Hi,

In about a week I'll be tiling the bathroom. Over the whole house I'll be
looking at about 40m2 of floor tiling (eventually!) and wall tiling for
kitchen, bathroom and shower.

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...al-Tile-Cutter

(Sliding saw)

or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap jig and use one of
these for the awkward cuts:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...0w-Tile-Cutter

Last time I did any tiling, I used a hand scriber and a pencil (or somesuch)
to snap over, but that was the 80's and for one small space.

Cheers

Tim

In message , Tim S
writes
Hi,

In about a week I'll be tiling the bathroom. Over the whole house I'll be
looking at about 40m2 of floor tiling (eventually!) and wall tiling for
kitchen, bathroom and shower.

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...Titan-SF1180-6
00W-Radial-Tile-Cutter

(Sliding saw)

or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap jig and use one of
these for the awkward cuts:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...Titan-600w-Til
e-Cutter

Last time I did any tiling, I used a hand scriber and a pencil (or somesuch)
to snap over, but that was the 80's and for one small space.

Hmm.. cheap enough!

I have some 300x300mm 10mm floor tiles to do so might try one.

The Erbauer version has a more powerful motor and the blade is offset
perhaps allowing larger tiles to be cut.

regards
--
Tim Lamb

On Aug 24, 10:54*am, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Tim S
writes



Hi,

In about a week I'll be tiling the bathroom. Over the whole house I'll be
looking at about 40m2 of floor tiling (eventually!) and wall tiling for
kitchen, bathroom and shower.

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...Titan-SF1180-6
00W-Radial-Tile-Cutter

(Sliding saw)

or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap jig and use one of
these for the awkward cuts:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...Titan-600w-Til
e-Cutter

Last time I did any tiling, I used a hand scriber and a pencil (or somesuch)
to snap over, but that was the 80's and for one small space.

Hmm.. cheap enough!

I have some 300x300mm 10mm floor tiles to do so might try one.

The Erbauer version has a more powerful motor and the blade is offset
perhaps allowing larger tiles to be cut.

regards


The tabletop type tile saw is more than enough, I dont see a need for
the sliding type. And yes, they make tiling a joy, you get near zero
wastage, perfect edges, and they're very quick too. And of course they
do narrow strips and complex edges, which arent so easy with score and
snap.

I'd sooner buy erbauer than titan myself, screwfix have them for not
too much


NT

NT coughed up some electrons that declared:


The tabletop type tile saw is more than enough, I dont see a need for
the sliding type. And yes, they make tiling a joy, you get near zero
wastage, perfect edges, and they're very quick too. And of course they
do narrow strips and complex edges, which arent so easy with score and
snap.

Good opinion - ta.

I'd sooner buy erbauer than titan myself, screwfix have them for not
too much

The bloke in T Wells Screwfix was telling me that Erbauer is a test brand
for one of the big boys to trial new stuff without sullying their own name
if it turns out to be a lemon. I'll have to poke him and find out who
the "big boy" is supposed to be. Implication is that Erbauer products
*might* be very good despite the no-name name.

I've found Titan not bad for odd things - my 9" angle grinder is one such.
But it's not really a precision instrument

On Aug 24, 10:18*pm, Tim S wrote:
NT coughed up some electrons that declared:

The tabletop type tile saw is more than enough, I dont see a need for
the sliding type. And yes, they make tiling a joy, you get near zero
wastage, perfect edges, and they're very quick too. And of course they
do narrow strips and complex edges, which arent so easy with score and
snap.

Good opinion - ta.

forgot to add, the cut edges aren't sharp


I'd sooner buy erbauer than titan myself, screwfix have them for not
too much

The bloke in T Wells Screwfix was telling me that Erbauer is a test brand
for one of the big boys to trial new stuff without sullying their own name
if it turns out to be a lemon. I'll have to poke him and find out who
the "big boy" is supposed to be. Implication is that Erbauer products
*might* be very good despite the no-name name.

I think I'd be sceptical if told that


I've found Titan not bad for odd things - my 9" angle grinder is one such..
But it's not really a precision instrument

I always stayed away from titan, until I gave in and bought a cordless
whatsit. It performs fine, but the charger runs so hot it produces
mild burning smells and is too hot to touch. Live and learn.


NT

In message
, NT
writes

I've found Titan not bad for odd things - my 9" angle grinder is one such.
But it's not really a precision instrument

I always stayed away from titan, until I gave in and bought a cordless
whatsit. It performs fine, but the charger runs so hot it produces
mild burning smells and is too hot to touch. Live and learn.

I bought a Titan cordless drill from S'fix. Hammer action NBG but
everything else OK.

Battery life not overlong and cheaper to buy another identical drill for
spares. Chargers don't feel hot but perhaps that explains the short
battery life?

regards

--
Tim Lamb

In article
,
NT wrote:
The tabletop type tile saw is more than enough, I dont see a need for
the sliding type.

