Best 1200mm+ wet cutter for stone

[stone tiler]

Evening all,

Got a couple of jobs coming up that will require a wet cutter that can handle limestone slabs 1200mm long,800mm wide and 25mm thick. We are ripping down the slabs to make planks on one job so the finish of the cut must be spot on. Also I know its going to be a heavy piece of kit but I need it to be fairly portable from job to job.

Looks like we are going to have to buy a bigger cutter so has anyone got a machine they can recommend? Or maybe somewhere in the south east we can hire a suitable machine? Only machines I've found are the Rubi DS250 1500 or the Rodia machine at Diatech in Scotland. I'm a Rubi fan but I've never played on a machine this big and at £2k its a big buy without playing.

 

[Qwerty]

What about a handheld wet cutter? DeWalt or Makita?

 

[Concrete guy]

Flex CSW4161 plus rails.

Or ask a local mason to cut the 1200's down to planks for you on their bridge saw, then all you have to deal with are crosscuts and the odd long cut.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Is that the Royal 'we' or is it for one man to handle?
Does the specification allow for smaller lengths or is the 1200 lengths the maximum in a random design. What widths are required as you should be able to cut the 1200 on a Dewalt if you have one :smilewinkgrin:.

 

[stone tiler]

I'm put off the flex or the other wet hand held saws as ripping down 100mts of limestone into planks either 250mm or 195mm wide and they need to be spot on. Being laid like wood flooring in random planks. I know these machines are good but I felt there would be too much play on them and I couldn't fix a guide rail up for the whole job like I could on a big cutter. If it was just 15/20 mts I'd risk it.
Tried 2 stone masons/worktop fitters local to me and they are quoting nearly a grand to cut them down and re-pallet them ready for del to site. For that money I might aswell but the machine and do it myself.
Dewalt can't handle them. Too heavy.
Its the royal 'we' as my work mate is too frail to help me lift a bucket on site let alone the slabs or the cutter!!

 

[Concrete guy]

We used to use a CSW 4160 in my warehouse to cut down 3200x1500x30mm slabs of granite. It was accurate to +/- 1mm over 3000mm.

 

[stone tiler]

Maybe I should think about these a bit more then. I thought cutting down over 100 slabs like this would be a pain in the backside

 

[Concrete guy]

Maybe I should think about these a bit more then. I thought cutting down over 100 slabs like this would be a pain in the backside

The accuracy you require is the pain and that's why you're getting quoted so much by a mason to do the cutting. There's a lot of set up time for each cut.

A CSW 4161 can cut 50mm + in limestone in a single pass so you could at least double up the slabs. From memory it's a 60mm depth of cut.

 

[Pebbs]

Its a big investment for sure, if you are not going to be using it all the time, then hire in would be my advice.
Pebbs

 

[stone tiler]

I'm struggling to hire one. No one local has one. Anyone know where I can find a machine for hire?