Granite Slabs Cut With Frame Saw Employing Blades With Diamond-Containing Segments And Method Of Cutting Thereof

Abstract

A graphite block cut into slabs by a sawing device comprising a plurality of generally parallel, spaced-apart blades with each of the blades having a plurality of cutting segments mounted thereon, each of the cutting segments comprising a continuous phase impregnated with a superabrasive material selected from one of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride, and combinations thereof; wherein each of the granite slabs as cut from the block has a surface roughness Ra of less than 500 & micro-in, and with thickness variation of 2 mm or less from a nominal slab target.

1 . A granite block cut into slabs by a sawing device comprising a plurality of generally parallel, spaced-apart blades with each of the blades having a plurality of cutting segments mounted thereon, each of the cutting segments comprising a continuous phase impregnated with a superabrasive material selected from one of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride, and combinations thereof; 
 wherein each of the granite slabs as cut from the block has a surface roughness R a  of less than 1000 μ-in.    
   
   
       2 . The as-cut granite slabs of  claim 1 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has a surface roughness R a  of less than 500 μ-in.  
   
   
       3 . The as-cut granite slabs of  claim 1 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has a mean thickness variation of less than 20% of the thickness of a nominal slab target.  
   
   
       4 . The as-cut granite slabs of  claim 3 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has a mean thickness variation of less than 10% of the thickness of a nominal slab target.  
   
   
       5 . The as-cut granite slabs of  claim 1 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 10,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 10,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       6 . The as-cut granite slabs of  claim 5 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 5,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 5,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       7 . The as-cut granite slabs of  claim 6 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 4,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 4,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       8 . A method for cutting a granite block into slabs, said method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a granite block;    cutting said granite block with a cutting device, the cutting device comprising:    a plurality of generally parallel, spaced-apart blades, with each of the blades having a plurality of cutting segments mounted thereon,    each of the segments being spaced apart from one another by a center-to-center distance,    each of the segments comprising a continuous phase impregnated with a superabrasive material selected from one of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride, and combinations thereof, wherein there is a spacing variation of at least 1 mm between a maximum center-to-center distance and a minimum center-to-center distance of the segments; and    producing granite slabs from the granite block by said cutting device, each granite slab having a surface roughness R a  of less than 1000 μ-in.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has a surface roughness R a  of less than 500 μ-in.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has a mean thickness variation of less than 20% of the thickness of a nominal slab target.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has a mean thickness variation of less than 10% of the thickness of a nominal slab target.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 10,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 10,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 5,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 5,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 4,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 4,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       15 . A method for cutting a granite block into slabs, device comprising the steps of: 
 providing a granite slab;    cutting the granite slab with a cutting device, the cutting device comprising:    a plurality of generally parallel, spaced-apart blades with each of the blades having a plurality of cutting segments mounted thereon,    each of the cutting segments comprising a continuous phase impregnated with a superabrasive material selected from one of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride, and combinations thereof;    each of the cutting segments having a wear resistance property varying at least 10% from at least another segment mounted on the same blade, wherein the varied wear resistance property is selected from the group of a) center-to-center spacing of the segments along the length of the blade; b) concentration of superabrasive materials in each segment; c) grade of superabrasive materials in each segment as measured by its compressive fracture strength; d) composition of superabrasive materials in each segment; and e) length of the segment; and    producing granite slabs wherein the granite slabs have an as-cut surface roughness R a  of less than 1000 μ-in, and a mean thickness variation of less than 20% of the thickness of a nominal slab target.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the as-cut granite stabs have a mean thickness variation of less than 10% of the thickness of a nominal slab target.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 10,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 10,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein each of the as-cut granite slabs has an ISO 10-point height parameter R z  of less than 4,000 μ-in, and a maximum peak-to-valley height R max  of less than 4,000 μ-in.  
   
   
       19 . A method for cutting a granite block into slabs with an excess cut width (t xs ) of less than 2 mm, said method comprising the step of: 
 providing a granite block;    cutting said granite block with a cutting device, the cutting device comprising:    a plurality of generally parallel, spaced-apart blades with each of the blades having a plurality of cutting segments mounted thereon, and    each of the cutting segments comprising a continuous phase impregnated with a superabrasive material selected from one of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride, and combinations thereof; and    producing granite slabs.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein said excess cut width (t xs ) is less than 1 mm.