Breaking Tile Edges When Cutting

Ponsse

Hey Guys, I'm an electrician by trade but my wife wanted ceramic tile in our bathroom. I bought one of those cheap plastic tile cutters with about a 4 inch diamond blade (it's a wet saw). My problem is that when I get to the end of my cut, the last 1/8 inch or so seems to break off no matter how slow I'm pushing it. It's not a big problem cause it's usually under the mopboard anyways, but I need a perfect edge in the doorways. I started cutting in about 1/4 inch from the other side first and then reversing it and cutting from the other way. It works but I was wondering if there was a right way to do it, or if it's just because of my crappy saw?

Dustball

Is your guide exactly parallel with the blade?

ChrWright

It's the saw.... Those little throw away saws don't have the a## to make cuts on thicker material without chipping out.

They're okay for thinner wall tile, usually.

Small blade, weak motor.

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firemike

Sometimes you can get away with cutting a 1/4" to 3/8" into the tile, flip it around, and cut the rest of the way from the other side. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, depends on the saw and tile. If the fence/table/sawblade isn't perfecetly square you may have problems.

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angus242

You can always rent one from HD. If you only have a few critical cuts to do, I think you can even rent for 4 hours. I believe it's around $50 for 24 hours.

Floordude

Dress the blade, by dry cutting a brick.

My MK will start that, and I grab a brick and turn the water off, and I'm back in business. I will also squeaze the tile from the sides, at the end.

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Bud Cline

On that type saw the last 1/8" (or so) is chipping because the saw blade is cutting from below and before it can get to that last little edge the vibration breaks the tile at the surface. Try turning the piece over and see if that produces chips on the top edge that are too bad to live with. If so then it's a bad idea. If not, then you can make those cuts you need up-side-down.

Ponsse

Thanks Guys, I'll try all your tricks and see what will work for me.

Thanks Again!!!

orson

It may not be the blade at all, I have an MK 370 that does the same thing because the tray is not flat. never really found a good solution other than cutting halfway through a tile and flipping it around since the depression was at the back of the tray.

Jay22

I didn't know that there was a cure for that until now.

Thanks guys

JazMan

In addition to all the good tips above, including the cheap saw, check to see if the blade has a slight warp to it. Look at it straight on as it comes to a stop.

Jaz

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Norrrrrrrrrrrrm

I was setting some 5/4 13x13 today and was having the chipping problem also. I notices the blade had a warp/wobble to it. The tiles broke at the end..doh! Is the blade beat or is there a fix for this dilemma?

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Ceramictec

this will usually do the trick I agree.

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