Tile sawbench

I've got a tiling job coming up shortly so I'm going to treat myself to one of these nifty little tile sawbench thingies. As I haven't used one of these before I'm a little unsure what to look for.

The local sheds have electric tile saws like this one for less than 40 quid:

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also do a more powerful one:

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got any suggestions as to what to look out for when buying one of these?

PoP

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PoP
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I got the small PlasPlugs when it first came out, and recently replaced it with the larger one - Craftsman? Both do the job very well.

I'm slightly worried about the steel ones given that they are full of water.

The smallest PlasPlugs is now about half what I paid originally, so excellent value.

Neither of them have got particularly well designed fences - but work adequately.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

Professional ones here

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Reply to
David

amateur variety for the time being :)

PoP

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PoP

I'm sure a pro version would make sense for a pro, but even the cheapest Plasplugs one at about 30 quid will impress with the quality of the cut, and the ability to remove small slivers from an edge, which tends to be the most difficult part of tiling without one. Also, the 'offcut' can be used as well, as with care it won't break.

If you're used to a score and snap system, using a saw will seem very slow. For DIY, I don't find that a problem and actually find it quite relaxing using the machine.

You need to set the cutter guard carefully - not so much from the safety point of view but to keep water spray at a minimum. But even then you'll get wet, so wear something appropriate, and protect surrounding areas if they matter.

My favourite set up is to clamp the bench to a workmate and do the cutting outside.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

I'm going to be tiling a bathroom so my I'm planning my opening game to be a board mounted across the bath, on which the tile saw will be mounted.

Good advice though!

All my tiling efforts in the past have been score and snap arrangements. These tile saws have only really appeared on the market in the recent past as I recall.

PoP

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PoP

Make sure the whole lot is rigid, though - you don't want the saw moving around.

Think I got my first Plasplugs one about 4 years ago. It cost about double what they do now. I passed it on when I got the bigger one - purely because I had a job with big tiles which paid for it.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

They all work. Things I have found is that on hiring two and buy9ng one, the b;lody slide gudes al;l break or slip. So thats one thing to look out for.

Apart from thet its a motor and a dioamond wheel and a flat bed. That won't sadly be stainless, so wipe it down to avoid too much rust...

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

That's the beauty of the cheap and cheerful Plasplugs - as the name suggests, it's made of plastic.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

hire shop) It was easy to use and cut the tiles like sliced bread. As the tile is held still and you can see the cutting wheel as you move it, I found it easy to cut the corner off a tile. The machine I hired was new and had just come in to the hire shop. I laid all my whole tiles and then hired the machine to cut the tiles I needed round the edge. My only mistake was not to mark the tiles before I hired the machine, as I wasted time doing this whilst the machine was on hire.

I also hired a good quality score and snap cutter (also I think made by Rubi) to cut some 10cm square, thick wall tiles. (from a tile shop) This also worked very well and as a test I found I was able to cut the 33cm floor tiles as well. The quality of the edge was much the same as the diamed toothed wet wheel cutter. According to the instructions with the score and snap cutter you can use it to remove the corner from a square tile. You can also cut a central square! I used an ordinary 4 inch angle grinder to cut corners from the 10cm tiles to go round power outlets in my kitchen. I had to do this very slowly and I found it helped to keep the tile wet with a hose pipe.

The salesman in "Tile Magic" was unable to properly cut my 10cm tiles with his £10-£15 score and snap tile cutter.

Tiles vary in how easy they are to cut/snap. You need better equipment for the harder/stronger/thicker tiles.

Michael Chare

Reply to
Michael Chare

How much was the hire charge? The el cheapo Plasplug at about 30 quid will cope fine with 33 cm tiles.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

It cost £38.19 for 1 day - Maxitile 260 Diamond Tile saw with 200mm diamond blade.

Michael Chare

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Michael Chare

So more than buying one where you could have taken your time? I'm sure it was better to use than the cheaper ones, but at the end of the day they're quite good enough for occasional DIY.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

watch the spray ... the mix of dust and water is abrasive, if it gets into the bath and you wipe out while wet or wait till dry will take the gloss finish off a plastic bath......

Reply to
Rick Hughes

I would perhaps have looked at the PlasPlug had I known that it existed. The main alternative that I was aware off was to hire a fixed wheel cutter for more like £25. These were available from a number of hire shops.

The type of tile is no doubt significant.

What I did prove was that the tile snapper that I hired was very much better than the cheap snapper that I could buy at Tile Magic for a similar amount of money. The assistant in Tile Magic was unable to make a good snap of the tile test piece I gave him - break did not follow score line.

Michael Chare

Reply to
Michael Chare

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