Diamond Wire Saw Machines for Marble and Granite Quarries
Four rail-type diamond wire saws, from a 15 HP machine two people can carry to a 100 HP machine that frees blocks straight off the quarry face. All four run 8 to 11 mm diamond wire with electronic tension control that stops the machine the moment a wire breaks.
- Rail-mounted, so the machine backs away as the cut deepens and wire tension holds
- CE marked to Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU
- In Ankara since 1991, parts and service from the maker
2 machines · 50 to 100 HPQuarry Extraction SawsThe full-production machines that free blocks straight off the face, on a 1,280 mm rail with an 800 mm flywheel.TIGERFILL · TIGER GRANFILL 
2 machines · 15 to 30 HPSquaring and Trimming SawsSmaller rails and lighter frames for secondary cuts, scaling a bench and squaring blocks to saleable dimensions.TIGER MINIFILL · TIGER MICROFILL 
Consumable · 8 to 11 mmDiamond Wire and ToolsThe wire does the cutting. Bead specification matched to the stone is what decides your cost per square metre.Diamond wire · beads · crimps · tensioning tools A wire saw is a flywheel, a loop of wire and a rail
The cut is made by diamond beads on a steel cable running in a closed loop. The machine is what drives that loop, holds it at constant tension and pulls back along a rail as the cut opens. Once you see it that way, three numbers decide everything: how fast the wire travels, how wide the rail is, and how much power there is behind the flywheel.
The stone sets the wire speed
Marble is calcite at Mohs 3 to 3.5 and cuts best at a high, steady wire speed. Granite runs 6 to 7 on the same scale and has to be cut slower and more precisely, typically 25 to 40 m/s, because excess speed glazes the beads instead of cutting. This is the single most common specification error in the industry, and it is why the marble machine and the granite machine are not interchangeable.
Wire speed comes from the flywheel, not the motor badge
Multiply the flywheel circumference by the motor speed and you have the wire speed: an 800 mm flywheel at 1,000 rpm gives 42 m/s, a 500 mm flywheel at the same speed gives 26 m/s. A bigger motor on a small flywheel does not cut faster, it only pulls harder. Check any supplier claim against the flywheel diameter before you believe it.
Rail-type, because the machine has to back away
These are rail machines, not bridge or gantry machines. As the cut deepens the saw travels backwards along the rail and keeps the wire at a constant working angle and tension. A bridge structure is fixed in place, so tension control degrades as the cut opens. Rail is the right choice for primary extraction at the face; bridge belongs in a plant yard.
Tension control is the safety system
Every machine here regulates wire tension electronically and stops the drive the instant the wire breaks or tension is lost. A diamond wire under load carries a large amount of stored energy, so automatic stop is not a convenience feature. All four machines use 8 to 11 mm wire, so a wire set can move between them.
Speed bands are general guidance for the stone, not a machine rating. The published maximum for the 800 mm flywheel machines is 40 m/s. Our technical article on diamond wire cutting speed for granite sets out the bands for travertine, slate, sandstone and volcanic stone as well.
Which saw for which cut
Start from the cut, not the model name. Every figure on this page is taken from the published specification on each product page.
| The cut you need to make | Where | Stone | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary bench cuts that free blocks from the face | Quarry | Marble, travertine, soft stone | TIGERFILL |
| Primary bench cuts that free blocks from the face | Quarry | Granite, hard and quartz-rich stone | TIGER GRANFILL |
| Secondary cuts, scaling a bench, splitting an oversize block | Quarry | Marble or granite | TIGER MINIFILL |
| Squaring and trimming blocks to saleable dimensions | Yard or processing plant | Marble or granite | TIGER MINIFILL, TIGER MICROFILL |
| Trimming where there is no crane and the power supply is limited | Yard, workshop, small quarry | Marble or granite | TIGER MICROFILL |
| Profile and shape cuts in a block | Quarry or yard | Marble or granite | TIGERFILL, TIGER MINIFILL |
| A first machine for a quarry that is only just opening | Quarry | Depends on the deposit | GRANFILL or TIGERFILL, sized to the bench |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column. The cut description stays in place.
If none of those rows is quite your situation, tell us the bench height, the block size you sell and the stone, and we will name the machine before you read any further.