Cutting a tile at an angle? Although some of the table top types come with
an angle guide to help with this, they're not as flexible as a sliding saw.

--
*The longest recorded flightof a chicken is thirteen seconds *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Aug 24, 11:54*pm, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
In article
,
* *NT wrote:

The tabletop type tile saw is more than enough, I dont see a need for
the sliding type.

Cutting a tile at an angle? Although some of the table top types come with
an angle guide to help with this, they're not as flexible as a sliding saw.

Fixed blade machines can do angled cuts too, just not as easy to use
that way.


NT

In article
,
NT wrote:
Cutting a tile at an angle? Although some of the table top types come
with an angle guide to help with this, they're not as flexible as a
sliding saw.

Fixed blade machines can do angled cuts too, just not as easy to use
that way.

Generally you have to do them freehand. So not easy to do lots *exactly*
the same - unlike when using a fence.

--
*According to my calculations, the problem doesn't exist.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Aug 24, 9:57*am, Tim S wrote:

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...ws/Titan-SF118...


Aldi were selling that model for £70 around August/September 2007.
The remaining stock was reduced to £50 a few weeks later.

Assuming it comes round again this year, it should be any week now.

mike coughed up some electrons that declared:

On Aug 24, 9:57*am, Tim S wrote:

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...ws/Titan-SF118...


Aldi were selling that model for £70 around August/September 2007.
The remaining stock was reduced to £50 a few weeks later.

Assuming it comes round again this year, it should be any week now.

Hey that could be just in time. I'll look out for that - cheers

Tim

or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap

For ceramic tiles, yes, but a decent one if possible. I have a Rubi but
it looks like this works on a similar principle.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/64932/...e-Cutter-445mm

where the score handle also does the snapping, so that you only position
the tile once. Doesn't sound that important but, after 40SM, you'll
appreciate the benefits in terms of time and accuracy. It also easy to
mark and cut tapers, which IME usually form the bulk of cuts.
The edges are perfect (and therefore sharp) but, as these invariably go
into a corner or behind skirting or whatever, it doesn't really matter.
I usually do the tricky cuts manually with a diamond disc on a mini
grinder (IIRC there were just 2 on the last room I did, so it wasn't
worth setting a saw up outside for that).

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:


or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap

For ceramic tiles, yes, but a decent one if possible. I have a Rubi but
it looks like this works on a similar principle.


http://www.screwfix.com/prods/64932/...e-Cutter-445mm

where the score handle also does the snapping, so that you only position
the tile once. Doesn't sound that important but, after 40SM, you'll
appreciate the benefits in terms of time and accuracy. It also easy to
mark and cut tapers, which IME usually form the bulk of cuts.
The edges are perfect (and therefore sharp) but, as these invariably go
into a corner or behind skirting or whatever, it doesn't really matter.
I usually do the tricky cuts manually with a diamond disc on a mini
grinder (IIRC there were just 2 on the last room I did, so it wasn't
worth setting a saw up outside for that).


That looks a nice cutter. Yes - most of our tiles will be ceramic, chosen as
far as possible from the "clearance" section of various internet tile
shops.

Got a few slates around the fire, but only a few.

I'm planning on using edging trim for external corners unless anyone can
persuade me not to. Got some ali stuff, not the plastic.


Thanks

Tim

In article ,
Tim S wrote:
Hi,

In about a week I'll be tiling the bathroom. Over the whole house I'll be
looking at about 40m2 of floor tiling (eventually!) and wall tiling for
kitchen, bathroom and shower.

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...al-Tile-Cutter

(Sliding saw)

It certainly looks a nice bit of kit and would allow you to do virtually
any angled cut that can be a pain on an ordinary one. But how well it
works in practice, I dunno. The storage space might be a problem too for
some.

or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap jig and use one
of these for the awkward cuts:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...0w-Tile-Cutter

Last time I did any tiling, I used a hand scriber and a pencil (or
somesuch) to snap over, but that was the 80's and for one small space.

You'll get many views. Score and snap is much quicker - but doesn't give
as nice an edge as a wet cutter. More difficult to do repeating cuts where
you want tiles all the same size too. If you don't mind taking time - and
I don't - wet is best. But I can see a pro preferring S&S where time is
money.

--
*Gun Control: Use both hands.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 24 Aug, 11:22, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

You'll get many views. Score and snap is much quicker - but doesn't give
as nice an edge as a wet cutter. More difficult to do repeating cuts where
you want tiles all the same size too. *If you don't mind taking time - and
I don't - wet is best. But I can see a pro preferring S&S where time is
money.

Repeatability is not an issue with a good score and snap.

FWIW, with glazed ceramic, I'd use a wet saw.

