Porcelain Tile Cutter

[schroedm]

Hi All,

Tiling most of the ground floor in a couple of weeks’ time and am looking at tile cutting options. As I’m doing this over a period of time I’m not sure hiring anything is a suitable solution so was looking to buy something not too expensive. What are your views on this? Has anyone used one? I often see things like this as being ok if you change to a decent blade etc. If that’s the case, what is a decent blade?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erb337tcb-750w-brushless-electric-tile-cutter-220-240v/134fv

Thanks
Mark

 

[Swwils]

Depends on the tiles and the cuts required.

If your using 30" tiles you might need a bigger cutter, if the tiles are thick you will need one with alot of break force.

It's worth investing even just for one job, as it will retain resale value in any case.

Make sure you also get a set of diamond pads and you can return a factory edge if required with a bit of effort.

 

[schroedm]

Thanks. I have 2 tile styles. Both porcelain. One is wooden plank designs that are 13cm x 100cm

The other is a travertine style pattern with the largest tile being 60cm x 30cm

Based upon that would the tile cutter above be suitable do you think?

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 292770]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/qep-heavy-duty-tile-cutter-630mm/29758?_requestid=498153

 

[schroedm]

Thanks!!! That seems to have some great reviews. I was under the impression that porcelain tiles needed wet cut/diamond blades etc to remotely stand a chance of making the job easy. I guess that’s not the case in reality with a cutter like that then???

 

[mrrusty]

Thanks!!! That seems to have some great reviews. I was under the impression that porcelain tiles needed wet cut/diamond blades etc to remotely stand a chance of making the job easy. I guess that’s not the case in reality with a cutter like that then???

Personally, as a DIYer who has done loads of tiling of all types, I would never use a score and snap cutter over a wet cutter. I'm sure that they can be faster, but wet cutters from a DIY perspective are easier and more certain to cut cleanly. My own experience with very hard porcelain is that they tend to shatter.

I have a big wet cutter and a tiny little plasplugs cutter a bit like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-mtc500-500w-electric-tile-cutter-220-240v/776fx. I prefer the small cutter because the wheel is thinner and takes less material out. I have regularly cut 600x600 It's easy to rig up a little supplementary support if you need it.

I would go with a wet cutter. It also allows you to easily cut awkward shapes by making slither cuts and snapping out the slithers.

 

[johnny2007]

Rent a sigma tile cutter for straight cuts.
Porcelain tiles are tougher than ceramic, but those sigma cutters work perfectly.
Cutting every tile with an electric cutter will be a pain.
And in my experience, even the macrist diamond blades start giving a rough edge after a few cuts.
So I only use the electric cutter for L shapes, usually covered by skirting, architraves, etc.

 

[mrrusty]

Cutting every tile with an electric cutter will be a pain.

I think this is the difference between a DIYer doing it and a pro-tiler. I agree, wet cutting every tile is slow. But it's easy to be accurate and the risk of breakage is minimal, so if your time's your own it's a fairly foolproof way of making a decent job.

 

[RandomGrinch]

As above, as a DIY'er, trying to cut 300x600 porcelain tiles with a straight cutter led to a lot of wastage!
The cuts were cleaner (when I got it right!) but the wet saw was a lot easier to use.

However, make sure you have some ear defenders and goggles handy!

 

[Deleted member 292770]

Thanks!!! That seems to have some great reviews. I was under the impression that porcelain tiles needed wet cut/diamond blades etc to remotely stand a chance of making the job easy. I guess that’s not the case in reality with a cutter like that then???

nop.

 

[Deleted member 292770]

As above, as a DIY'er, trying to cut 300x600 porcelain tiles with a straight cutter led to a lot of wastage!
The cuts were cleaner (when I got it right!) but the wet saw was a lot easier to use.

However, make sure you have some ear defenders and goggles handy!

In my experience theres no wasteage. unless your’e trying to cut slithers off like 20mm or less.
wet cutters are messy , noisy , painfully slow.

 

[Deleted member 292770]

Rent a sigma tile cutter for straight cuts.
Porcelain tiles are tougher than ceramic, but those sigma cutters work perfectly.
Cutting every tile with an electric cutter will be a pain.
And in my experience, even the macrist diamond blades start giving a rough edge after a few cuts.
So I only use the electric cutter for L shapes, usually covered by skirting, architraves, etc.

The marcrist blades are wicked. dry but dusty. less mess than wet cuts . won’t buy anything else.

 

[RandomGrinch]

In my experience theres no wasteage. unless your’e trying to cut slithers off like 20mm or less.
wet cutters are messy , noisy , painfully slow.

I will admit, after an unplanned change of ceiling height, there were quite a few slithers needed!

 

[mrrusty]

wet cutters are messy , noisy , painfully slow.

I totally agree, but they are also accurate, pretty foolproof, easy to cut slithers and random shapes, possible to easily produce tiles with chamfered edges (which is handy for e.g cutting slate tiles where you want a mitred corner e.g. around a hearth) and for a DIYer will predictably result in a near perfect job. I usually work outside with the cutter standing on a piece of cardboard bent up between me and the cutter to catch any spray.