Workforce 7 inch wet saw for tile

[Ron Truitt]

OT: but goes with kitchen countertops so someone may benefit.

Purchased at HD.

Experience with the tool and HD:

1.Purchased off the shelf for $88 after finding out a one day rental for the pro grade MK was 25-42$.

1. Got home, unpacked the unit, noticed blade wrenches missing, unit had been used, and water tray was damaged.

2. Went back to HD. Got another. Opened at store. All OK.

1. Saw was noisy when cutting 1/4 inch ceramic but I expected that. Worked fine for the first 2 hours or so. Then developed an annoying habit of binding due to the blade guard sticking.

2. Finished day 1 of tile job. Decided to get another blade since the ones originally packed with the tool are often of low grade. Bought a 7 inch masonry/tile blade, Superior brand, on display with all of the tile tools.

1. Day 2: began by removing old blade. This was tough since there was not much room to work. Attempted to install the new blade multiple times but it would not go down all the way on the saw arbor nor fit in the blade space loose enough to move freely.

2. Measured blade: It was not a 7 inch but was 7 and 1 sixteenth. No wonder the thing would not fit. Put the old blade back on.

1. About 15 minutes into the new day of tile cutting the saw developed a nasty habit of slinging muddy water in your face even though the blade guard was down. This made it hard to see what you were doing and spoiled some cuts. The binding with the blade guard also got worse.

Bottom line and lessons learned:

A good quality scoring tool would probably be better for straight cuts. This would minimize using the wet saw and save both blade, sanity, and operator hearing. I did wear hearing protectors but a scoring tool would not require them.

I plan to rent a professional MK unit the next time I have a tile job. I have a feeling it is of better quality. It must be or the jails would be full of tile cutters who went beserk and wound up behind bars.

Tile job turned out great and together with the new Formica makes a totally different feel to the kitchen.

Female happy. I'm glad but prefer woodwork!

RonT

[Seeker]

Bought one a year ago , used it for about 60 tile cuts not one problem. Cut slow and keep water level at a minimum. Even made a table side extension for cutting 12"ers.

[Sean Dinh]

I had an MK, not the pro series. Loaned it out. Never seen it again. There were 2 things I hated about the MK. I couldn't cut uniform strips. They tended to end up tapered. The other was that it was bulky and heavy. Loading and unloading daily into a hatchback was cumbersome.

I like the current tile saw I'm using, the Workforce. It's quite compact. With the fence, the strip cuts turn out reasonable. Changing the blade is easy. Grab the blade with left hand, use adjustable wrench to turn the nut. Water spray and constants need of running water source are the bad things about this saw.

I cut some 20x20 tiles today. Cutt> OT: but goes with kitchen countertops so someone may benefit.

[Pat]

I borrowed a tile table saw for the last job. Did okay. This time I looked at Lowes and Home Depoes. Didn't like the looks of the fence. The others seemed expensive. Habor Freight had their $400 tile cutter on special for $200. Seems to be working okay so far. Changed the water setup to copper tube spraying on the front of the blade and hooked to a garden hose.