Industrial Masonry Tile Saws
Industrial masonry tile saws are designed to cut through tiles, bricks, pavers, and other similar materials. The saw cuts the materials so that they fit into open spaces when building things like driveways, patio decks, and stone walls. There are a couple of different styles of saws available to use for different applications.
What type of masonry saws are there?There are two types of saws: tabletop and portable. The tabletop saws are designed to make precision cuts on single pieces of material. Portable saws are used primarily to cut tile and other materials that have already been laid down. Portable saws are not designed to make precision cuts.
How do you use the saws?The masonry saws are used in much the same way as a regular tabletop or portable wood saw. The main difference between cutting things like wood and cutting tiles is the amount of dust that is generated while sawing. Stone, concrete, and similar materials typically produce a lot of dust when they are cut by a saw, and it is important to control the dust before it gets into the surrounding air.
How do you control the dust?Controlling the dust is accomplished by using either a vacuum that is attached to the saw to suck it in while cutting or by using water to keep the material being cut wet to limit the amount of dust being generated. A saw that uses water is called a wet saw. A wet saw uses a reservoir of water that gets pumped up into the saw to keep the blade cool so that it doesnt over heat. It also keeps the material wet to help dampen down the amount of dust that gets into the air while you are cutting material.
What type of blades do the saws use?There are a few different styles of blades that are used for cutting concrete and other materials, including:
- Diamond Blade: Diamond blades come in two types. One type is made for dry saws, and the other is made for wet saws. The dry ones are designed to be heat-resistant and are meant to be used with saws that don’t have a lot of horsepower. The wet style is designed to be used with a high horsepower tabletop saw with a water source to cool the blade and reduce dust.
- Abrasive: The abrasive style is typically made out of materials like carbide and minerals and can be used on metal and steel as well.
- Segmented: This style uses gullets in between the segments that cut and is used primarily to make rough cuts.
- Continuous Rim Style: This style is used primarily with wet saws and has a continuous rim that is in constant contact with the material being cut.