Description
Concrete cracks where it wants to unless you give it somewhere better to go, and the window for doing that is measured in hours. Cut too early and the edge ravels; leave it overnight and the slab has already chosen its own joint. Early-entry cutting exists to move that window forward, so the joint is in before the stresses arrive.
Why it is a different blade
Green concrete has not developed its strength, so the sand and fines behave like loose grit and tear diamond out of a soft matrix in minutes. This blade runs a hard bond for that reason. It is also designed to run in an early-entry system with a skid plate that supports the concrete either side of the cut — that support, not the blade alone, is what stops the edge breaking away.
Shallow, early, and dry
Early-entry joints are cut shallow, because the point is to relieve stress before it builds rather than to section the slab. Follow the mix designer or the specification for depth and timing; conditions on the day move the window more than any rule of thumb does. Four diameters, 6″ to 12″, to suit the common early-entry saws.
If the slab has already cured hard you want a soft bond instead — see the Pro Cured Concrete Blade. Bond selection is explained in the bond guide, and the full range sits under concrete blades.
