In our country, Iran, mineral resources and reserves have a high economic value. Meanwhile, the existing stone resources in the country are of special importance due to their many applications in various industries.

The stone industry is considered as an important source of foreign exchange earnings. The more up-to-date the technology and methods of extraction and processing in stone mines and stone-cutting factories, the higher the quality of the produced stones and changes the country's economy.

Masonry in Iran is 7,000 years old. Stones have long been used in buildings, including temples. From the first millennium, the use of stone in the form of building stones and decorative stones from Sassanid buildings, Pasargad, Takht-e Soleiman, etc. has been common in Iran until today. With the advancement of technology and over time, stone was used in industries such as construction, bridge construction, road construction, etc.

In 1307 A.H., the first stone cutting machine in Iran was built at the same time as the construction of the Marble Palace in the Naziabad area of ​​Tehran. This machine consisted of iron blades that worked with powder and silica. This machine was called a saw.

In 1312, for the construction of Bank Melli and the courthouse, the second stone cutting machine was launched by Goldschmidt of Ashkoda Company in Tehran market.

Then in 1317, the first stone cutting factory in Iran was built by German experts to order Astan Quds Razavi in ​​Mashhad and the stones of the shrine of Imam Reza (AS), Marble Palace, Central Bank of Tehran and Bank Sepah were produced by this factory.

Stone cutting in the modern way

In stone cutting, if non-slate stones enter the factory, the first machine in the production line is a machine for making slates. Usually, a single-slice machine or cutting machines such as diamond and steel wire are used for this purpose. In fact, these machines are made of slate to make the saws easier to use.

1. Cut using a saw

Saw cutting is one of the most common methods today. This method is usually used in factories with high production capacity. In this method, stone blocks are cut with diamond saws that have parallel blades. Diamond saws are divided into two categories, hard and soft.

1-1 Hard saw

Hard saws cut rocks using cast iron or steel chips. Hard saw is usually used for cutting granite. Modern hard saws have the largest number of blades, which is equal to 150 blades with the ability to cut stone in 3.5 by 2 dimensions.

1-2 soft saws

The use of soft saws is usually for limestone such as travertine and marble, etc. The advantage of using these saws is that they have less waste than other stone saws and therefore have a higher accuracy than other saws.

2. Cut using a fork

Peaks are available in different dimensions and sizes. In this type of cutting machines, disc blades or circular shapes are usually used. There are diamond gums on these circular blades. In this method, several parallel blades are used and the block stone is displayed in the form of a plate.

Fortunately, in our country, Iran, more than 6,500 factories use modern machines. This number indicates that given the current capacity, the factories have the potential to convert 25 million tons of crude stone into processed stone per year.

At present, the amount of stone exports is 2 million tons and supply to the domestic market is about 8 million tons. According to these figures, as a result, there is 15 million tons of empty capacity. In this case, if we modernize the major machinery of these units and increase this capacity to at least 40 million tons, there will be no market for it.

As a result, modernization without marketing and sales capabilities will cause the market to collapse. However, only any factory that is able to market its products can modernize and improve the quality and quantity of its products.

Types of stone cutting machines

Stone cutting machines are divided into two categories:

1. Portable (Mobile)

2. Workshop

1-1 Portable stone cutting machine (mobile)

Cutters need to cut stone on site to increase speed as well as work in a short time. Mobile stone cutting machines are relatively light weight and portable, so they are the best option for this. Portable stone cutting machines have the ability to cut stones with a length of 65-265 cm and the ability to cut at an angle of 0 to 60.

This device is produced in different models, including manual and semi-automatic. In the manual model, the head movement of the device is done by the person and in semi-automatic devices, it is done by the gearbox.

1-2 workshop stone cutting machines

This device is used for heavy work as well as in the workshop. This model of device has a lot of weight and must be fixed in place. Most workshop machines have the ability to cut at an angle. In addition to weighing more, workshop stone cutting machines have higher engine power and longer cutting length than mobile machines.

Workshop machines have high performance in continuous cuts and in some models, they have the ability to adjust the engine speed and automatic movement of the machine head.

Stone cutting in Iran is several thousand years old and is of great importance in today's economy. Today, the stone industry is considered as one of the important sources of foreign exchange earnings for the country. In stone cutting, saw cutting and cutting methods are used. Cutting with a saw is divided into two categories: cutting with a hard saw and a soft saw.

Strengthening domestic production and increasing exports means preserving foreign exchange resources and meeting the needs of the country, which in the current sensitive situation needs to be seriously considered. Today, for the growth of Iran's stone cutting market, it is necessary for the government to minimize production costs and economic fluctuations in order to provide a basis for competition between the producers of this industry and foreign competitors.