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Wiki: Tile cutter
Tile cutter review has now been split into Tile cutter and a separate
review page for the various models. more feedback welcome... and maybe someone know something about recirculating vs non recirculating water cutters? NT There are several options for cutting tiles. ===Score & Snap Machines=== * Faster than diamond blade saws * Significant waste due to tile breakage, though the better oones do much better * The cut edge of the tile is sharp, a stroke or 2 with a carborundum stone makes it safe. * Machines that need the tile repositioned between score and snap operations are hard to line up correctly, resulting in even more breakage & waste * can't cut narrow strips, minimum size is anywhere from 0.5" - 2" to avoid breakage. * The size of the machine limits the size of tile that can be worked on, especially with diagonal cuts. * Won't cut some types of tile, eg friable tiles like travertine marble, or heavy textured tiles. * Quality and longevity of machines varies. One contributor recommends Montolit. ===Hand held scorers=== These are just a handle with a piece of sharp Tungsten Carbide (TC) or a steel wheel. * Lowest cost tile cutter * not recommended on uk.d-i-y * Snapping pressure tends not to follow the score accurately, causing more breakage loss than with the score and snap machines. * steel cutting wheels are replaceable, TC bits are regrindable with care and a diamond disc Cutting: # Pencil the cut line # place a straight edge on the tile # Score # Put the scored line sitting on matchsticks # snap tile. Pressing right over the score line causes less breakage ===Diamond table saws=== * These cut tiles quite quickly, but never as fast as score & snap. * There is close to zero wastage due to breaking * Thin tile strips can be cut no problem * All wet diamond tile saws are very noisy when cutting a tile, use ear protection * The cut edge is safe rather than sharp * The typical £30-50 cost soon pays for itself in tile savings * Usually the table tilts to enable angled cuts * When close to the end of the cut, to avoid a snapped corner its necessary to reduce tile speed greatly and apply even force very gently to both sides of the tile. This should yield a perfect cut * Cuts at an angle can be done by just following a pencil line by eye * A pencil line may be washed off during cutting, a chinagraph pencil or waterproof marker solves this. * For straight cuts, the fence is used * For repeated precision angled cuts, make a tile holder using a thin piece of board and either a few [[screws]] to put the tile against, or a strip of wood as a stop. * Blade cutting rather than score & snap is a necessity for marble * recomended for porcelain * These saws produce water spray, especially as the blade spins down, making a minor mess. * There are water recirculating designs and non recirculating designs, hopefully someone will explain the difference * These readily produce relatively complex shaped cuts, including notches, L shape cuts, curves etc. * Some recommend using the machine on a dust sheet to prevent dirty water staining floor coverings. * Keep a cloth nearby to wipe ceramic and water slurry off the cut tile. * Eye protection is recommended, but often ignored These saws can generally also be used to cut * concrete slabs * stone slabs * marble * roof tiles * fossils * lumps of quartz for decoration * flints for decorative walling, etc * All metals * sharpening & grinding tiny items only * attempts at cutting used glass just about worked, but badly ===Larger Diamond blade saws=== * A sliding cutting head makes angled cuts easier * Sliding table saws work well too. ===Manual saws=== Abrasive grit hand [[saw]]s can cut just about any shape, so are used for the most difficult cuts. Not many tiling jobs need this though. ===Hammer=== A hammer has one tile cutting application, and that's to produce mosaic tiles. Place whole or part tiles upside down, cover with a cloth, and bash with a hammer. The mix of resulting shapes is well suited to artistic work. Very sharp edges sometimes occur, don't handle carelessly. If what you want is a square matrix of mosaic tiles, buying them ready stuck to string backing is a lot quicker to work with. ===Others=== [[Angle grinder]]s in a stand are sometimes used to cut tiles. These setups are far from ideal, and the blade can easily overheat, causing blade buckling & tile breakage. There is also no way to easily slide the tile, no guarding, no alignment scales etc. Not really recommended. Free hand grinders have also been used, sometimes with a good result. These have similar downsides. [[Die grinder]]s are also used to cut tiles, within limits. Progress is very slow, and doing lots of tiles this way isn't practical. Used in combination with a score and snap machine for making L shaped cuts. Use the grinder for the shorter cut, then score and snap the long cut. The tool pieces to use are diamond cutting disc and abrasive stone. ==See Also== * [[Drill bit|Drilling tiles]] * [[Tile cutter review]] * [[Special:Allpages|Wiki Contents]] * [[Special:Categories|Wiki Subject Categories]] [[Category:Tiling]] [[Category:Tools]] |
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