Ask us which sawQuarry Extraction Saws
These are the production machines: they stand on two 3 metre rails at the bench and cut the vertical and horizontal faces that free a block from the quarry. Both run a six-pole main motor of 50, 60, 75 or 100 HP, which is 37 to 74 kW, at 750 to 1,000 rpm, driving an 800 mm flywheel on a 1,280 mm rail, with a heavy cast frame for cutting stability, a head that rotates through 360 degrees, a 1 HP servo auxiliary motor for rail positioning and full remote-panel control. Without rails the machine weighs 1,710 kg at 60 HP and 1,760 kg at 75 HP, so it is craned or loaded into position rather than carried. The difference between them is the stone they are set up for. TIGERFILL is the marble machine. GRANFILL is the granite machine, and granite is where cutting speed has to be held down and controlled rather than simply maximised.
Tell us the bench height, the block size you sell, the stone and the supply you have at the bench, and we will size the motor and say which of the two. Get a quarry saw quoted →
Squaring and Trimming Saws
Once a block is on the ground it still has to be squared to the dimensions a buyer will pay for, and that is a different machine: a shorter rail, a smaller flywheel and a frame light enough to move. MINIFILL runs 25 or 30 HP on a 500 mm flywheel and a 700 mm rail, reaching 26 m/s, and weighs 740 kg. MICROFILL is the portable one, a 15 HP machine on a 400 mm flywheel and a single 350 mm wide 3 metre rail, 160 kg in total including the rail and control panel, and it runs off a 32 A supply at 380 to 415 V. Both use the same 8 to 11 mm wire as the big machines and the same PID tension control.
Tell us the block dimensions you square to, how often the machine has to move and what supply the yard has, and we will say whether MINIFILL earns its extra power or MICROFILL is enough. Get a squaring saw quoted →
Diamond Wire and Tools
The machine is the easy part of the decision. The wire is what actually cuts, what wears, and what shows up in your cost per square metre every month. Diamond wire is a high-grade steel cable carrying sintered diamond beads, and the bead specification has to be matched to the stone: the wrong bead on hard granite does not merely cut slowly, it can raise wire consumption substantially for the same cut area. All four machines take 8 to 11 mm wire, so a site running both marble and granite can hold one machine population and two wire specifications. Crimps, sleeves and tensioning tools are supplied alongside.
Matching wire to stone
Three things decide a wire specification, and none of them is price per metre.
- Stone hardness marble at Mohs 3 to 3.5 and granite at 6 to 7 need different bead hardness and different spacing
- Bead count per metre more beads cut faster but load the motor harder and cost more per metre of wire
- Wire diameter 8 to 11 mm on every machine here, so diameter is chosen for cut width and wire life, not fit
- Cut area per month what turns a wire specification into a real cost per square metre
- Water at the cut cooling and slurry removal; granite needs noticeably more flow than marble
Send us the stone and your monthly cut area and we will specify the wire rather than quote a catalogue number.
Tell us the stone, the cut area per month and the machine you are running, and we will specify the bead configuration and wire diameter rather than send a price list. Ask us to specify the wire →
All four machines compared
Published figures from the product pages. Wire tension is electronically controlled with automatic stop on wire break on all four machines.
Open the full comparison of all four machines
| Machine | Stone and job | Main motor | Flywheel and wire speed | Rail length and width | Wire | Power connection | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarry extraction | |||||||
| TIGERFILL | Marble, primary extraction | 50 / 60 / 75 / 100 HP, 6-pole, 750 to 1,000 rpm | 800 mm, to 40 m/s | 3 + 3 m, 1,280 mm wide | 8 to 11 mm | 5 × 125 A machine plug | 1,710 kg at 60 HP, 1,760 kg at 75 HP, without rails |
| TIGER GRANFILL | Granite, primary extraction | 50 / 60 / 75 / 100 HP, 6-pole, 750 to 1,000 rpm | 800 mm, to 40 m/s | 3 + 3 m, 1,280 mm wide | 8 to 11 mm | 5 × 125 A machine plug | 1,710 kg at 60 HP, 1,760 kg at 75 HP, without rails |
| Squaring and trimming | |||||||
| TIGER MINIFILL | Marble or granite, secondary cuts and squaring | 25 / 30 HP, 750 to 1,000 rpm | 500 mm, to 26 m/s | 3 + 3 m, 700 mm wide | 8 to 11 mm | 63 A industrial plug | 740 kg |
| TIGER MICROFILL | Marble or granite, portable trimming and squaring | 15 HP, 1,500 rpm | 400 mm, see note | 3 m, 350 mm wide | 8 to 11 mm | 32 A, 380 to 415 V | 160 kg total |
Main motor current is 70 to 180 A on TIGERFILL and GRANFILL, 36 to 45 A on MINIFILL and 22 to 24 A on MICROFILL. The auxiliary positioning motor is a 1 HP servo except on MICROFILL, where it is 0.5 HP. On TIGERFILL and GRANFILL each rail weighs 75 kg and the control panel 26 kg, on top of the machine weights in the table. Machine dimensions, length by width by height, are 195 by 140 by 162 cm on TIGERFILL and GRANFILL, 180 by 80 by 110 cm on MINIFILL and 100 by 60 by 76 cm on MICROFILL. The head rotates through 360 degrees on TIGERFILL, GRANFILL and MINIFILL. MICROFILL weight is quoted as 95 kg for the rail and 45 kg for the control panel. Every machine carries the CE mark under Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU. MICROFILL maximum wire speed is held back pending confirmation from the factory: a 400 mm flywheel at 1,500 rpm gives 31 m/s, and the figure currently published on the product page does not follow from those two numbers.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column. The machine name stays in place.
