difficulty cutting tiles accurately

[DH05]

Hi,
I'm trying to tile with 40cm porcelain tiles. Using a new Screwfix snap cutter but the little tungsten carbide wheel seems to have a bit of play such that it pulls as much as 3 mm to either side as you score. There's also some flex in the whole structure of the cutter. In other words, after I line my tile up in the cutter, the score starts where I wanted it but by the time I reach the other end of the tile, it isn't where it was supposed to be. When you've got 2mm grout lines, a 3mm error is completely unacceptable.

Do I need a better quality cutter? If so, what's a good tool and where to buy? How much should I expect to spend?

Also tried hiring a wet saw. It tended to break tiles, especially when you got to the last 1-2 cm of cut! And it was extremely difficult to stay on a line. It seemed the width of the cut was exactly equal to the width of the blade giving you absolutely no room to "steer" as you progressed through the cut. (couldn't use the fence because most cuts were not exactly parallel to the sides of the tile). I ended up doing multiple passes gradually "shaving" the tiles gradually down to the line I wanted to cut. Very tedious and the final line was a bit wobbly.

Did I have a bad saw or what? I understand you can buy wet saws for as much as I paid to hire one. Is there a good product out there? Advice please?

 

[masona]

I can never get on with the tungsten wheel type for cutting tiles as you need a lot of practise with them, you have to use the correct pressure otherwise the wheel goes off line or jammed, I find it so much easier using the hand tool tile cutter as below then plier type for splitting the tile and it's a lot cheaper.

 

[DH05]

Really??? I'm surprised you can succeed scoring big tiles (mine are 40cm square) with that hand tool. How long does that sharp point last? I can certainly see that it would be far more accurate.

And can you exert enough force with the hand pliers? My tiles are about 9mm thick and require a lot of force on the long arm of my snap cutter.

Any experience with diamond blade wet saws (for more complex cuts)?

 

[masona]

My tiles are about 9mm thick and require a lot of force on the long arm of my snap cutter.

Ahh, the 9mm tile thickness wasn't mention in the post, this has been covered before using the saw tile bench, do a search on here for more info.

Depend how many you have to cut so might pay you to hire the heavy duty from the hire shop as they will advise you the correct tool for your tile, are they floor quarry tile, if so they are tough.

I use 4" angle grinder for quarry tiles

 

[Jasonb]

A better quality cutter will make all the difference something like a Rubi pocket 50 or star 50 will do if it is just for home use but their TS series are betterif you are using it regularly. you can buy different diameter cutting wheels depending on how rough the tile surface is.

http://www.xpressconstruction.com/dept.asp?dept_id=164

It just needs practice to feed the tiles through a wet cutter freehand without deviating from the line. If doing it professionally consider an overhead wet cutter like a Rubi DW200LP but they cost about £400.

Jason

 

[DH05]

Thanks masona and jasnob,
Let me understand... I take it you concur my screwfix tool might well not be accurate enough. Looking at the price of the Rubi tool (£130) that's clearly a different league from my £15 gizmo. On the other hand the "pocket" version is £30. Do you believe I will achieve the same accuracies with that as with the £130 tool? For that price, there would never be any point in hiring one and I should run out to buy one immediately!

As for the wet saw, it gave me absolutely no room to steer (I really mean none - the line you got was the line you started on with no steering at all). I was assuming my blade might have been worn or something. And then it always broke the last centimeter or so such that I spoiled half the tiles I tried to cut. There are home use saws available for £40-50 everywhere. Should I get one and try again?

 

[Jasonb]

I use the star 50 for 90per cent of my tiling as it is nice & compact when working in bathrooms etc. It will cut 300mm porcelain floor tiles corner to corner with no problem so a 400mm straight cut will be OK.

Again a mid range plasplug cutter works fine for me, compact and not too messy.

Jason

 

[DH05]

Jasonb,
Thanks a lot. You've got the answers I need!

I've been searching the web pretty hard to find the "star 50" you refer to, but no one lists it on websites. The link you gave me doesn't show it either, but it does show the "pocket 40" and the "TS50".

It looks like there may be at least three models and I can't tell how they differ: the pocket 50, star 50 and TS50. You're recommending the star 50. Right? Any other thoughts on where to buy?

 

[Jasonb]

Try one of these

http://www.dunkleytiles.co.uk/access-03.htm

http://www.wallsandfloors.co.uk/cl_rubi.php?order=id desc&start=912

http://www.bilbotools.com/acatalog/Standard_Range.html

You can also get them from Platform and Topps Tiles used to do them, not sure if they still do.

Jason

 

[DH05]

Jason, you're a star!