[Tompie]

Hi Guys,

Got a question is there a mill where you can mill concrete walls with?
I need this for my work, they want to remove 4cm of concrete, with or without iron in it, we don't know this yet.

When you have ideas please let me know.

Cheers,
Tom

[ViperTX]

Is this to create an opening in a wall....if it is then it's best to rent a diamond bladed saw to cut the perimeted and you might need to section it into smaller pieces for removal.

[Chris D]

Hi Guys,

Got a question is there a mill where you can mill concrete walls with?
I need this for my work, they want to remove 4cm of concrete, with or without iron in it, we don't know this yet.

When you have ideas please let me know.

Cheers,
Tom

There are routers used for routing (milling if you prefer) granite and other stone work. This is how they put decorative edges on all those "stone" counter tops you see. The motor is usually a pnuematic router and the bits are, as far as I know, diamond bits.

Hope that helps a bit.

Chris

[Tompie]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the reply, I'm working at a Nuclear research center and we are talking about a wall to dismantle, we need to remove a piece of wall for about 4cm (1,6 inch)
So we want to test with a wall from let's say 16 x 12 meter!!!
Not small as you can see.

If you guys have links from BIG mills for concrete please post.

Thanks
Tom

[ViperTX]

So, you're trying to create a gap around the perimeter of a 16X12 meter wall that is 4cm wide by 8 cm thick? If so, then, you would still use a diamond bladed saw to cut it out.

[Tompie]

Hi Viper,

We want to remove from a wall that is 40 inch thick a shell from 1,6 inch.
The wall is 52,5 x 40 ft.
So you can imagine how big this is.

Tom

[pcroxford]

sounds like a custom machine to me. lets set down some design parameters:
1: will it be exposed to radiation?
2: is the wall already vertical?
3: do you need to remove the thickness from the entire area of the wall?
4: How precise does the final thickness have to be?
5: is there a target surface finish?
6: what type of aggregate/grade of cement was used to pour the wall originally?

[ViperTX]

Got it Tompie, that clears up the question of why you were looking for a mill.

Still my advice is to cut a cross hatch pattern on the area that you want to remove (diamond saw blade)...with some experimentation you can determine the size of the crosshatch and the depth of the cross hatch pattern. Then using a hydraulic lever (jaw of life type) you insert between each crosshatch to break off a chunk....you eventually end up with a surface that the size and depth that you want....it will be dimpled, but you can grind down the hills and fill the valleys.

[pcroxford]

I agree. If you just want to rough -cut an approximate depth, use a diamond saw blade with a depth adjustment. I would not cross-cut the concrete though. I recommend parallel thin cuts all the same depth. Concrete is very brittle and cannot handle much tensile load. Making narrowly spaced parallel cuts allows you to maintain the reference surface, and a more uniform surface once the thin wafers are broken off afterwards. A Diamond blade is great for concrete, but be careful with your choice of blade type if you are planning on cutting through reinforced (rebar) concrete, as I suspect you will be. If you want a really flat finish on the concrete you would have to stay shy of the overall depth with the saw by the diameter of the largest stone in the aggregate, and machine the remainder with something a little more precise. This would not be an inexpensive project, given the odd application and scope of work. Likely there are not portable or ready-made tools made for machining large chunks of concrete to that depth.. You came to the right place though if you want something designed. Many of he guys in this forum are experts in their field., and are master-builders (I'm the exception )

[pcroxford]

One more question: Are you prepared to make and manage a lot of dust?

[ynneb]

I dont know if you could adapt this method to suit your need, however I have often though of it as a noval idea to actually melt concrete. You use a steel tube with very thick walls. Down the center of the tube is pumped pure oxygen. The steel is ingnited by an oxy/acetelene torch and then remains burning via the pumped oxygen. The heat generated is so emmense it actually melts concrete when touched.

You can learn more about it here. http://www.meg.co.uk/meg/app10.htm

[DSL PWR]

That sounds like a carbon arc gouger. (kinda sorta simular...) The problem with cement, is when heated it will produce gas pockets, and explode. I don't think a large burning pipe would pass the saftey inspection at the plant...

Cool idea though Benny.