Tiles chipping when cut

Attempting to tile my bathroom.

Got a bunch of ceramic wall/floor tiles, 250 x 500 x 7.8mm

Bought an el-cheapo wet cutter from Screwfix to make things easy, but when cutting it leaves a chipped edge along the glaze.

Been taking my time, used plenty of water, even tried scoring the glaze with a hand tile cutter beforehand, but it's not producing the nice neat edge I had hoped for.

I understand that putting tape over the glazed side of the cut line works, but masking tape just peels off as soon as it gets wet (tried frog tape and even electrical tape, to no avail).

Any suggestions on what to do here? Was hoping to get the tiling done this weekend, but at this rate will be lucky to get started!

Reply to
Simon T
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You might get away with cutting the tiles upside down. And of course pushing too much causes chipping.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Tried that too! :-(

Again, tried pushing forward slowly, results are much the same.

Reply to
Simon T

Without being an expert on cutting ceramics - it should be only necessary to use water once you're actually cutting into the tile. While you're breaking through the surface glaze at the start you can use the tape dry.

Basically with any tape the bond between the tape and the tile should be stronger than the strength of the glaze.

Basically the stronger the bond, and the more of a b*strard it is to remove after, the better. Although this may also mean you're going to have to clean up the blade during the cut. So choose a tape for which a standard solvent - white spirit etc. works. OTTOMH I'd imagine standard duck/t tape would do the trick although there's always going to be trade off between how much faffing about/cleanup you're prepared to do/how many tiles you need to cut in order to achieve the finish you want.

Presumably experts/professionals using the best kit don't have to worry about this.

Reply to
Moron Watch

Perhaps a saw is the wrong tool in this instance. Try the old-fashioned method of using a scribe and simply pressing down on each side over a pencil or whatever to get a clean break.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

Sounds like a tile with an unusually sensitive glaze, then. Not a problem I have ever seen. Unless it is a really dodgy blade? I assume there is no obvious axial or radial run-out?

Reply to
newshound

The grouting hides small imperfections.

Reply to
mechanic

Yes, I expected so. Maybe time to return it as defective.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

ks, but masking

ectrical tape,

The idea of finding tape with adhesive stronger than the tile glaze is very fanciful. Unless of course you're willing to pay well over £100 a rol l. But... how would you ever get it off! And the blade would be ruined by c logging.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

As does blunt crappy cutters. Some tiles also have kind of raised embossed pattern on them as I found out with some pretty pink flecked ones some years ago. Sods to cut due to this embossed effect. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

The cracking is caused by "shock waves", "chatter" or "vibration" running through the ceramic. The idea of tape is not to glue anything in place but to dampen this effect. Water cools and also dampens this effect too. You need a different disk in your tile cutter. Or possibly a small sheet of plastic to rest the tile on while being cut,

Unless the chipping is very bad, in practice after grouting it can't be seen. Put cut edges into corners and they won't be visible.

Reply to
harry

Further to above.

There is a difference in this respect between segmented and non-segmented cutting disks.

Reply to
harry

The glaze is brittle. Subject to a shockwave it will have zero strength across its weak points - where it cracks. That's the strength I'm talking about across the surface of the glaze, not the adhstion of the glaze to the substrate. Tape isn't similarly brittle.

In answer to another post in order to have a "dampening effect" its necessary for the tape to adhere strongly to the glaze.

IMO standard duck/t tape maybe cut into strips lengthwise to save waste would easily fit the bill. Removal would simply be a matter of soaking with white spirit

Reply to
Moron Watch

That's always been my experience too and The last few tiling jobs I've used a "cheapo" tile cutter. I think it was around the £20 mark when I bought it many years ago and yes it gave a slightly chipped edge to the glaze but was, dare I say, essential for cutting those tiles that have a smaller tile effect on the top where scribing/snapping isn't an option.

Reply to
0345.86.86.888

Is the ceramic edge of the tile perfectly smooth?

I'd try buying a decent blade first. Set the height so it is only just greater than the tile thickness. And cut very gently.

I'm not saying you'll get a 100% perfect edge to the glaze. For where that matters, use a suitable file or stone by hand, after cutting or snapping.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Thanks for the replies everybody

I tried a new disc today, which does seem slightly better. Still chipping slightly, but not so bad.

Tried Duck tape, which is supposedly waterproof, but again, lifted off as soon as the wet disc touched it.

Perhaps my expectations as to how good these wet cutters are supposed to be was too high.

Anyway, with a bit of luck, the grout will mask any chips.

Thanks again.

Reply to
Simon T

Without being an expert on cutting ceramics - it should be only necessary to use water once you're actually cutting into the tile. While you're breaking through the surface glaze at the start you can use the tape dry.

Reply to
michael adams

Even if that were so, there's a water reservoir underneath the disc, so the water starts spraying the moment you hit the on button.

Reply to
Simon T

And another update

The el-cheapo Energer wet saw I bought packed up today, after less then 3 days use, so took it back to Screwfix.

Whilst in there, someone else was returning another product by the same company.

I decided at this point to pay an extra £15 and get a Titan wet saw instead.

Think the moral of this story is to avoid Energer products.

Anyway, this saw is better but there's still slight chipping when it cuts. Guess its just how these things are?

Reply to
Simon T

Wonder how fast it spins? There's probably an ideal speed for the very best cut - and I'd guess slow is better than fast. I've got two - both Plasplugs and the larger one runs a lot slower than the earlier one. And I've never really noticed a problem with a rough edge to the glaze.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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