tile saw recommend?

[franz fripplfrappl]

What tile saws are reasonable for consideration and which to avoid?

[charlie]

what are you planning to do? if you're going into business, get an MK or felker. if you're doing a job and then going to sell it, get a harbor freight.

[franz fripplfrappl]

I have a small remodel job to do and estimate it to be about 1000 sq ft of tile.

[Mikepier]

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Try a rental place. The place I rented a Felker from is $45/day or $230 for the week. 1000 sq ft is a lot of tile. Are you doing the tiles on a 45 degree or straight?

[franz fripplfrappl]

Mostly straight cuts. I tend to putz and renting may be as much as buying.

[Mikepier]

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Well let me give you a suggestion. When I did my kitchen I did about

400 sq feet of tile and backsplash on a 45 degree, and I rented the saw 3 seperate times. The Felker is far superior than the Home Cheapo saw. Even if you have mostly straight cuts, the Felker is better. It might be better to lay all you full tiles first, then spend a day or 2 with the saw strictly for the cuts.

[franz fripplfrappl]

Thanks. Splendid idea.

[charlie]

well, what's your budget? what size tiles? the larger the tile, the more expensive the saw.

a felker will run you a grand or more. an mk maybe around 750. a harbor freight may set you back 250, a cheap tabletop maybe 100.

for a single job, buy the cheapest one. the actual amounts of cuts are a small fraction of the whole unless you're doing mosaics or making your own medallions. if you're going to be doing any other jobs, i'd suggest paying more. for this, go cheap or rent for a couple of days which will be almost the same as buying a cheap one.

[SteveB]

As s;suggested, get a decent one, which you can get used for a decent price. Now that you have done ONE tile job, you have experience and tools, and will probably do more. No need to buy a better saw later if you get a good one now. You'll be surprised how much you use it, and now that you will have one, they come in handy for a lot of things.

Steve

[pipedown]

I have two saws from harbor freight and have used them for several projects on the original blade. I have the small plastic table saw style and their large overhead saw you pull across the rail.

I like the large saw, I could make diagonal cuts on the 18" tile I was using only it is hard to store its so big. Need to be careful at the end of cut to avoid chipping and the water pump is finicky. but a great deal for intermittent use.

I recently used the small one to cut some paving stones, just cut both sides and whack with a hammer to break the part between the blade can't reach. That's easy to store being only the size of a brief case. Works well enough for 12" straight but best for smaller tile. very cheap too though I didn't look today.

[<Frank>]

I have a 10" QEP electric wet saw, the one with the sliding table and rolling stand. Done various projects including tiles and pavers. Once you have it, you tend to find more projects for it. I like the QEP except the grease seal leaks on the sliding bar warranty is only 30 days.

I would avoid the big hand held Husqvarna gas saws, they were/are having cylinder problems. I have the 10" Husqvarna wet saw by Hilti, PIA to start and maintain, many burned up for no good reason.