With hard porcelain, I use a manual cutter where I can, just because
it takes so long on the wet saw if you have more than a few cuts to
do, and the noise is hellish.

In article
,
Bolted wrote:
You'll get many views. Score and snap is much quicker - but doesn't
give as nice an edge as a wet cutter. More difficult to do repeating
cuts where you want tiles all the same size too. If you don't mind
taking time - and I don't - wet is best. But I can see a pro
preferring S&S where time is money.

Repeatability is not an issue with a good score and snap.

Are you saying you get types with a fence? Otherwise it comes down to
skill - unlike a wet one.

FWIW, with glazed ceramic, I'd use a wet saw.

That covers most tiles. ;-)

With hard porcelain, I use a manual cutter where I can, just because
it takes so long on the wet saw if you have more than a few cuts to
do, and the noise is hellish.

Didn't find that a problem doing my large bathroom. And with the high cost
of the tiles I preferred the reliability of the wet cutter. No spoiled
tiles with that.

Of course it could be I've never tried a really good score and snap
device. But I'm not sure I'd want to pay a fortune for one given a wet
cutter will do everything it can and more - only more slowly.

--
*Don't use no double negatives *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Are you saying you get types with a fence? Otherwise it comes down to
skill - unlike a wet one.

It's an end stop rather than a fence.
What I'm curious about is how you do tapered cuts on a saw, the sort of
thing where one end of the tile needs to be, say, 75mm and the other
73mm. On the typical wall, the next tile is then likely to be 73mm/71mm,
and so on. On a snap cutter I can align the pencil marks top and bottom,
scribe, snap (20 seconds?). I don't see how you can do that accurately
on a saw given that you can't use the parallel fence.
In case anyone (Tim?) thinks that snappers are for pros, it's worth
mentioning that a decent one requires zero skill and minimal effort. On
the cheaper types where the tile has to be re-positioned between jaws
for the snap, it's difficult to get the pressure precisely on the score
line and, because you're pinching the tile only at the edge, the chances
of a clean cut are reduced. I once did a floor with one of those and I
think I probably wasted 20% of the tiles. Than I saw the light.

On 25/08/2009 12:17 Stuart Noble wrote:

What I'm curious about is how you do tapered cuts on a saw, the sort of
thing where one end of the tile needs to be, say, 75mm and the other
73mm. On the typical wall, the next tile is then likely to be 73mm/71mm,
and so on. On a snap cutter I can align the pencil marks top and bottom,
scribe, snap (20 seconds?). I don't see how you can do that accurately
on a saw given that you can't use the parallel fence.

You can set the fence to the non-parallel dimensions and cut the tile
but having tried that and finding it a fiddle (and very slow), I just
took the fence off, marked the tile with a pencil line and fed it onto
the saw freehand.

The fence has never returned...

--
F

In article ,
Stuart Noble wrote:
Are you saying you get types with a fence? Otherwise it comes down to
skill - unlike a wet one.

It's an end stop rather than a fence.
What I'm curious about is how you do tapered cuts on a saw, the sort of
thing where one end of the tile needs to be, say, 75mm and the other
73mm. On the typical wall, the next tile is then likely to be 73mm/71mm,
and so on. On a snap cutter I can align the pencil marks top and bottom,
scribe, snap (20 seconds?). I don't see how you can do that accurately
on a saw given that you can't use the parallel fence.

Hence the sliding saw variety. Do try and keep up. ;-)

In case anyone (Tim?) thinks that snappers are for pros, it's worth
mentioning that a decent one requires zero skill and minimal effort. On
the cheaper types where the tile has to be re-positioned between jaws
for the snap, it's difficult to get the pressure precisely on the score
line and, because you're pinching the tile only at the edge, the chances
of a clean cut are reduced. I once did a floor with one of those and I
think I probably wasted 20% of the tiles. Than I saw the light.

The one I have doesn't need the tile re-positioned - you just return the
handle to the rest position after scoring and press down. But anywhere
near the edge of the tile and you don't get a clean break. Needs to be
perhaps 1.5-2" in from the edge on a large tile. But then as I've said
there are likely better ones on the market - mine came from Wicks and some
time ago.

--
*Many people quit looking for work when they find a job *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 24 Aug, 09:57, Tim S wrote:
Hi,

In about a week I'll be tiling the bathroom. Over the whole house I'll be
looking at about 40m2 of floor tiling (eventually!) and wall tiling for
kitchen, bathroom and shower.

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...ws/Titan-SF118...

(Sliding saw)

or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap jig and use one of
these for the awkward cuts:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...ws/Titan-600w-...

Never used the posh (if you can call Titan posh) one, but have used a
random B&Q special version of the latter.

We did about 20m2 of slate flooring, plus walltiles for a bathroom,
plus my friend's bathroom floor and walls so far. Makes a racket,
makes a mess with water spraying everywhere, still going strong, think
we're on a new blade now, but not sure.