How to choose
Four questions, in this order. Answer them and the machine is usually decided before you compare a single specification sheet.
1. Marble or granite?
This is the first gate and it is not a preference. Marble cuts well at a high, stable wire speed. Granite at Mohs 6 to 7 has to be cut in the 25 to 40 m/s band, slower and more precisely, or the beads glaze instead of cutting. TIGERFILL is configured for marble and GRANFILL for granite. If the deposit is mixed, say so, because the answer is usually the granite machine.
2. Extraction or squaring?
Rail width tells you what a machine is for. 1,280 mm is a production bench machine making the cuts that free a block. 700 mm is a secondary and squaring machine. 350 mm on a single 3 metre rail is a portable trimming machine. Buying a bench machine to square blocks in a yard, or the reverse, is the second most common specification error after wire speed.
3. What electrical supply is actually at the cut?
This decides more purchases than anything else on the page. TIGERFILL and GRANFILL need a 5 by 125 A machine plug and draw 70 to 180 A. MINIFILL runs from a 63 A industrial plug at 36 to 45 A. MICROFILL needs only 32 A at 380 to 415 V. A 75 HP machine on a bench that cannot feed it is an expensive stationary object, so check the supply at the bench, not at the office.
4. How does the machine get where it is going?
MICROFILL is 160 kg all in, rail and panel included, so two people and a pickup move it. MINIFILL is 740 kg and wants a loader or a telehandler. TIGERFILL and GRANFILL are 1,710 kg at 60 HP and 1,760 kg at 75 HP without rails, 195 by 140 by 162 cm, so they are craned or loaded into position and stay there for the cut. Repositioning time, not cutting speed, is what usually decides square metres per shift.
If you run a quarry
You are buying extraction capacity, and the machine is one part of it. A wire saw cuts the faces, but the entry holes for the wire are drilled, and the block still has to be toppled and moved. Our articles on drilling versus cutting for granite and the full quarry equipment list set out what else the bench needs. Tell us the production target in cubic metres per month and we will specify the set rather than the saw.
If you run a processing plant or a block yard
You are buying squaring and trimming throughput on blocks that are already on the ground, and your constraints are different: fixed power, limited floor space, and dimensional accuracy that decides your selling price. MINIFILL and MICROFILL are the machines for that work. Tell us the block sizes coming in, the dimensions you square to and the floor space, and the choice usually comes down to how often the machine has to be moved.
Answer those four and send them over. We come back with the machine, the motor rating, the wire specification to go with it and the price.
Send my four answersIn the field, and worth reading first
One quarry we can talk about, and the two technical articles buyers ask for most often before they specify a wire saw.
Case study · Gulf regionA granite quarry started from nothingA company entering the granite market with no quarrying experience. Wire saws, drilling machines, quarry layout and production method were specified together rather than bought piece by piece.Read the case study 
Technical guideDrilling or cutting for granite extraction?In marble the question was settled decades ago. In granite it is still open on every new project, and getting it wrong can multiply the production cost of every cubic metre. A cost comparison per cubic metre.Read the article Technical guideRail-type or bridge-type wire saw?Wire saw is not one machine. The two types share a cutting principle but are built for different jobs, and purchase lists and public tenders still confuse them. Which one belongs at the quarry face.Read the article Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between TIGERFILL and GRANFILL?
