A ring saw is a form of

bandsaw A bandsaw (also written band saw) is a power saw with a long, sharp blade consisting of a continuous band of toothed metal stretched between two or more wheels to cut material. They are used principally in woodworking, metalworking, and lumb ...

where the band is rigid, rather than flexible. This requires the band to be circular, rather than the bandsaw's usual

oblong An oblong is a non-square rectangle. Oblong may also refer to: Places * Oblong, Illinois, a village in the United States * Oblong Township, Crawford County, Illinois, United States * A strip of land on the New York-Connecticut border in the Unit ...

of straight runs between two (or three) guide wheels. Ringsaw blades are

abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

rather than toothed. The brittleness of this abrasive coating, and the need to avoid flexure, is why they are made as rings rather than oval bands. As the ring is a circle of constant radius, the blade is not flexed or bent in operation. The blades themselves are not usually rigid and may be bent slightly in fitting, but are not designed to be flexed as they rotate. Abrasive sawblades, as used in ringsaws, are mostly used in the working of

art glass Art glass is a subset of glass art, this latter covering the whole range of art made from glass. Art glass normally refers only to pieces made since the mid-19th century, and typically to those purely made as sculpture or decorative art, with ...

. They use a steel band or ring, coated with a diamond abrasive, attached by

nickel electroplating Nickel electroplating is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of nickel onto a metal object. The nickel layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, wear resistance, or used to build up worn or undersized parts for salvage purposes ...

. Abrasive saws are used for a range of hard, brittle materials, such as in

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

Ceramic tile A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...

s may also be sawn. The main form of ring saw uses a ring or wire that is like a flat disk. The non-cutting side of the blade is ''behind'' of the cutting edge, so limits the ''depth'' of the cuts that may be made.This differs from the bandsaw, where the other part of the band is alongside the cutting edge, thus limits the ''width'' of cuts that may be made. Wire-saws are coated with an abrasive on all sides and so may cut in any direction. With the ring behind the cutting edge, cuts in the main direction will treat the blade (in mechanical terms) as an

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

, which is stiffer than a sideways force on a cylindrical blade. This geometry also gives a vertical cut in thick materials, although the cut must be kept straight and unlike a bandsaw, curves cannot be sawn if the material is thick. They may be used for mineralogy and slabbing. Many makers of ringsaws offer a similar blade as a bandsaw too. The ringsaw blade in comparison may be made rigid, thus stronger and less flexible under cutting loads, giving a more accurate cut. Some make a particular feature of the ring saw's ability to cut forwards, backwards and sideways. As the bandsaw blade must be flexible enough to pass around the wheels, its blades are limited to cutting on the forward edge. The oblong bandsaw has a blade that is supported on two large wheels.The three-wheel bandsaw instead uses three small wheels. These offer limited contact and so suffer from many of the same problems as a ring saw. The interval between the two wheels is supported by blade guides immediately behind the cutting zone. Ring saws do not have the same straight run of blade, nor the opportunity to support much of the blade as with the wheels of a bandsaw. A ring saw is thus a somewhat fragile machine and excess pressure on a thin blade is likely to damage it. Abrasive saws are often water-cooled and most ring saws are designed to enable this, with water pumps or drip feeds, and catch trays.

Concrete ring saws

Concrete and masonry-cutting 'ring' saws are a form of disk cutter and are unrelated to bandsaws. They do however also use a diamond abrasive.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em

External links

Diamond Wire Saw Machine
Glass art Saws Cutting machines