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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum
3.5M posts
151.3K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to professional construction and remodeling contractors. Come join the discussion about the industry, trades, safety, projects, finishing, tools, machinery, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!