Content:
Tool for cutting tiles
What you need to consider when choosing a tool
What tool to use
Methods of cutting tiles
Tool for cutting tiles
The tool can be manual or electric.
Hand tools include tile cutters, or their progenitors – glass cutters.
The power tool can be universal, designed for various operations (angle grinder, electric jigsaw, electric drill) or special. Special tools include machines for cutting tiles.
What you need to consider when choosing a tool
Factors that need to be considered when choosing a tool can be both technical and purely domestic.
The technical nuances include:
- Need for figured cuts of ceramic tiles;
- The need to trim the end of the tile at an angle;
- Need for internal cuts or curved lines;
- The unevenness of the front side of the tile and others;
- The volume of necessary work.
Household factors include the following:
- The need for silence;
- Need to cut the tiles without dust;
- Availability of free areas;
- Availability of free cash and others.
What tool to use
We will review from cheap options to more expensive tools.
If there is no need for a complex trimming, and tiles have a flat front surface, it is quite possible to do with a hand tool. For those who do not have any special tools in their arsenal, the cheapest option is the glass cutter. The cutting speed will be minimal, and the same can be said about the quality. But if the amount of work is not large, and you are determined to reduce costs to a minimum, you can start with it and look at the results. If the quality suits you, you can stop at this. If you do not have basic knowledge and elementary skills of using a glass cutter, then the question remains, what to cut ceramic tile?
It is worth considering the purchase of a tool that can facilitate and accelerate the process of cutting tiles. It is important to consider the possibility and necessity of using this tool in the future. For example, the use of manual tile-cutting is limited only by this operation. In other areas, you can not use it. And if you do not plan on doing business regularly in the future, buying this tool is unlikely to be justified.
However, a corner grinder (Circular Saw) may well come in handy at home. Depending on the cutting circle, it can cut both metals, and wood, and brick, and concrete, and ceramic tiles. The purchase of this power tool will be completely justified.
Alternatively, a jigsaw can be used. It is also used for cutting various materials. Its advantage is the possibility of cutting along curved lines. This need arises when you need to bypass the plumbing sockets, sockets and other protruding elements. To drill ceramic granite tiles will need to purchase a diamond crown.
The Circular Saw can also cut curved lines, but with relatively large bending radii. In this case, decide how best to cut the tile, either experimentally or by having an electric tool capable of performing the necessary pruning.
The disadvantage of using the USM will be increased noise and the presence of dust. The jigsaw will also create some noise, but dust will be much less.
For a person planning to professionally engage in this type of work, it will be important to purchase both manual tiles and various power tools. It is necessary to take into account the version of the machine for cutting tiles, the price of which can be high.
Methods of cutting tiles
There are various ways of cutting ceramic tiles. First, we offer to watch a video about how to cut ceramic tiles and listen to the opinion of specialists.
Tile cutting is the fastest and fastest way to cut tiles in a straight line. First, a cut line is marked on the tile (with a pencil or a thin marker). The tile is inserted into the tile cutter and the edge perpendicular to the cut is pressed against the stop bar (far away from you). In this case, you will get a smooth cut at 90 °. The lever with the diamond cutting roller is pressed against the near edge of the tile and is uniformly moved to the opposite side. Then push on the lever (not much). The tile should break down along the cut line. If it does not break, you need to go through the roller again from yourself to the stop and press it down again.
If necessary, on the verge resulting from the cutting, unevenness is removed. This can be done with a spatula or other metal object of sufficient hardness.
Now we will discuss how to cut a tile without a tile cutter
Glass cutter. After you have passed the cutter on the cutting line, the tile should be placed on a flat surface. Under one edge of the cutting line, a nail of a small diameter must be placed parallel to the cutting line. On the one hand, we hold the tile by hand, on the other hand, we squeeze the level or rule. This method allows good masters to cut off strips, a width of 15 millimetres.
Circular Saw. This method has a number of advantages over a hand tool. With the help of a grinder, it is possible to cut relief tiles. After marking the cutting line, the tile should be placed so that there is no support for the cutting line since the cutting circle will fall below the tile. It is also desirable that the tile does not lie on a hard surface, but on a rubber or solid foam. These materials will extinguish possible vibration.
How to cut a tile around? To cut the Circular Saw there are special circles for cutting ceramic tiles. Their cutting edge has no cuts or waves, which are on the circles for bricks, concrete and other materials. Also, diamond dusting consists of smaller particles. These two factors contribute to the cut with much smaller chips. It is important not to exceed the diameter of the circle provided for your Circular Saw, and use a protective casing.
Electric jigsaw. This tool is used mainly if there is a need to cut holes in the tile under the projecting elements. To do this, the line is pre-marked, then the hole is drilled with a diameter larger than the nail file, and this cutout is cut out with a smooth approach to the target line.
The machine for tiles. What kind of disc to cut ceramic tiles on the machine? For the machine can come up a circle from the Circular Saw. However, the advantage of the machine is that it can cut without dust if a wet cut is used. In this case, a circle is needed for the wet cut, which has a corresponding designation.
Since the cutting edge is fixed on the frame in the machine, this method makes it possible to cut the relief ceramic tile evenly. More expensive machines that have a cutting angle adjustment allow cutting the tile 45 degrees to the surface, and some at intermediate angles.
Cutting the tile along the diagonal can be a tile cutter, and a grinder, and a lathe. The tile cutter will not work if the cut is not the full length.