Bought some mosaic stone/glass back splash sheets to install in kitchen. The tiles are horizontally in staggered rows. I will need to even up the ends of 4 sheets. Will those hand tool 'nibbler' type cutters work okay, or will I need a wet saw? The tiles are 0.31" thick. Would hate to buy a saw, never to use it again. Thanks.
*I don't think you can cut glass tile with a nibbler. Check with the place where you bought them, but I think a wet saw is called for. I bought a cheap one new for the price of a rental at Home Depot years ago. Harbor Freight has the same model for $79.00 I think. It works well, but you can't go too fast with the cutting. Definitely not made for high speed production, but good for a homeowner. I did buy a better blade separately rather than use the one that came with the saw. I've seen handymen use a handheld angle grinder with a diamond blade for tile cutting.
I would not try to cut the tiles while still attached to the sheet...lay all but those to be cut. Nippers can cut. The little slots on the old-fashioned glass cutter are used to "nibble" away irregularities. Carbide tip on a Dremel tool can smoothe off rough edges. Or a tile or glass shop might cut it for you. I've seen folks having ceramic tile cut at HD. If the tiles are large enough, just score with the glass cutter, lay the glass across a small wooded dowel with the scored line right on the high point of the dowel, then press down on both sides of the glass....should break nice and straight.
Local tool rental place.
Thanks for replies. I will explore all options mentioned. For whatever reason, purchasing a saw was the only thing that came to mind. Glad I asked. Thanks.
hd will do cuts for you at .25/cut
Hey, my wife and I are doing exactly this. Must be a new-year get-it-done b= ug.
We have a cheap wetsaw--literally the cheapest on the shelf at Home Depot--= and it works brilliantly on the stone and glass mosaic. The glass cuts like= butter and the stone is no problem. I recall this saw being on sale for li= ke $50 and we're using a generic blade that we got for ceramic bathroom til= e. I recall that tile being slower to cut.
For long straight cuts, like evening the edge, I left it on the backing. Si= nce the saw table is too small to hold it flat, I just rolled it up and hel= d it and unrolled it as I fed it, and let it fall off the back edge after i= t was cut.
Around outlets we pried each stone or glass piece off the backing (which ma= kes a mess of the backing) and cut it separately, and then set the cut piec= es into the mortar individually. My wife is good for the finicky work like = that. Obviously each stone needs to be marked and you need to keep track of= where they go back.
In a few cases where there was a long piece blocking the outlet box screw, = I pried the piece off the backing and notched it with a series of short saw= cuts. Easy.=20
Chip C Toronto
Coincidentally, I just saw a splash with what sounds like those tiles that looked like shit (much) because the homeowner couldn't nip them sufficiently accurately.
They didn't think it was much of a big deal, so I think expectations might be a deciding factor. -----
- gpsman
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