How it works
Designed to go deeper than the blade is big.
A compact diamond blade and its drive sit at the tip of a slender arm. As it cuts, the head turns about the arm's axis and widens the slot so the drive and arm can follow.
Working prototypes. Now integrating the complete system for field tests.
Four movements. One cut.
An external pump sends pressurised water through the arm to a small turbine in the head. The turbine turns the diamond blade, and the blade does the cutting. This is not water-jet cutting.
Why it matters
What a normal saw can't do
The whole setup
Everything else stays outside the cut.
A rail is fixed to the working face. The pump stands outside. The cutting head and arm advance into the cut.
- 01External powered pumpSits outside the cut. A hose carries pressurised water to the arm.
- 02Rail and mountingFixed to the working face, so the tool works from one side.
- 03CarriageFeeds the arm along the rail under control.
- 04Slender armCarries the water to the head at its far end.
- 05Blade and driveAt the end of the arm. The water drives a small turbine that turns the blade.
Schematic, not to scale. How the rig is mounted on a given site is part of what field testing will settle.
Also part of the system
- 06Controls
- Feed and head angle are controlled from outside the cut.
- 07Water and slurry
- Water goes in to drive the blade. Slurry comes out and has to be collected and handled.
Norwegian patent NO 349064, granted September 2025, covers the defined combination of blade, drive, arm and controlled movement. Water drive is one way of carrying it out. International application PCT/NO2025/050030 received a positive patentability report in 2026 and is now pending in Europe, the US, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and Canada.
Beyond the cut
The cut is only part of the job.
Access, mounting, the external pump, water and slurry, releasing and lifting the material, and cleanup all count. Field tests will show how the whole job compares with the best suitable method.
See development