On Aug 24, 9:24*pm, Airsource Ltd wrote:
On 24 Aug, 09:57, Tim S wrote:



Hi,

In about a week I'll be tiling the bathroom. Over the whole house I'll be
looking at about 40m2 of floor tiling (eventually!) and wall tiling for
kitchen, bathroom and shower.

Is it worth going to one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/89584/...ws/Titan-SF118...

(Sliding saw)

or is it better to do as many tiles with a score n snap jig and use one of
these for the awkward cuts:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...ws/Titan-600w-...

Never used the posh (if you can call Titan posh) one, but have used a
random B&Q special version of the latter.

We did about 20m2 of slate flooring, plus walltiles for a bathroom,
plus my friend's bathroom floor and walls so far. Makes a racket,
makes a mess with water spraying everywhere, still going strong, think
we're on a new blade now, but not sure.

The erbauer is noisy when cutting but hardly any water splash


NT

In article
,
NT wrote:
We did about 20m2 of slate flooring, plus walltiles for a bathroom,
plus my friend's bathroom floor and walls so far. Makes a racket,
makes a mess with water spraying everywhere, still going strong, think
we're on a new blade now, but not sure.

The erbauer is noisy when cutting but hardly any water splash

Think they all splash if you don't set the guard correctly.

--
*i souport publik edekashun.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
NT wrote:

We did about 20m2 of slate flooring, plus walltiles for a bathroom,
plus my friend's bathroom floor and walls so far. Makes a racket,
makes a mess with water spraying everywhere, still going strong, think
we're on a new blade now, but not sure.

The erbauer is noisy when cutting but hardly any water splash

Think they all splash if you don't set the guard correctly.

In that case, it's impossible to set the guard correctly on the Topps
one - whatever you do it sprays everywhere. But still makes good cuts
quite quickly and easily, so I'm happy with it.

Pete

On Aug 24, 11:51*pm, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
In article
,
* *NT wrote:

We did about 20m2 of slate flooring, plus walltiles for a bathroom,
plus my friend's bathroom floor and walls so far. Makes a racket,
makes a mess with water spraying everywhere, still going strong, think
we're on a new blade now, but not sure.
The erbauer is noisy when cutting but hardly any water splash

Think they all splash if you don't set the guard correctly.


Even with the guard fully up theres barely any. I dont know why. I'm
happy with the Erbauer, with one exception. The measurement scales
used to set the rear end of the guard to the same position as the
front peel off on day 1, making fence adjustment unnecessarily slow.


NT

Airsource Ltd wrote:
On 24 Aug, 09:57, Tim S wrote:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...ws/Titan-600w-...

Never used the posh (if you can call Titan posh) one, but have used a
random B&Q special version of the latter.

We did about 20m2 of slate flooring, plus walltiles for a bathroom,
plus my friend's bathroom floor and walls so far. Makes a racket,
makes a mess with water spraying everywhere, still going strong, think
we're on a new blade now, but not sure.

I've got the Topps Tiles own-brand version - seems more or less the
same. As you say, wet and noisy but does the job. I repaired a missing
tile in the kitchen floor by cutting down one that matched in colour but
not in size, and you can't tell which are the cut edges and which the
original. I bought a spare blade in case the current one gives up during
the bathroom job.

Pete

On 24/08/2009 09:57 Tim S wrote:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...0w-Tile-Cutter

I used the Focus version of that for around 60 boxes of tiles and it
worked well. Certainly got my money's worth out of it!

Cutting tiles, in the garage, with the door open, in the middle of
February, with the gentle spray of water hitting me in the chest...

....doesn't get any better.

--
F

F wrote:
On 24/08/2009 09:57 Tim S wrote:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83636/...0w-Tile-Cutter


I used the Focus version of that for around 60 boxes of tiles and it
worked well. Certainly got my money's worth out of it!

Cutting tiles, in the garage, with the door open, in the middle of
February, with the gentle spray of water hitting me in the chest...

...doesn't get any better.

I am on my second diamond disc on mine.

The last straw after the 1" marble was the 1.5" sandstone paving slabs..

Its my angle grinder..

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I am on my second diamond disc on mine.

The last straw after the 1" marble was the 1.5" sandstone paving slabs..

I cut some red concrete paving slabs on my Plasplug - wanted a perfect
edge. And it came up like those polished mixed stone floors.

--
*If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I am on my second diamond disc on mine.

The last straw after the 1" marble was the 1.5" sandstone paving slabs..

I cut some red concrete paving slabs on my Plasplug - wanted a perfect
edge. And it came up like those polished mixed stone floors.

I've used one to cut fossils found on the beach and also to cut large
terracotta pammets when replacing broken ones in the hall floor. The
only comment made by the LBO was that the work looked "too good"
compared to the originals.