The first Sasso K900 five axes saw, including a lathe, to be bought in the UK was installed and commissioned in March at Ian Lowes Stonemasonry near Carlisle in Cumbria.

The saw was one of the first Sasso sales made by Pat Sharkey Engineering after it had taken over the agency for Italians Sasso last year.

Ian Lowe had visited the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL London to look for a new saw. Pat Sharkey was exhibiting but Sasso was not showing any of Sassos saws or edge polishers, the agency only just having been agreed. Ian admits he almost did not see the Sasso brochure on the Pat Sharkey stand, but he is glad he did. He has built a new workshop for the K900.

You can read the full story in next month’s Natural Stone Specialist magazine.

At the same time Pat Sharkey Engineering Ltd is now offering LEV testing for dust extraction equipment as part of its

on-going service to customers in the stone industry.

It is the duty of employers and employees using dust extraction equipment to ensure that it is maintained, which includes having it tested at least once every 14 months in accordance with health & safety regulations.

LEV (it stands for local exhaust ventilation) can become inefficient if it is not maintained, allowing dust levels in work areas to become illegally high – and since 2006 the legal limit has been just 0.1mg of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) per cubic metre of air.

Pat Sharkey Engineering now offers this 14-month testing service for all types of dust extraction equipment.

The service is carried out by fully qualified engineers holding BOHS P601.