My neighbour and I are going halves on an ETC. Both planning to re-tile kitchen and bathrooms and a lot of cutting will be involved.
Local choice at about £34 is Plasplugs Compact Plus or Clarke's ETC6. Max size of tile will be 10" x 8". We're looking for the cleanest cut, rather than fancy gimmicks. Anyone had any experience with these machines.
Work will start in 2 weeks, so no immediate rush, so will consider any other models, which may be available on-line. Thanks.
Bertie
I have a Screwfix one which works very well. About the only thing I would say is that they are messy to use, as the cooling water tends to fly around a bit, taking tile-dust slurry with it, and slow compared to a scorer. I must admit that for all 'straight' cuts, I just use a bog-standard tabletop 'score 'n' snap' tile cutter. My daughter has just bought one such from B&Q and it was just 15 quid. Very well made and does the job a treat on the 8mm thick tiles she is using. I am only using the electric for very thin cuts where score and snap is impractical, and when just a blade-thickness needs taking off an edge. At a pinch, if you take it slow and are not doing too many like that, you can get away with doing that dry.
It's also useful where you need to take out a 'corner' - around the top of a door frame for instance. Rather than scoring both edges and 'nibbling' the unwanted bit out, you can cut the shortest edge on the electric, and score and snap on the longest. Or cut both.
If you are going to be using an electric a lot, I would also recommend safety goggles as, with the best will in the world, you are not going to be able to make some cuts, with the guard right down, and then little shards of glaze tend to fly ...
Arfa
IME a saw comes in handy for maybe half a dozen cuts in a whole room and, since these are mostly hidden behind switches and sockets, they don't have to be perfect. I get by with a mini grinder and diamond cutter, though I must say it's the bit I least look forward to.
Any tile cutter like this will give a clean cut so it's down to other features. Personally I'd go for one with a bigger bed - makes handling large tiles so much easier.
I've had all three sizes of Plasplugs ones and they are all ok in their various ways - although the middle sized one had a poor system of clamping the guide.
I had a Plasplugs until a few weeks ago (all tiling now finished).
It's done conservatory floor, bathroom floor and walls, kitchen floor and walls, study floor, hall floor. It's cut perhaps 100 - 150 *very* hard floor tiles! Behaved itself perfectly well, only used one replacement disc which cost about £10-£12 from memory. Recently passed on through the local freecycle.
Couple of things I found, the straight edge guide was ever so slightly bowed upwards in the middle. It was held in place with small serrations along front and back edges, and had a tendency to come adrift if you weren't careful. The straight edge guide wasn't much use with large (300mm) tiles. I found myself marking all tiles with a crayon and cutting freehand along the line. Works quite well coz the length of blade keeps you on the line as you cut into the tile.
It's extremely messy, water and slurry goes everywhere. I used mine in the workshop or outside to minimise the mess. A plastic apron helps, together with the oldest of clothes, and an old beanie hat (as I said, the water goes everywhere!).
It's also handy to use a waxy crayon to mark tiles when you're cutting upto a wall or into a corner. Pencil or marker pen tends to come off under the spray of water. Also, use a crayon that is a totally diffent colour to the reddish slurry. I used green, and it worked well.
That's because you obviously don't have a wet tile cutter. They are slower than score and snap but far more reliable - especially for removing small bits. And well nigh essential for hard tiles like porcelain.
I'd suggest you didn't have the guard set properly. It should only just clear the tile to minimise splash. So saying this may not be possible if cutting freehand - you have to see the line.
I've used them, but I put them in the same class as steam wallpaper strippers. Useful for the odd thing but usually not worth the hassle of setting them up. It's not a case of being more reliable. I know in advance what a snapper can do and what it can't. Sometimes I curse not having a saw but obviously I haven't cursed often enough to bother buying one, and lugging it around, and clearing up, and having to go outside to use it etc
BTW, I used a carbide grit blade in a jigsaw for the first time a couple of weekends. Excellent, much cheaper than a tile cutter & ideal for off jobs.
Just on steam wallpaper removers. I bought one to remove paper with the intention of painting the plaster, so it had to be thorough. Saved me
*days*.Rob
I tiled my bathroom with a 200mm tile that looked like 4 x 100mm tiles, and corresponding wasn't glazed all over and wouldn't break with a scriber. The Plasplug machine was great and also doesn't rust. You can also mitre edges with it. Rob
What make?
Chinagraph pencil works a treat and gives a thinner line.
Typically, where'd you get 'em? I used to have a ready supply when I was working, but those days are long gone.
Mine's in the loft because, to my knowledge, it's never saved me any time at all. Cold water soaking works just as well IME
An 'indelible' felt tip works ok. Stays on there ok throughout the cutting process, but wipes off the glaze easily afterward.
Arfa
You don't have to use it outside or clear up much in the way of mess - not really any more than from a score and split type.
Try cutting porcelain tiles with one. And they are very expensive if you take their life into consideration.
They are tricky to find, good art shops have them.
So would I. Cheap and dead handy (I've got two of each!)
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