They share the same frame, the same 800 mm flywheel, the same 1,280 mm rail and the same 50, 60, 75 and 100 HP motor options. The difference is the stone they are configured for. TIGERFILL is the marble machine. GRANFILL is the granite machine, and granite has to be cut in the 25 to 40 m/s band with controlled speed rather than at maximum, because excess wire speed on hard quartz-rich stone glazes the beads instead of cutting. Tell us the stone and we will confirm the configuration.
What wire speed should I cut granite at?
Generally 25 to 40 m/s, with hard quartz-rich granite at the lower end of that band. Granite at Mohs 6 to 7 does not behave like marble, which cuts well at a high steady speed in the 40 to 50 m/s range. Our article on diamond wire cutting speed for granite also gives bands for travertine at 45 to 60 m/s, slate at 35 to 55, sandstone at 30 to 55 and volcanic stone at 30 to 40.
How do I check a wire speed claim from any supplier?
Multiply the flywheel circumference by the motor speed. An 800 mm flywheel at 1,000 rpm is about 42 m/s, a 500 mm flywheel at 1,000 rpm is about 26 m/s, a 400 mm flywheel at 1,500 rpm is about 31 m/s. If a quoted wire speed does not follow from the flywheel diameter and the motor speed on the same sheet, ask which of the three numbers is right before you compare machines.
Do you build a bridge-type or gantry wire saw?
No. All four machines here are rail-type. The machine travels backwards along the rail as the cut deepens, which is what holds wire tension and the working angle constant through a deep cut. A bridge or gantry structure cannot back away, so tension control degrades as the cut opens. Rail is the correct type for primary extraction at the quarry face.
Do you build a multi-wire block cutting machine?
No. These are single-wire machines for quarry extraction, squaring and trimming. Multi-wire block cutting, where a block is sawn into slabs by many parallel wires in a processing plant, is a different class of machine and we do not build it. If you need quarry extraction and block squaring, this is the right page.
What diameter diamond wire do these machines take?
8 to 11 mm on all four machines. That is deliberate: a site running TIGERFILL or GRANFILL at the bench and MINIFILL or MICROFILL in the yard can standardise on one wire size rather than several. Bead specification still has to be matched to the stone, and that matters far more to your cost per square metre than the wire diameter does.
What electrical supply does each machine need?
TIGERFILL and GRANFILL use a 5 by 125 A straight machine plug and draw 70 to 180 A on the main motor. MINIFILL uses a 63 A industrial plug at 36 to 45 A. MICROFILL needs only 32 A at 380 to 415 V and draws 22 to 24 A. Check the supply available at the cutting position rather than at the site entrance, because cable length and voltage drop are what catch people out.
How much do the machines weigh and how are they moved?
MICROFILL is 160 kg in total, including the 3 metre rail at 95 kg and the control panel at 45 kg, so it is genuinely portable. MINIFILL is 740 kg and needs a loader or telehandler. TIGERFILL and GRANFILL weigh 1,710 kg at 60 HP and 1,760 kg at 75 HP without the rails, plus 75 kg per rail and 26 kg for the control panel, and measure 195 by 140 by 162 cm, so plan a crane or a loader rather than a lift.
What happens if the diamond wire breaks during a cut?
The tension control system detects the loss of tension and stops the drive automatically. A diamond wire running under working tension stores a great deal of energy, so this is a safety function rather than a convenience: it is standard on all four machines, along with a reinforced flywheel cover and remote-panel operation so the operator is not standing at the machine during the cut.
Do I need a water supply for diamond wire cutting?
Yes. Water at the cut cools the beads and flushes the slurry out of the kerf, and without it bead life falls sharply. Granite needs noticeably more flow than marble because there is more heat and more slurry to carry away. The required flow depends on the stone and the cut area, so tell us both and we will specify it with the machine.
Are these machines certified?
All four carry the CE mark and are built to Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU. Production is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. These are electrically driven machines and are not supplied as ATEX equipment; if a site requires equipment for a classified explosive atmosphere, raise it with us before specifying anything.
Can one machine cut both marble and granite?
MINIFILL and MICROFILL are used on both, because squaring and trimming cuts are shorter and shallower. For primary extraction at the bench the honest answer is that configuration matters: a machine set up for marble worked on granite will cut, but wire consumption and cutting time both move against you. If your deposit is mixed, tell us the proportions and we will size for the harder stone.
Related categories and reading
Tell us the stone, not the model
The stone, the bench height, the block size you sell and the electrical supply at the cutting position. We come back with the machine, the motor rating, the wire specification to run on it and the price. If you are opening a quarry rather than replacing one saw, say so and we will specify the bench together.