Diamond Wire Sawing

For thick and heavily reinforced concrete, diamond wire sawing is the answer.

A hydraulically powered, diamond impregnated “rope” is drawn, like cheesewire, through concrete flooring , walls and beams, leaving clean, smooth surfaces.

Watch a video of wiresawing at the National Gallery's Playfair Project in Edinburgh>>

The wire has a steel core of strands 6mm in diameter and can be almost any length. 10mm diamond beads are spaced along its length approximately 30mm apart.

The beads are separated by either small springs, plastic or rubber, depending upon the type of wire and the manufacturer.

The wire is positioned over the pulleys and fed through pre-drilled holes in the concrete that is being cut and back over the drive pulley. The wire can be of almost any length and is joined by special crimps.

Sawing is carried out by at a constant speed, whilst applying pressure on the wire by gently applying a steady backward movement by expanding the pulleys. Like a cheesewire.