When cutting concrete you’ve got some choices to make, first is are you going to cut wet or dry? In most situations wet cutting is the recommended choice because this will keep dust down and the blade from over heading. Of course wet cutting is messy business and slurry gets everywhere. In block or other less dense material dry cutting is a good option but you’ll create huge clouds of silica dust which is not safe to breath. To get a useable depth of around 5” you’ll need a larger saws with a 14” blade which are most commonly gas powered to get enough ass behind it. These are ok for working out in the open but never fails we constantly hear of people using these in poorly ventilated areas and breathe in dangerous levels of carbon monoxide fumes. Diamond Products new Core Cut Electric Saw C14 ($699) looks to address many of these concerns and possibly change the way many cut concrete.
By going electric with a very powerful 120V/20A motor this saw is able to work off standard power but still provide the necessary power, comparable to a gas saw. Overload protection with a bright LED warning keeps the motor from overheating and burning up when in heavy use. Of course by going electric there is no need for storing gas, mixing gas for a 2-stoke, no exhaust fumes, etc so the saw is safe to use indoors and much cleaner in general to own. This is not going to make sense if you’re out cutting curbs all day but could be a good alternative for many who work indoors as well as outdoors.
The new C14 concrete saw can run wet or dry and incorporates one of the first built-in dust ports we’ve seen on a 14” saw for safer collection of all the silica dust when running dry. While it’s not going to catch all the dust the adjustable magnesium blade guard and dust port work together to significantly reduce the air borne pollutants. Of course this saw also has built in water feed system and designed to keep the electronics safely away from any water.
One other feature common on higher end gas saws which is extremely helpful in making precise cuts is guide rollers. These allow the saw to roll along the ground providing a very accurate strait cut and with less fatigue on the user. These guide rollers are detachable providing the most versatile saw and shedding a little extra weight, to get as low as 17 lbs.
At the recent World of Concrete we did not get to see the C14 saw however we did get to see a new Diamond Products Mini Dragon Saw which you be the judge but looks like it may also share this same powerful electric motor. The Mini Dragon will be available in a 12” or 16” model which is a big deal because even with a 12” ring saw you can get an impressing 8.5” cut capacity (12.5″ capacity on 16″ blade).
For the Dragon Saws to really become popular we thing there would need to be an entry level model with a price much closer to what we see in the Concrete Chain Saws which are still fairly pricy ($1500-$3000). The concrete chain saws offer 12”-20” depth of cut and are very handy for making opening or corner cuts without overcutting. The downside of these types of saws it their expensive diamond chains which can be 5x-10x the cost/inch to make a cut vs a ring saw that can use standard diamond blade segments. We look forward to hearing more in the months to come on the New Diamond Products Mini Dragon.
