Chiplessly Cutting Tiles

smata67

I'm using a real cheap wet tile saw, cheapest on the market. I'm cutting ceramic tile 3/8" or so in thickness. The tile is chipping at the end of the cut. It cuts alright all the way up until when the front blade edge clears the tile. If I were cutting wood, I'd use tape here to avoid splintering. Unfortunately, tape doesn't stick to these tiles and gets soaked. What is the trick to avoid this end-of-cut chipping of tiles?

Paragon

Get a better saw than a workforce, lol.

Okay just take a scrap of time and place it behind the tile so that as the tile you are cutting passes all the way through the cut the blade just continues to cut through to the scrap tile in other words put the tile in front of a tile and keep the two together as you cut through.

This should prevent that chip out effect. Also don't force it at the very end of the cut slow the movement down and let the blade do the work.

Good luck and be safe.

__________________

Chemist1961

What about scoring the surface along your cut line

Paragon

I don't think the poster is looking to score and then cut each tile. This would result in a lot of extra time where as with the backer tile he can just run it through the saw in a one step process instead of 2 or 3 or more. Just a guess

__________________

retired guy 60

I have the same problem with my tile cutter- a cheapo from Home Depot. Purchased a new Dewalt blade and I can say it wasn't the blade. I wonder if better quality saws are free from this problem.

itsreallyconc

there's no such thing as a good cheap tool,,, always easy to tell the pro's by their tools, isn't it ? ? ? the quality's gotten so bad i wouldn't even buy a handsaw from ANY apron store anymore - just a waste of time & gas

G-Fish10

Here's what I do (please excuse the poor drawings):

@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@

Black "square" is tile (left side of red is the keeper piece)
The red is your cut line

The first thing when I get to the saw is to make a small cut part of the way in the tile, usually an inch or two, on your waste piece. (Orange line)

What this does is makes the waste side weaker than the keeper so the tile will have a tendency to break to that side as opposed to your good side. Make sure your small cut is at the end of the tile you intend to finish your real cut on. Another tip - it will always help to cut your last couple inches slower than the rest of the cut. That should help prevent it from breaking too.

Paragon

I am going to just throw this out and take it for what it is worth. When I tile I spend enough time cutting tiles the way it is with just one pass. I think the most efficient and quickest way to get er done without causing unnecessary damage is the way to go. If I can avoid scoring and then cutting I will. If I can avoid cutting, flipping and cutting I will. I don't want to take anything away from these methods so please excuse me but I just see them as a lot of extra work. just back that tile up with a scrap and get to cutting. Many times there can be a lot of tiles that need to be cut depending on the tile size and therefore efficiency is king.

Try all the methods that have been proposed to you and then choose the one that suits your needs the best. there is definitely more than one way to skin a cat!

Good luck and be safe.

__________________