Had to do bathroom ceramic tile. My first time. Could have borrowed some
serious tile cutters from friends, but, as you all know, nothing is free.

Decided to buy the following from HF.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3733

It worked wonderfully. Yes, you do have to slide the tile as opposed to the
cutters with overhead blades. Finished the entire bathroom. Lots of 45°
cuts also.

Paid $ 59.99 for the cutter and then I saw it for sale at $ 39.99. Called
HF and asked them if they would do a price reductions. Yes, all you need is
your receipt and a purchase date that is 30 days or less. Got my $ 20 back.

I know that you get what you pay for, and in this case, this little baby
matched the job on hand.

BTW, I never use the scales to set my table saw fence. Too inaccurate. I
decided to check out the scales (scale at both top and bottom of locking
fence) on the tile saw and they were spot on. What a delight.

Ivan Vegvary

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:09:48 GMT, the infamous "Ivan Vegvary"
scrawled the following:

Had to do bathroom ceramic tile. My first time. Could have borrowed some
serious tile cutters from friends, but, as you all know, nothing is free.

Decided to buy the following from HF.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3733

It worked wonderfully. Yes, you do have to slide the tile as opposed to the
cutters with overhead blades. Finished the entire bathroom. Lots of 45°
cuts also.

How accurate is the alignment, both for straight and 45° cuts?


Paid $ 59.99 for the cutter and then I saw it for sale at $ 39.99. Called
HF and asked them if they would do a price reductions. Yes, all you need is
your receipt and a purchase date that is 30 days or less. Got my $ 20 back.

I know that you get what you pay for, and in this case, this little baby
matched the job on hand.

That's great news. How quicky does it cut a tile in half, Ivan?


BTW, I never use the scales to set my table saw fence. Too inaccurate. I
decided to check out the scales (scale at both top and bottom of locking
fence) on the tile saw and they were spot on. What a delight.

Indeed!

--
Even with the best of maps and instruments,
we can never fully chart our journeys.
-- Gail Pool

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message

Harbor Freight like all the import sellers it great only you shop carefully.

If someone is good at examining and evaluating a tool by visual inspection
only,

or has a need for limited use tools where top quality does not save them
money in the long run,

or has a need for disposable tools. They are terrific!

Seems the only people unsatisfied with importers are the people that are
either looking for something for nothing, or unskilled at evaluating tools,
their needs or their budget.

Because even at their best, many of the items in an import store are junk,
and you have to know how and when to avoid them.

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:09:48 GMT, "Ivan Vegvary"
wrote:

Had to do bathroom ceramic tile. My first time. Could have borrowed some
serious tile cutters from friends, but, as you all know, nothing is free.

Decided to buy the following from HF.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3733

It worked wonderfully. Yes, you do have to slide the tile as opposed to the
cutters with overhead blades. Finished the entire bathroom. Lots of 45°
cuts also.

Paid $ 59.99 for the cutter and then I saw it for sale at $ 39.99. Called
HF and asked them if they would do a price reductions. Yes, all you need is
your receipt and a purchase date that is 30 days or less. Got my $ 20 back.

I know that you get what you pay for, and in this case, this little baby
matched the job on hand.

BTW, I never use the scales to set my table saw fence. Too inaccurate. I
decided to check out the scales (scale at both top and bottom of locking
fence) on the tile saw and they were spot on. What a delight.

Harbor Freight makes serviceable power tools that will handle the
average DIY job - the problem is that they aren't built for any abuse
or daily Nine To Five duty. Lots of stuff that's sleeve bearings
where you would use ball on a true heavy duty tool. And the repair
parts situation can be extremely variable.

I have several HF items, but for 'mission critical' things you
either need two (or three...) on hand, or a Real Tool.

I use DeWalt 18V drills, not HF - I don't want the damn thing
crapping out on me after I've crawled 100' back into the corner of the
attic - because then I have to crawl out, find a replacement, and
crawl back in again, and it'll be another 20 degrees hotter up there
by the time I do that...

-- Bruce --

"Bruce L. Bergman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:09:48 GMT, "Ivan Vegvary"

I use DeWalt 18V drills, not HF - I don't want the damn thing
crapping out on me after I've crawled 100' back into the corner of the
attic - because then I have to crawl out, find a replacement, and
crawl back in again, and it'll be another 20 degrees hotter up there
by the time I do that...

