Cutting ceramic tile

[David Klug]

I'm going to be laying some cerarmic tile and I was wondering if there is a blade that I could use in my miter saw to cut it. What type of blade would I use or do I have to have a regular tile cutting machine with a coolant in it?

DK

[Arvin Brown]

Never tried to cut tile without using the standard tile saw with cooling fluid. I would imagine that you probably could cut it on a miter saw but you would probably need to get a diamond blade - kind of expensive. Probably cheaper to rent the tile saw!

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

David, I have used my 4 1/2" Grinder to cut tile, but I was working with 8" and 12" tile. I bought a diamond blade at the Depot, and if you are careful and go slow so you can follow the cut line, it works like a charm. Makes a bunch of dust, so wear a respirator and eye protection. If you have a lot to cut, it would be best to just rent a wet saw...........the sliding table these have would come in handy. Good luck, and be safe!

[Dan Mages]

You can pick up a basic wet saw at HD for about $90. I have one and it makes pretty compitent cuts.

Dan

[Richard Allen]

For straight lines it is easier and a LOT faster to score and crack (doesn't work on unglazed tile or marble tile).

For outside curves score and nibble with a pair of nibblers made for tile.

For inside curves and "shapely" curves in most any material a ring-saw is slow but hard to beat.

If you only have 10' - 30' of straight lines to cut and you are dead set on a saw then the homeowner wet saws for that purpose will work. DOn't expect to cut hundreds of feet of tile with it. The rental saws are a good way to go if you can plan your cuts so you do all the cutting in one day (for a large job that might mean laying all the field tile first so you are doing nothign but cut tile the day(s) you have the rental wet saw.

Good luck

[Jim Becker]

I used an 7" wet saw for my kitchen project with great results...and it's available if your job is large enough to warrant the purchase per my post in the SMC Free Classifieds Forum a few months ago. Make an offer as I don't have any tile jobs planned for some time and it didn't move when I originally posted it!

I do not recommend you try and use your miter saw for both safety and "mess" quotient. A scoring cutter and nippers would be preferable and represents an inexpensive and safe method if you don't want to buy or rent a wet saw.

[Dan Mages]

For straight lines it is easier and a LOT faster to score and crack (doesn't work on unglazed tile or marble tile).

For outside curves score and nibble with a pair of nibblers made for tile.

For inside curves and "shapely" curves in most any material a ring-saw is slow but hard to beat.

If you only have 10' - 30' of straight lines to cut and you are dead set on a saw then the homeowner wet saws for that purpose will work. DOn't expect to cut hundreds of feet of tile with it. The rental saws are a good way to go if you can plan your cuts so you do all the cutting in one day (for a large job that might mean laying all the field tile first so you are doing nothign but cut tile the day(s) you have the rental wet saw.

Good luck

I beg to differ! To date, I have ran 50 sq ft of travertine, 25 sq ft of slate, approx 200 sq ft of ceramic, and over 150 sq ft of quary tile on my $80 wet saw. This thing really impresses me!!

Dan

[Bruce Gray]

I have used a dry abrasive blade in my radial arm saw. That works, but is slow and incredibly dusty. I wonder what damage all that abrasive dust would do to your miter saw.

On my most recent tile job, I used one of the $80 wet saws (mine has a stainless steel top...from Lowes). That works very well. So far, it has cut about 100 linear feet of a very hard porcelain tile with no sign of wear and tear.

I also have a tile scorer... that is definitely that way to go for straight cuts.

[Chris Padilla]

I rented a wet-saw from the borg to cut about 20 green marble 12" tiles. I was done in 10 minutes since I had already pre-marked the tiles...the saw never even left the back of my truck. I couldn't believe how smooth and quick the cuts were. The guy at HD was shocked to see me back so quickly with the saw. $45 well spent!

The mess it makes is not to be underestimated...lots and lots of fine dust that can damage bearings (dries them out) and lungs! The water absolutely helps keep the dust down but even so, the back of my truck was white for a while!

