Thanks for the suggestions.
About 20 years ago I had the same problem with a 16" Pyrex blank and I made a wooden support structure for it so that the stonemasons could cut it for me. After a few day I got a call that their machine did not have enough clearance to be able to do the job. At that time I decided that I wouldn't waste any more time with granite cutters and do it myself.
I still have the improvised machine and the tools I used for the job, so I will do the slicing myself, although the abrasive wire cutter idea is nice, I don't know if anyone in Melbourne has one.
As a first move I ground the side of the blank cylindrical because it was very rough, a bit oval and a bit barrel shaped. I also ground a 3mm chamfer on what will be the back edge.
This thing is hard, same as fused quartz. It took hour to get this far even though I removed less than a millimetre from the diameter.
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