LAPIDARY SAWS

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Shop for lapidary slab and trim saws to break down rocks into usable slabs and chunks.

Whether you are testing highway or core samples, slabbing rough rocks to make cabochons, a flat-faced stone specimen, cutting geodes, preparing for a faceted stone, pre-forming for stone spheres, or slicing glass, you will want to select the right saw for your needs to begin to safely cut down larger stones into workable shapes and pieces for further grinding and shaping on other machines. Choose rock saws from manufacturers including Diamond Pacific, Hi-Tech Diamond, MK Diamond, Barranca Diamond, and Lapcraft to safely break down your rough rocks to workable pieces ready for cabbing, carving, lapping, or faceting. Start with large slab saws to deconstruct your valuable rough rocks into slabs for benchtop trim saws ready to slice the slabs down to manageable preforms.

How to choose a lapidary saw

Rock saws from Diamond Pacific and Hi Tech Lapidary are available for slabbing and trimming agates, jaspers, and other rocks. All saws are shipped directly to your door with full warranties and support. Saws are available with a wide range of blade diameters, from small water-cooled 4-inch trim saws for a home jewelry workshop to oil-lubricated 36-inch slab saws used by highway departments and universities. A diamond band saw is also available for cutting rings or intricate shapes out of high-value slabs with minimal waste.

A slab saw with a large, thick segmented diamond blade is usually the first piece of equipment used to work with a rough stone, used to make cross-section cuts through large pieces of stone, glass, minerals, core samples, highway sections, and other non-metal-based materials. The rock is locked into a vise and travels on a carriage, making slice after slice leaving your rock shaped how you need it, often sliced like a loaf of bread into stone slabs. Slab saws use an oil coolant in a reservoir to extend blade life and wash away debris from slabbing.
A trim saw with a small, thin blade is then used to trim down the slab or small valuable rough into a pre-form for making a cabochon or faceting into a precious gem. These saw have a flat table perpendicular to the blade to hold the slab you are trimming down. Trim saws are most often lubricated with water.

Which saw size will I need?

It is important to use a saw sized to safely handle the largest rocks you intend to cut, using stones too large for the saw rating leads to dangerous situations where damage or injury can occur from bent or shattered blades and stalled motors.