Best way to cut tiles

Hi. the weekend warrior renno is progressing. Now I need to do some tiling. We are looking at using some big thick floor tiles. We will probably need to cut about 40mm off each one. I cant do this with a tile cutter - will need to saw them. I could hire a tile saw - but I generally prefer to buy rather then hire if at all possible. I'm wondering about using my old, otherwise sidelined triton workbench, and fitting some sort of tile cutting blade, and cutting them dry. I have a very powerful Makita circular saw which which I could use.

Has anyone done this? Is it practical ? Any recommendations on saw blade ?

thanks
Arron

The cheapest bet is if you have a 4" grinder, a tiling quality DTA diamond blade is not to bad at around $40 I think. Just add water and a steady hand and away you go. Tile saws such as the Ryobi are cheap and come with a blade but the DTA replacement for those will cost more than the saw, however there are cheaper blades on the market that will suit.Hope this helps.



JohnC

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Originally Posted by Arron

I I could hire a tile saw - but I generally prefer to buy rather then hire if at all possible.
Arron

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At least a grand for a decent tile /brick saw to buy
when are you going to get the use of a dedicated tile saw again but i'm sure you will be able to find a host of mates that can.
as for the triton you won't be able to use water on the blade another can of worms.
hire it
or use the angle grinder .

I'd also recommend the 100mm angle grinder (XU1 brand for about $18) with a diamond blade (about $10 for a cheap set of 2 at Bunnies). You can dry cut them no problems and also do tricky little internal corners as well.

A cheap tile supermarket in Melbourne were welling DTA brand wet carriage diamond saws. They included a sump for all the water, pump and 8 or 10 inch diamond blade. These were going out the door for approx $250 - 300. Bunnies was selling a table type saw wet saw ranging from $70 for GMC to $700 for trade quality.

I used DTA table wet saw to cut 100's of metres of floor and wall tiles for a recent room fitout. They are well worth the additional cost.

I used my angle grinder with diamond tile blade to make one internal cut and was not happy with chipping caused by the speed of the blade. Oh well its up to you.

cheers

Angle grinder. not my choice

Yes cuts the tile but straight right angles, no chance. :mad:

The tile saws from bunnies at $700 are perfect and can be hired for about $80 for the day. :)

A hand tile cutter in a jig for about $30 is also ok but some of the cheapies can be hit or miss they will do a small job alright but the size of the tile is limited. A good one costs about $170 and should last many years.

You should also purchase a pair of tile cutters, about $20, good for odd shapes and almost always needed.

The problem with the Triton is the speed of the blade, I have a feeling its too fast and chips the tile.

If you want to drill a hole through a tile then diamond saw holes are perfect but expensive.

Good Luck

Pulpo

I laid about 40 M2 of tiles some 4 years ago, and hired a tile cutter, no extra charge for the wear of the blade etc. cut all the tiles (about 80) in the morning, and returned the unit. All up cost $35, which I thought was well worth while

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I cant do this with a tile cutter

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Why not? That's how tilers do it ;)

If you're going to do it with the grinder, use an offcut as a 'fence'. You can stand on it and use it to guide the blade. Good luck getting a nice finish though.

In a prior marriage we had every floor throughout our home tiled (over 170m2 laid by muggins me) and all I used was an angle grinder and a $20 blade.

I was told by the tile supplier when choosing a blade not to use dry cutting blades that are segmented around the cutting edge as you are more likely to get chatter in the cut and a more ragged edge.
Jack

Hi,

I have now finished using my recently purchased tile cutting machine from Bunnings and I was very pleased with it.

Anyway the reason for posting is to ask when would one know when to change (dump) their diamond cutter?, mine was still cutting OK but the grit on the side faces has nearly gone. I have attached a picture of the one I used.

Is there a particular brand one should go for (value for money)?.

Thanking those who kindly reply to my queries;).

Regards
David

metalhead, I have also used a $80 tile saw (Ryobi) for some time and I have been happy with it, although the bearings are very noisy now. The original blade lasted about four bathrooms incl one with a lot of very hard porcelain tiles. You will find that it will simply stop cutting, and that's the time to replace it. The one I got from Mitre10 was a Dynalink brand with a sintered cutting edge, they are not cheap, but this one is still going strong. I figure if I get that amount of (paid) work out of it, I can afford to buy a new machine every three years or so, it beats paying $600plus:eek: for a pro machine.

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Originally Posted by workgoose

metalhead, I have also used a $80 tile saw (Ryobi) for some time and I have been happy with it, although the bearings are very noisy now. The original blade lasted about four bathrooms incl one with a lot of very hard porcelain tiles. You will find that it will simply stop cutting, and that's the time to replace it. The one I got from Mitre10 was a Dynalink brand with a sintered cutting edge, they are not cheap, but this one is still going strong. I figure if I get that amount of (paid) work out of it, I can afford to buy a new machine every three years or so, it beats paying $600plus:eek: for a pro machine.

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Hi Workgoose,

Thanks for the reply - much appreciated;).

Regards
David

Metal Head,

How much tile have you cut with it? As workgoose said, it will just stop cutting, although as it gets toward the end you will begin to see more tear-out as the tile clears the final 2-4 mm or so.

That said, have you ever sharpened it? Sometimes the grit "seems" to be gone but actually just needs to expose new grit. I know it may be counter-intuitive, but you can sharpen it by cutting some bricks. I usually just keep a brick handy for the purpose and slice off one or two pieces when I start to get too much tear-out. The brick removes the carrying medium and exposes more diamond chips.

For an $80 tile cutter, you don't expect to get a good quality cutting disc. I changed the cutting disc on mine - had to go to a specialist shop to get one and it cost about $50 for a new disc.