Diamond wire sawing is perhaps the fastest growing area within diamond applications for the stone industry. There are now three clearly defined types of diamond wire sawing -quarry, stationary and multi-wire -which have different requirements and need therefore to have different approaches for onward development. In the last few years the main improvement in wire development has been longer tool lives at the same cutting rate, which is making the technique more attractive economically to stone producers worldwide. Largely because of the above, extraction costs with diamond wire are approaching the same value as the costs for conventional methods, thus making it more attractive to switch. The significant economic benefits to be gained in the 'upstream' slab processing operations when using diamond wire often outweigh any increases in basic block extraction costs. Further developments in the relatively new multi-wire saws should ensure that this technique follows the growth that has occurred in the quarrying and stationary saw sectors, and soon becomes a major player in the granite slabbing sector. Last and by no means least, the recent significant increase in wire saw usage in countries such as Brazil, India and South Africa is a strong indicator that there is considerable potential for huge growth in similar low labour cost countries. This is particularly true of China where stone production figures are accelerating extremely quickly and the present usage of diamond wire saws is very low.
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