cutting ceramic tiles manually ?

[ss]

I have just finished tiling the wall of shower room and used an inexpensive manual tile cutter from screwfix, perfect and no broken tiles (8mm). I thought I would measure up and cut a couple of the floor tiles so to start on the floor tomorrow. (polished ceramic 9mm tiles x 60cm long) I know for the length cuts I will need to use my wet tile cutter but the less outdoors in this weather the better. So I measured the tile and cut across the width (30cm) I did as per the wall tiles but at one edge a small corner snapped off, this was where I had the pressure bar located, fortunately this tile is for around the door frame and the broken part will be taken out with the wet cutter as I need to shape it. As the tiles are slightly thicker should I alter my technique or was it just bad luck. I scored as I normally did for the wall but did find the pressure required to snap was much greater. Should the pressure to snap the tile be constant but increasing until it snaps? Where best to place the bar that puts pressure on the tile to snap it? I currently place about 2 cms in from one edge.

[Chris Hogg]

IMO you will be far better off using your wet cutter, if by that you mean one of those little rotary diamond saw jobs. Floor tiles are thicker, as you've found out, and tend to be a lot stronger than wall tiles, which are soft by comparison. Floor tiles are fired to a higher temperature, and tend to be less porous. This is so they can cope with the pressure of being walked over; wall tiles don't usually have to cope with that. YMMV, but I think you'll find that you waste a lot less if you use the saw.

[ss]

Yes its a diamond rotary and I just bought a fresh blade. Thanks for the reply, I think you are correct and I will go with the wet cutter as I am only doing probably less than 3 sq metres when I take the shower tray area off.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I tend to use my wet cutter for everything. I know it is slower, but the better edge makes it worth the time to me. I like to take my time when tiling anyway. ;-)

[GB]

A friend of mine did operational research for a large building firm. He pointed out that the time spent tiling is not on the large areas but on the edges, because the edges are where the cuts tiles are. Even so, all tilers still quote by the square metre.

[stuart noble]

I recently cut some porcelain floor tiles on a saw, and the finish was bloody awful compared to a score and snap. The snapper worked fine until the offcut got below 2", then I started to get breakages

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A decent wet cut gives as near a perfect edge as you could wish for.

[stuart noble]

Must have been the tiles or the blade, but it was a decidedly jagged edge