Rock cutting assembly

A cutting assembly for a rock excavation machine, the rock excavation machine including a frame, the cutting assembly comprising:

• a boom supported on the frame, the boom including a first portion and a second portion, the second portion including a first member supported for sliding movement relative to the first portion and a second member pivotably coupled to the first member at a pivot joint positioned at a distal end of the first member relative to the first portion;
• a cutting device supported on the second member;
• and
• at least one fluid actuator including a first end directly coupled to the first portion and a second end directly coupled to the second member, the at least one fluid actuator being operable to both translate and pivot the second member relative to the first portion, the at least one fluid actuator supporting the second member against cutting loads exerted on the cutting device.

A cutting assembly for a rock excavation machine, the rock excavation machine including a frame, the cutting assembly comprising:

• a boom configured to be supported by the frame, the boom including a base portion and a movable portion received within the base portion, the movable portion supported for sliding movement relative to the base portion in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the base portion, the boom further including a wrist portion pivotably coupled to the movable portion at a pivot joint positioned at a distal end of the movable portion relative to the base portion;
• a plurality of bearings supporting the movable portion for sliding movement relative to the base portion, each bearing including an outer race engaging the base portion and an inner race engaging the movable portion;
• a cutting device supported on a distal end of the wrist portion;
• and
• a plurality of fluid actuators including a first end directly coupled to the base portion and a second end directly coupled to the wrist portion, the fluid actuators being independently operable to move the wrist portion relative to the base portion, the fluid actuators also operable to bias the wrist portion against cutting loads exerted on the cutting device.