Tile Saws of the Electric Kind

[The Medway Handyman]

That's a major consideration.

Seems like my 4" angle grinder with a diamond disc and a homemade holding jig might be the answer here.

[Christian McArdle]

I'm not so sure that this will produce as good a cut as a proper saw. However, I do use my diamond bladed angle grinder to cut natural stone floor tiles.

I reckon you could get away with it on small jobs with ceramics so had few complex cuts to do. If you were tiling with natural stone, definitely get the proper saw as you need it even for straight cuts.

Christian.

[Tim S]

That will be hideously noisy though - might upset the customer ;-|

Cheers

Tim

[Christian McArdle]

Not much in it. However, it will be EXTREMELY dusty. I wouldn't dream of using a dry angle grinder inside someone's house.

I would consider using the wet table type, provided precautions are taken to collect the water.

Christian.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Definitely.

They don't save time on an ordinary cut. Indeed they are very much slower than score and snap. What they do give, however, is a near perfect edge which might be needed in places and saves having to dress after a score and snap. They're also invaluable for cutting very small pieces off a tile

- both parts will be usable with care.

As regards make, I've got the IIRC Plasplugs Tradesman. About 40 quid. Deals with larger tiles than the small machines, and more power. I've cut bricks with it - and concrete paving slabs. You'd need to transport it with care though as I'd say the blade cover easily damaged. Be easy enough to make a protective cover for that, though, if you wanted to.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It adds quality to most jobs. Not speed.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Mine has a an adjustable protractor sort of arrangement which makes cutting angles pretty easy.

[Stuart Noble]

IMO angle grinding tiles must be done outdoors with a mask. That dust can make you feel rough in a way that plaster and sawdust don't. On a rectangular cut I scribe and snap the longer one to avoid using the disk

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm not a pro so don't have the transport problems but I'd not be without mine. I tend to set it up outdoors clamped to a workmate if possible. Plenty of light and no worry about mess. Of course not so handy if tiling a first floor bathroom, but usually fine for a kitchen. ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's nice to see a thread where most agree. ;-)

[Stuart Noble]

Yeah, I keep meaning to knock up some sort of holding jig but, as most of the rectangular cuts go behind sockets, precision isn't really an issue. I do them freehand but it's not my favourite part of the job.

[Tim S]

Odd - I wasn't aware that the tile cutter the bloke used to do my shower the other month was that noisy - not like my blue Bosch angle grinder that screams to the point that not wearing ear defenders would be positively painful. For one thing, his tile cutter had a much smaller motor and straight drive. It was only a little machine - don't think it would manage much beyond normal tiles.

I wasn't there mind - but SWMBO didn't complain of a hideous racket, and she would have done if it had been, what with the baby.

Agree on the dust front - his wet cutter left no traces of dust outside of the work zone and I believe he used it inside.

Cheers

Tim

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

No ones disagreeing,the point being is it worth buying one for his first tiling job for speed.

I don't know whether he's been to eye the job up before he actually takes it on? but in my opinion depending on how much the job pays is it sufficiant enough to pay for that tile cutter and still walk away with a profit? if the job requires a tile cutter then go for it but if its not needed at that time then leave it till its actually required and buy this time there might be sufficiant funds to aquire a more expensive piece of kit.

Jus my 2p worth.

[Guy King]

The message from Tim S contains these words:

I think it was the angle grinder he was saying would be noisy. And it is, too! And dusty.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

He also asked for any other benefits.

Like most tools it is an investment to be spread across many jobs. And a relatively cheap one at that.

FWIW if you examine closely any tiling done with score and snap only, you'll likely to find something not quite right. Especially round switches and sockets, or where walls aren't quite square. Of course this is likely down to speed as tiles *can* be cut accurately by hand - with skill. The wet cutter makes cutting easy.

[Tim S]

Ooops - apologies Christian if I read that wrong.

Heh - tell me about it ;->

Cheers

Tim

[Stuart Noble]

If you can see the edges of tiles round switches and sockets, then something certainly isn't "quite right". There's so much leeway behind them, you'd have to try hard to get it that wrong, whatever method you used. IMO score and snap isn't less accurate (you can cut a pencil line in half) and, with a decent cutter, requires no skill at all. Dave and I have been here before though. He refuses to get himself a decent cutter and I refuse to cart a saw around for 2 or 3 cuts. I regret it on occasions but...

[Mike Dodd]

They're not THAT large, and you should be able to plan what you need to take to any job.

Try it. Seriously. Then try it in front of your client.

I took my floor tiles around to my dad's when I needed a couple of complex cuts. He tried using a 115mm diamond disk. Pretty much melted and ruined the disk, some reasonable damage to the tile, too.

Get the proper tool for the job.

[Mike Dodd]

Completely agree with the above (and even have the same snap cutter as you!)

[robgraham]

It's quite possible someone has said this already and I'm not going to wade through the whole thread to find it, but I do find it alarming that you are about to go and do a professional task and not only do you not have apparantly the right tools, but you don't know what are the right tools.

You're a cowboy and I can only hope that has already been declared by someone earlier. Just remind me to put you inthe killfile everytime you appear here.

Rob