Cutting tiles

[ppppenguin]

Not strictly wodo/metal but seems to belong here.

i'm trying to cut some very ordinary white tiles. I've got a pointy thing to score them with (not a diamond tip but it leaves a score mark) and then I try to break them over something thin. Was using a wire coathanger. Problem is that tile breaks almost randomly without the score mark seeming to matter.

What am I doing wrong?

Should I score just once or multiple times? Anything special about how to break them? I don't want to set up the electric tile saw for 3 or 4 straight cuts.

[pwdrive]

I'm not an expert in tile cutting, had varying results, I used to score them as deep as practical and snap them over a chunk of machined 1/2" x 2" steel bar I had, applying even pressure with a block of hardwood, that might not be the correct way but it worked for me but with varying results depending on what the base material of the tile was, some were what looked like red clay inside with the glazed finish, I lost a few plus I had a pile of quarry tiles to cut so I ended up buying a tile saw, I now use that for all tile cutting I have to do even if it's just one tile.

Good luck whicheverways.

Lawrence.

[Radio Fixer]

It will always go wrong it you score more than once !! The break doesn't know where to go. It has to be a firm good score in one go and that's where the tile cutting machines make it easy. They also have a means of snapping the tile as well. If you are just doing a few you probably don't want to buy one but a good diamond scriber is probably cheap and should give you a proper line, particularly if you can clamp a straight edge across it as an aid. Then as you say snap it over say a piece of coat hanger and it should be success.

Electric tile cutters make it a breeze of course.

Gary

[boater sam]

Firstly, hand cutting tiles is easy if they are the right tiles!
Floor tiles, thicker wall tiles, vitreous tiles  and quarries are too hard/thick for scribe and snap, hire a diamond saw with water feed.

A  pair of tile snapping pliers which flexes the tile on the score line at the edge of the tile will result in a clean break. 

Bending the whole length of the cut over a fulcrum such as a coat hanger will result in off line breaks or shattering as the tile hits the bench next to the coat hanger wire.

The pattern on the rear of the tile can also cause you problems trying to break them this way.

Tile cutters with the sliding wheel in a lever frame are OK but need to be rigid metal, not flimsy plastic. The wheels soon blunt too.

A solid point carbide tipped cutter is good enough, diamonds are better, but only ever make one heavy score line.

Done thousands of square metres in my time, nice relaxing job, but hated grouting!

[ppppenguin]

Thanks for all the advice.

They are thin wall tiles, 15cm square.

I'll dig out my tile saw. It's one of the cheap £30 jobbies with a diamond disc that runs in a water bath. Works well enough though a setup and stripdown is not worth it for 1 or 2 cuts. At the very end of a cut has a tendency to snap the last few mm of tile leaving a little nib on one half and a cut corner on the other. The nib is easily smoothed off. If the bit you want loses a corner that's a pain. The other minor problem is that the saw leaves a slightly ragged edge while a snap give a clean one. Only really matters if you're cutting to an external corner and can be fixed by cutting slightly oversize and smoothing down.

[Yorkie]

I've used a cheap DIY store tile cutting saw extensively for many years, but never added water or it gets in a frightful mess. I just vac the dust it of it when I've finished cutting. I've laid 30cm sq 22mm thick slate and quarry tiles at my son's house and tiled his bathroom floor to ceiling with 15cm square standard white tiles and the diamond blade is still good as new. If I've wanted to smooth the cut edges of the tiles, I've just angled the cut edge slightly, and gently rubbed it along the cutting disc to smooth the cut edge.

You can also get roller tile cutters with a handle to which you apply pressure by hand as you move the roller forward along the tile. Much better control than scoring with a hand-held cutter, but unlike a tile saw, they're no good for cutting shapes - only straight lines. 

(I also have a small diamond disc tile cutter, bought for £2.00 at a boot sale, which I use just for cutting PCB laminate, for which it works a treat).

Good luck in your endeavours Jeffrey.

[Eddystonepete]

A friend of mine cut some glass for me recently using a cutter with a single wheel, but with a wick down the inside which fed oil to the wheel. Seemed to work effortlessly, even I cut a curve on some scrap glass. My friends hobby is making stained glass panels. dont know where he got it but it didnt look exoensive.

Peter

[pwdrive]

I once used really cheap ones on building sites, for home I bought a mid price unit, mainly for cutting quarry tiles, it was this type:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsBBAeRVvac

Lawrence.

[Radio Fixer]

Mine is like that one Lawrence but doesn't spray water just the lower part of the blade runs in it. But the ones with the roller that you score by holding a handle and dragging across the tile are still essential for big tiles. Two years ago I tiled the kitchen and utility room floors with tiles over 300mm wide and 600mm long. Doing a complete long cut with the electric would have taken ages.

After I finished the job I fitted a new wheel and put the cutter on Ebay and recouped that way. Doubt I would have ever used it again and being very large I didn't want to store it. Still got the electric though just in case repairs are need somewhere in the house.

Gary

[ppppenguin]

I cut the one tile dry, omitting the water trough completely. Not sure which is worse, the spray of sharp bits of tile or the spray of abrasive slurry. At least I don't need to do a washdown afterwards.