ceramic floor tile- need help cutting it
 

I am a fairly active DIYer and have done a fair amount of floor tile in my day. Recently the wife and I decided to remodel the master bath. We picked a 6 inch tile for the floor. I have a tile cutter from Home Depot, this is the kind with two parallel bars and a roller cutting wheel similiar to a glass cutter. I also have a masonary blade in my table saw I even have a carbide grit edge hacksaw blade but I'm in a jamb. I have 11 tiles I have to trim off 1/4 inch on one edge. I have not been successful with the tools I have. Do I have to get a wet saw to cut these 11 tiles? Every time I try to trim off this small amount I get jagged breaks or the tile cracks:mad: Even with the table saw the tiles crack. I can't believe I'm 11 tiles from being done. Any advice is appreciated.SmileWavy

Shouldn't need a wet saw. Here's some thoughts, from a guy who's broken plenty of tiles in his time:
1 - Try going real gentle with it. I found if I pushed on the tiles, I'd break them even with the wet saw. If I could go gentle and let the friction of the blade work slowly through the tile -- very little force on the outside -- it worked much better.
2 - Try a better blade. The best blade I have is a diamond-edged metal blade (can't go look at the full name right now, it's in long term storage). I had a 4" blade for my angle grinder that would do anything, but they make larger ones that will fit a table saw.

Um ... ok, I thought I had more good ideas. That's what I'd try. Good luck.

Dan

Mark them and ship them to me freight, I'll cut them with my wet saw and ship them back. Yeah, you'll probably need to rent a wet saw at Home Depot of some such place.

off the top of my head
you could try clamping a piece of wood on the tile and then run the saw blade next to it.

better yet get a couple of pieces of wood longer than the tile and sandwich the tile, then cut.

Gino

I think I've seen tile saw's set up at home depot (maybe not)

I've taken tile to HD and had them cut for me on a wet saw right in the store. This was a few years back so they may not still do this.

Only other advise is to turn the tile over and cut with the opposite side down to see if it stops the chipping/cracking.

Rent a tile saw or take it to a tile shop and have them do it.

How much could a saw rental cost for less than an hour?


KT

Better, yet.

Call a local tile contractor and arrange to meet at their job to make the cuts.


KT

Expanding on this, you may have the best luck with a smooth diamond blade versus a "toothed" blade. Mine is buried in the workshop as well so I can't give you a brand but I remember having much less chipping of the tile cuts using it.

Ditto on renting a tile saw. You can rent them at Lowes or HD for a couple of bucks for 1/2 day. The difference is the cuts look professional and not jagged, it that matters and you can't hide them.

I went through this last winter doing our kitchen. I had a POS home depot tile cutter and a carbide hacksaw blade, then an alleged tile cutting bit for my dremel.

Many cracked tiles and expletives later, I broke down and rented a wet saw for the morning, and did all of the cutting in about 30 minutes.

I got a wetsaw when I did my granite counter tops, but I did ~900sqft of floor with 12" tiles with the two rod and a scoring blade cutter that you have. You should be able to cut the 1/4". Go ahead and accept the jagged edge and then use a pair of nippers to trim that. With the nippers take off little pieces at a time.

I used nippers to cut 6" quarter round cut-outs in some of my tile when cutting around the drain pipes for toilets. The secret is to score the tile and take very small pieces out with the nippers.

Listen to Trekkor.

HD rents a wet saw for $30/half day or if your local store has one will make simple cuts like you're describing for $.50/each.

Tile nippers/biters are not for finish work.

I *rarely* use the biters.


KT

I have used a grinder with a masonry disk for small areas. Good luck with the outcome.

They do have masonry cut-off wheels for angle grinders. They work pretty dang good on the small cut-offs that are sometime needed for edges and such. I have had very good success with this type of setup.

4' grinder and a dimond blade is your answer. I have a better one, get to your local tile shop, bring a 6 pack of beer and get one of the guys to cut it for you. Many of them have a wet saw in the back. Tip. Do it just right before closing time.

Cutting straight cuts on tile is easy. Putting holes in them is an entirely different situation if this comes up. A local tile center charges $20/hole!! If you are using heavy thick porcelain tile, you will see the difference it makes in cutting compared to ceramic.

Get thyself to a harbor freight store and buy a 4 1/2" right angle grinder for $18, and a 5" diamond wet/dry blade for said grinder for $6 and be thankful ;)

Sammy I'm way ahead of you. After reading the comments I received it made me realize I have a 4 1/2 angle grinder just need the right blade :D. So I went to Home Depot this morning and bought a diamond blade for tile, it was $25.00 but it went thru these tiles like a hot knife thru butter I couldn't believe it. So my tile job is all installed just need to grout it. I want to thank everyone that replied I really appreciate it.SmileWavy