I also loaded up a diamond blade (7.25" I think...maybe 7") in my trusty old Skil worm-drive saw to slice up some sandstone (soft, relatively speaking) and it worked very well...just very, very dusty.

There is also something to be said for getting some bits designed to cut holes in stone/ceramic. They can help make curved cuts easier...like around the closet flange for a toilet.

[James Carmichael]

You can pick up a basic wet saw at HD for about $90. I have one and it makes pretty compitent cuts.

Dan

Ditto that. I tried a carbide handsaw, whoosh, 30 minutes to go 2". LOML ran to BORG and came home with a $90 wet saw. Have I mentioned that I love that woman

BORG used to loan the wetsaw free if you bought tile from them, but they don't anymore. If you rent one, make sure they put a fresh blade in it. The first one I used was a rental and I didn't realize how bad the blade was until I got hold of a new one.

For curved cuts, you can use a jigsaw with carbide-coated blades, but the cuts should probably be started with a wetsaw and the tile backed on 1/2" scrap plywood while you work it with a jigsaw, otherwise the vibrations will break it.

[Mike Cutler]

David. I bought a tile cutting blade for a wet saw, made by Quasar at the local borg about 6 years ago. Part of the instructions on the blade were to not cut more than 4 continuous feet DRY! . I used that blade in a Dewalt DW 705 to cut all the field tile for our shower. I also used it to cut Minton bull nose pieces( $26.00 each) at 39 and 53 degree angles, with 38 deg compound angles to conform to our bathroom walls( something I could not do with a wetsaw). Everything worked just fine.
I will tell you straight up front that you will have to completely disassemble your miter saw if you do this to clean it up when you are done, the ceramic dust and shards get into every nook and cranny imaginable.
As a side note. I purchased that saw to cut aluminum for the shower enclosure. It cut alot of aluminum, and ceramic tile before it ever cut wood, and it still works just fine. My.02 YMMV.

[Jack Young]

David-

Buy Becker's saw and be done with it. Or a good wet-saw from the borg. To do ceramic tile correctly as a beginner was tough enough even with a good wet-saw, but I managed two large bathrooms (including most of two walls), a smaller bath, a powder room, the kitchen floor and part of a solarium in this fixer-upper with way less than 5% breakage. And the saw is still great with its third blade.

If you have a lot of cutting, consider a running supply of water both into and out of the tray. It's a bit more trouble, but the powder in the water, if too heavy, can kill a blade in short order. Good luck.

Jack

[David Klug]

Thanks for all the suggestions and info. I only have about 5 sq. ft. to do. I really appreciate all the ideas. I'll kick them around for a while.

DK

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David......check out you local rental store ....if you have a small area to do you can probably rent one for $25.......I've cut tile with one of those cheap composite blades installed on my circular saw...clamped upside down in my vice...I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THAT METHOD... the potential of that blade coming apart while in use is too great and unsafe!.....I've done several tile jobs when I rented tile saws with water cooling....works great! I currently own a cheap tile saw I bought from Harbor Freight....for a home owner/non-pro tile setter it works great! I've helped a friend lay about 2000 sq. ft. in 2 different homes he's owned using that saw. I loaned it to a friend who finished tiling a new house he'd built and he had one room left and didn't want to rent again. Also.....if you have just a small amount to tile to cut and if the finish isn't too hard.....the cheap "scratch and snap" cutters that sell for about $20 dollars work well! I've seen a number of pros laying at new construction site using them. They work well if most of the cuts are straight cuts. For corner cuts....mark....scribe with a glass cutter and use nippers which are relatively cheap! Good luck!

[James Carmichael]

Thanks for all the suggestions and info. I only have about 5 sq. ft. to do. I really appreciate all the ideas. I'll kick them around for a while.

DK

David,

Do like my brother and borrow one. I deliberately keep my tool purchases secret from extended family so I don't have to loan them out:-)

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