If you have ever done an online search to try to figure out what a slab saw is, you might have come away very confused. Many of the results don’t look anything alike, and many of the things they are designed to cut don’t look anything like slabs at all. Suffice it to say that there are several different types of machines that could be classified as slab saws. Essentially, any saw that is designed to cut through large pieces of stone and stone-like materials might be called a slab saw.
But there are two common designs you will find that call themselves slab saws, and it’s important to know the difference, because they are used for very different things. The first design is a hooded slab saw, and the second is a bridge saw.
Hooded slab saws for semiprecious stone cutting
This is what we might call a “true” slab saw, which is confusing, because most of the models that are commercially available aren’t large enough to cut a slab as most people understand it. These saws are usually used in lapidary work. People who work with gemstones, precious stones and semiprecious stones use these types of saws to cut and shape their materials.
These slab saws look like a box with a hood on top of it, or sometimes even a pinball machine with a hood. Inside the box is a diamond blade for stone cutting, along with a small table set in a vise. The vise is used to hold the stone in place while it is cut, and so it necessarily limits the size of whatever you are cutting. Once the stone is secured in the vise and aligned with the blade, the hood is lowered and the machine will automatically guide the stone into the blade to cut it.
Bridge slab saws for cutting large slabs
The slab saws described above are a bit of a misnomer, because when most people hear the word “slab”, they imagine a large, flat piece of stone, such as a slab of granite before being shaped into a countertop. When dealing with materials of these dimensions, a bridge saw is usually the best option – and sometimes, it’s the only option.
Bridge saws are so named because they resemble, well, a bridge. Two supports, connected by a track along which the cutting head slides. Because of the open design, the only size limitations are the width of the bridge and the maximum cutting depth of the blade. Like the hooded slab saws described above, or any equipment designed to cut stone, bridge saws require a diamond coated blade.
For smaller slabs, a traditional masonry bench or table saw can also work in a pinch, provided it is equipped with the correct blade. Masonry saws typically have a sturdy, stationary table on which to place the stone slab. Then, the cutting head can be pushed through the stone, cutting it in two.
So, while the answer to the question, “What is a slab saw?” can be a confusing one, it really only depends on what your definition of “slab” is. Based on your needs, you might need a hooded lapidary saw, or a large bridge saw. And, in some cases, even a regular masonry saw can double as a slab saw.
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