I quit using those Black & Decker er... DeWalt drills for that reason. For
me it was the chuck. Unless they have changed them in the last several
years they have a non standard chuck, and replacement parts were not as
close as my local equipment store. I'm a communications contractor and all
drills will get dropped. Its how many times before they break and if they
can be be repaired that makes the difference for me. I pretty much use only
the Milwaukee 18s now, and have for several years.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...

How accurate is the alignment, both for straight and 45° cuts?

I cut straight pieces to within a 32nd of an inch. 1/16th would have been
good enough. The 45° were very close. On a full tile (4 inch) they were
spot on. On my trim tile pieces (two inch wide band) you had to hold the
tile really tight against the plastic slide. Not a problem.

That's great news. How quicky does it cut a tile in half, Ivan?

I wasn't pushing it. About three seconds to make a 4 inch long cut, full
depth.

Ivan Vegvary

"Edwin Lester" wrote in message
m...

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message

Harbor Freight like all the import sellers it great only you shop
carefully.

If someone is good at examining and evaluating a tool by visual inspection
only,

or has a need for limited use tools where top quality does not save them
money in the long run,

or has a need for disposable tools. They are terrific!

Seems the only people unsatisfied with importers are the people that are
either looking for something for nothing, or unskilled at evaluating
tools, their needs or their budget.

Because even at their best, many of the items in an import store are junk,
and you have to know how and when to avoid them.


to elaborate on above - I just returned a batch of bar clamps - made with an
aluminum extensible square channel - seemed like a good idea, but the
ratchet that allows adjusting the clamp was pot metal of some kind and
sheared off on one clamp the first time I used it. Another one (out of 4)
jammed so I couldn't turn the screw to tighten (this is for furniture work),
and the other two left such deep impressions in teh alumunum from the
ratchet (no, I didn't overtighten) that it was clear they wouldn't last
long. So, some HF stuff is good, some is great, and some is just plain
junk.

"Ivan Vegvary" wrote in message
...

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...

How accurate is the alignment, both for straight and 45° cuts?

I cut straight pieces to within a 32nd of an inch. 1/16th would have been
good enough. The 45° were very close. On a full tile (4 inch) they were
spot on. On my trim tile pieces (two inch wide band) you had to hold the
tile really tight against the plastic slide. Not a problem.

That's great news. How quicky does it cut a tile in half, Ivan?

I wasn't pushing it. About three seconds to make a 4 inch long cut, full
depth.

Ivan Vegvary

I have two bathrooms to tile, would you like to come and visit for a while?
....and bring your tile saw?

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:42:38 GMT, the infamous "Ivan Vegvary"
scrawled the following:


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .

How accurate is the alignment, both for straight and 45° cuts?

I cut straight pieces to within a 32nd of an inch. 1/16th would have been
good enough. The 45° were very close. On a full tile (4 inch) they were
spot on. On my trim tile pieces (two inch wide band) you had to hold the
tile really tight against the plastic slide. Not a problem.

Great.


That's great news. How quicky does it cut a tile in half, Ivan?

I wasn't pushing it. About three seconds to make a 4 inch long cut, full
depth.

Buttery Goodness! That's good. Diamond blade life?

--
Even with the best of maps and instruments,
we can never fully chart our journeys.
-- Gail Pool

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:51:06 -0500, the infamous "Buerste"
scrawled the following:


"Ivan Vegvary" wrote in message
...

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...

How accurate is the alignment, both for straight and 45° cuts?

I cut straight pieces to within a 32nd of an inch. 1/16th would have been
good enough. The 45° were very close. On a full tile (4 inch) they were
spot on. On my trim tile pieces (two inch wide band) you had to hold the
tile really tight against the plastic slide. Not a problem.

That's great news. How quicky does it cut a tile in half, Ivan?

I wasn't pushing it. About three seconds to make a 4 inch long cut, full
depth.

Ivan Vegvary

I have two bathrooms to tile, would you like to come and visit for a while?
...and bring your tile saw?

If you didn't live in Cleavage and it wasn't in the middle of icy
winter, someone might take you up on that, Tawm.

