Multi-wafer slicing with a fixed abrasive

In a wafering machine comprising

• a bladehead supporting a multiplicity of taut parallel wire cutting blades,
• a support on which said bladehead is mounted for sliding reciprocation along an axis parallel to said wire blades,
• means for reciprocally moving the bladehead among said axis through a stroke,
• a workpiece holder mounted to move perpendicular to said bladehead,
• means for biasing said workpiece holder toward said bladehead, and
• means for rocking the workpiece holder about a rocking axis perpendicular to said blades at a frequency less than that for the reciprocation of said bladehead, to decrease the contact lengths of said blades on said workpiece and thus increase the pressure between said wire blades and workpiece without increasing the force applied to said wire blades by said means for biasing, that improvement comprising
• rollers mounted for rotation about axes perpendicular to the wire blades on both sides of said holder and constraining said wire blades, said rollers having circumferential grooves aligned with and receiving said wire blades, said rollers decreasing the unsupported lengths of said wires to decrease the contact lengths of said blades on said workpiece and to reduce transverse wander of the wire blades.

A method of cutting a hard material into a plurality of pieces comprising:

• providing a wire blade having a cutting surface;
• mounting said material in a workpiece holder,
• biasing said workpiece holder and said blade towards each other along a movement axis generally perpendicular to said blade whereby said material and a longitudinally-extending portion of said blade are biased towards and in cutting contact with each other,
• moving said longitudinally-extending portion of blade relative to said material in a plane generally parallel to said movement axis while in contact with said material, and
• rocking said workpiece holder about a rocking axis perpendicular to said plane and said movement axis while said workpiece is in cutting contact with said longitudinally-extending portion of said blade,
• whereby said rocking decreases the contact length of said longitudinally-extending portion of said blade and said workpiece and thus increases the pressure between said blade and said workpiece without increasing the force applied to said blade by said means for biasing.

In the method of cutting wafers from a hard material comprising

• providing a bladehead including a multiplicity of taut parallel wire cutting blades,
• biasing said material against said bladehead with a workpiece holder, and
• reciprocally moving said bladehead relative to said material along an axis parallel to said wire blades, and
• rocking said workpiece holder about a rocking axis perpendicular to said blades at a frequency less than that for the reciprocation of said bladehead, to decrease the contact lengths of said blades on said workpiece and thus increase the pressure of said blades without increasing the force applied to said blades by said means for biasing,
• that improvement wherein
• said bladehead weighs less than about 200 lbs and moves at an average speed not less than about 150 feet per minute, and through a stroke length exceeding 8 inches.