tile saws/tiles always so out of square?

[kzinNOSPAM99]

Cutting these 18" tiles yesterday. The saw itself was about 1/8 inch out across the full travel but fortunately this could usually be countered, with a bit of cleverness, by the fact that the tiles were also out of square, though not by as much.

All in all, while I got the cuts made it was really a frustrating experience. I expected to be able to set up square cuts against the fence and cut. Ha. Even the simplest cuts had to be setup by shimming the tile against the fence and clamping it with a 2x4 scrap and cardboard.

Is this how it usually is for these large tiles? Or did I just get a bum rental tile saw?

I don't expect saws, especially rental ones, to be square, but I do expect them to have adjustments to make them square. This saw, an Ihmer, was a single welded unit. Apparently that's sold as a feature, i.e. "It will never go out of square." Right, til the first time someone drops it out of their pickup.

[RicodJour]

Imer advertises: " The stainless steel construction of the Combi 250V II frame structure ensures a rigid, yet light weight saw. Out of the box it can cut 24" tile or stone to within 1/32", the best in the business!"

I'd be more concerned with the tile being that far out. You can adjust the saw for square by shimming or building a jig, similar to what you did, but out of square tile of that size would be a major pain in the ass - particularly if you're trying to have tight grout lines.

Always check tile saws for square before you take them from the rental shop. I stopped renting years ago because of such problems. Now I buy the tool and either keep it or sell it when I'm done.

R

[kzinNOSPAM99]

Incidentally, here's another question. How do folks usually deal with the fact that the round blade leaves a bit of waste that has to be trimmed out of corner cuts? I cut it out by cutting further than the actual cut on the rear of the tile. This works fine but I wonder if this doesn't leave a spot that says "crack here!". Do you all just clean it up by hand w/one of these tile coping saws?

thanks ml

[DJ]

I bought a small MK 170 tile saw for my kitchen tile job (4.25" tiles on backsplash). I had to cut every tile on the top row and had plenty of corner cuts to fit around electrical boxes. (Just counted the cuts,

94 tiles, some with two or more cuts).

I'd make the cut as close as possible, then freehand the inside corners by tipping the tile up to run perpendicular to the blade axis. Keep your fingers out of the way.

BTW, the saw was only $130 w/free shipping from:

The fence is adjustable but a little cheesy in it's attachment, I used an adjustable square to check it before cuts. All in all I am very happy with the saw.

DJ

[G Henslee]

Bum tile.

Bum saw.

That can happen...

[G Henslee]

What corner cuts?

[Mike Lewis]

I think the poster is referring to inside corner cuts where there is a small bit of left over rubble.

[dadiOH]

Do it as you did. The fact that the cut extends a bit past the corner doesn't matter, the tile will be fully supported by the grout, grout will fill up the cut too.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[kzinNOSPAM99]

exactly.