--
Even with the best of maps and instruments,
we can never fully chart our journeys.
-- Gail Pool

On Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:51:06 -0500, "Buerste" wrote:


"Ivan Vegvary" wrote in message
...

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...

How accurate is the alignment, both for straight and 45° cuts?

I cut straight pieces to within a 32nd of an inch. 1/16th would have been
good enough. The 45° were very close. On a full tile (4 inch) they were
spot on. On my trim tile pieces (two inch wide band) you had to hold the
tile really tight against the plastic slide. Not a problem.

That's great news. How quicky does it cut a tile in half, Ivan?

I wasn't pushing it. About three seconds to make a 4 inch long cut, full
depth.

Ivan Vegvary

I have two bathrooms to tile, would you like to come and visit for a while?
...and bring your tile saw?

Go get your own, they aren't that much. Then you'll start looking
at trhe kitchen counters and seeing all the mess-ups and stupid
shortcuts and corners they filled in with a big wad of grout instead
of making the coves meet...

I like the "bridge" style saw with the larger diamond blade and the
sliding table, easier to cut 12" floor sized tiles.

-- Bruce --

"Bill Noble" wrote

So, some HF stuff is good, some is great, and some is just plain
junk.

I needed a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeely long tape measure to mark some property. I
looked at some, and they were spendy, and that is putting it lightly. I was
at HF on some other mission, and found one that was about 165' long, made of
fiberglass, and had a plastic reel. I think I paid $15, or less. I used
the thing, figuring it would last as long as the job, and that would be
worth it. I have had it for years now, occasionally using it for long
measuring jobs. If I had it in the truck and used it every day, I'm sure it
wouldn't last for as long, but there are those items where a cheap one is as
good as an expensive one for the job one is going to do. I have gone to the
Borg stores, and bought nice specialized tools, and paid the price, and have
some from HF that work as well, and some from garage sales that are from
another era that will outlive them both, and cost pennies on the dollar of
what they want new.

Steve

On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 09:57:10 -0700, the infamous "SteveB"
scrawled the following:


"Bill Noble" wrote

So, some HF stuff is good, some is great, and some is just plain
junk.

I needed a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeely long tape measure to mark some property. I
looked at some, and they were spendy, and that is putting it lightly. I was
at HF on some other mission, and found one that was about 165' long, made of
fiberglass, and had a plastic reel. I think I paid $15, or less. I used
the thing, figuring it would last as long as the job, and that would be
worth it. I have had it for years now, occasionally using it for long
measuring jobs. If I had it in the truck and used it every day, I'm sure it
wouldn't last for as long, but there are those items where a cheap one is as
good as an expensive one for the job one is going to do. I have gone to the
Borg stores, and bought nice specialized tools, and paid the price, and have
some from HF that work as well, and some from garage sales that are from
another era that will outlive them both, and cost pennies on the dollar of
what they want new.

I have one of those, too, and have used it for years. I recently
bought one of the wheeled jobbers which doesn't have the limitations
of the tape. I use it to measure out fenceline lengths. It's somewhat
cheaply made but should be good enough for years of use.

I had to return the HF 91201 (Greenlee-knockoff) knockout punch set.
The bolt was made with SAE thread tolerances, the dies with metrics,
but it stripped the second I got more than ten pounds on the wrench.
'Twas a real POS. I got my money back rather than trying another set.

--
Even with the best of maps and instruments,
we can never fully chart our journeys.
-- Gail Pool

--OTOH sometimes they totally suck! I've been waiting for an item
that's been displayed in the last THREE sales catalog but they still don't
seem to stock the item! Have back-ordered and had it lapse twice now! Object
in question: the ring roller. Sigh..

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Do us a favor and rescue
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : a doggie or three...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

On 02 Feb 2009 20:20:38 GMT, steamer wrote:

--OTOH sometimes they totally suck! I've been waiting for an item
that's been displayed in the last THREE sales catalog but they still don't
seem to stock the item! Have back-ordered and had it lapse twice now! Object
in question: the ring roller. Sigh..


Hey Ed,

I wasn't interested, but I know they had them in stock in the retail
store at their warehouse/shipping operation in South Carolina.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.