Cutting through pre-existing concrete is a common practice in construction projects. For example, employees might have to dig trenches for utility wires. In other instances, builders must make openings in concrete walls for windows or doors. Contractors can choose between dry and wet saws for some jobs but not others.
- Dry sawing: This technique is best suited for outside tasks because it creates a lot of dust at the sawing site. If the saw blade is composed of diamond, it can maintain its cooling even when no water is present. The use of diamond blades can reduce the accumulation of dust. This method uses quick, relatively minor cuts gradually made deeper to prevent the blade from heating up.
- Wet sawing: this method is good for the environment and people’s health. Moisture reduces the amount of dust that is created. The water used in the wet sawing technique helps to lubricate and cool the blade. As a result, that lengthens the blade’s lifespan.
Below, we will look at the fantastic benefits of concrete wet saws for contractors.
Less heat accumulation
Saw blades quickly reach superheating temperatures when cutting dry due to the enormous quantities of friction produced. This heat seriously harms the blade, and under such thermal stress, it might even disintegrate. The water used in wet cutting helps maintain the cutting blade’s temperature and reduces dust.
Blade fragments in the air pose a severe risk to adjacent individuals or saw operators. Furthermore, the heat of dry cutting significantly reduces the concrete blade’s lifespan. As a result, contractors require blade replacement more frequently, raising overall operating expenses. Wet cutting minimizes these issues due to the steady stream of water cooling the saw blade while it is being used.
Dust reduction
The enormous dust that dry concrete saws produce may be their largest disadvantage. Such dust puts workers’ health in grave danger and makes it difficult to see the concrete being cut. Concrete has a high silica content, and exposure to airborne silica dust can cause the painful illness of silicosis.
Therefore, reducing dust exposure is a crucial component of occupational safety for people who operate in the concrete-cutting sector. Wet saws significantly reduce dust during concrete cutting, and the cutting-related particles enter the water flow and are safely rinsed away from the cutting areas rather than going airborne.
More accurate cuts
Contractors frequently pause cutting during dry cutting to allow the blade to cool. It is more difficult to perfectly align cut lines while cutting in such a stop-and-start manner, creating sloppier results. Wet cutting enables contractors to work continuously and neatly without repeated cool-downs.
Fewer finishing tasks
Workers frequently have to go back and manually smooth uneven edges on tasks that call for smooth outcomes, using chisels and hammers to generate more uniform sides. As time-consuming as sawing itself can be, this finishing procedure can also be.
Wet saws produce straighter and smoother cuts in the first round, even when making deep cuts. Due to the ability to skip time-consuming finishing work, contractors can complete projects more quickly.
