our efforts, and endured some sleepless nights bringing this project to fruition,” says Dr. Ing. Giovanni Lenzi, Barsanti´s product engineering and development manager.
A forerunner, Barsanti´s MIRAGE 80 model, features a 2m cutting-width capacity and the ability to take up to 80 diamond wires for cutting 2cm slabs. Granilouro wanted a machine able to cut slabs from a maximum 2m-width block, and vary slab thickness quickly and safely. The Spanish company wished to produce more than 1 million m² of slabs per year in varying thicknesses of 4cm, 6cm and 8 cm.
Click to enlargeThe initial Barsanti response was to offer the MIRAGE 80, which went into full production in Spain at Granilouro in August 2009 and has accumulated more than 13.000 working hours. This machine routinely processes three blocks every 24 hours without any mechanical, electrical or electronic control problems.
The success achieved with the MIRAGE 80 led to the next step: the development of the MIRAGE 4000. This latest machine, the most advanced of its type in the world, has 4m-wide flywheels so that two blocks can be cut simultaneously using up to 136 diamond wires.
Eventually, the Granilouro production team decided to work with 100 wires. The level of tensioning is detected electronically by a patented system and programmed by the operator depending on the material to be cut and the wire diameter.
PRACTICAL RESULTS TO DATE
The MIRAGE 4000 installation at Granilouro began last summer, followed by the fitting of components, testing and commissioning. Full production trials commenced last month. The novel system defines a new frontier for cutting granite blocks into slabs – a single installation that turns out high volumes in varying thickness simply, quickly and economically.
Slab thickness is changed quickly, thanks to a new, patented way of excluding the stretcher pulleys. The operator simply selects the desired slab thickness on the command panel and installs the wires needed. An innovative dynamic-compensation wire-tensioning system (also patented) keeps each wire consistently taught and secure during cutting, increasing cutting performance and wire life. Some important safety features are also included in the machine design.
The MIRAGE 4000 is described by Barsanti as a closed four-column MDW gang saw equipped with a quick-unhook system for transformation to closed-loop diamond wire sawing.
The formulation and manufacture of all components of the diamond wire are obviously especially critical with a multi-wire machine. Granilouro uses several diamond-wire suppliers.