Tile Saw

[Cubsfan]

Anyone know anything about this tile saw?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97360

It seems to be a bit overkill for the couple of bathrooms I'm planning to do, but there's one on craigslist, with blade, for $100. Thought it might be worth it for that price.

[bthorne]

I used this one when doing my bathrooms a couple of years ago:

http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-Fl...atalogId=10053

It worked just fine as long as you made your cut slowly.

My in-laws had a larger one on a stand with an overhead blade and a sliding tray (similar to this one) that went through tiles like a hot knife through butter.

It was certainly a faster and more enjoyable experience using the larger saw (as long as somebody else was paying for it). While the smaller saws will get you through your project just fine, I'd spend the $10 more and get the HF one from craigslist. You could probably even sell it when you're done and break even.

Good luck, and be sure to post pictures of the bathrooms when you're done!

[twistsol]

I have one of the cheesy little ones from home depot as well. It really works well, albeit slowly. The only thing to be wary of is that the blade isn't worn down beyond its service life. The real cost of those is in the blade.

[cabinetman]

I used this one when doing my bathrooms a couple of years ago:

http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-Fl...atalogId=10053

It worked just fine as long as you made your cut slowly.

I've got the same type of saw, and tiled two residences. Works good, with a good blade.
.

[billwmeyer]

I also have the Home Depot saw. It was on sale when I bought it. I did a small bathroom, and it was a little slow, but it was going faster than I was, so it as a good deal for me. Harbor Freight also sells a lower priced saw. I was going to buy it, but I found the Home Depot saw on sale, and Harbor Freight was 35 miles away from me.

Bill

[conwaygolfer]

The biggest problem with the larger tile saws is that they throw water everywhere. You almost have to use them on new construction or outside.
The smaller ones as indicated here can be used in the house without the mess. I use set mine up on an old card table at each job, right next to the room I am working on. Less travel in and out that way.

If you buy the larger one, look on Ebay for new diamond wheels (blade). I have purchased 7in. blades for $3.00 each. They are probably made in China, but they last as long as the locally purchased one I paid $70.00 for. Of course I had to buy 10 blades to get that price.

Good luck,
Conwaygolfer

[eccentrictinkerer]

I used the $80 saw from HD for several bathroom and kitchen jobs when I started my handyman business. It's a bit slow, but gets the job done.

I now have an MK Diamond saw that's fantastic, but it does throw a lot of dirty water around!

Check Craigslist for the cheaper saw. Around here they go for $30 to $50. Diamond blades from HF work OK and are dirt cheap.

[phi1l]

I'm feeling like the Roy Underhill of tile. I tiled 2 bathrooms & didn't even use a tile saw.

[Norm in Fujino]

I'm feeling like the Roy Underhill of tile. I tiled 2 bathrooms & didn't even use a tile saw.

I would have loved to have a tile saw when I tiled several rooms (and landings) in our house, but they're too expensive here in Japan; here's the "tile saw" I used:



(Actually the model was an older one, but the same basic angle grinder--with a variety of diamond blades; I also used a manual tile nipper for small cuts.)

[cabinetman]

The biggest problem with the larger tile saws is that they throw water everywhere. You almost have to use them on new construction or outside.
The smaller ones as indicated here can be used in the house without the mess. I use set mine up on an old card table at each job, right next to the room I am working on. Less travel in and out that way.

Conwaygolfer

I have the smaller one similar to this one. Even with the height adjustable blade guard, water still gets spritzed past the saw. I use this saw for angle cuts, and curves.

For straight cuts I use one similar to this one. If you get one make sure the cutting wheel is replaceable.
.

[phi1l]

Hen I did my bathrooms I got(rented) a tile cutter that consisted of what was probably a diamond blade on a straight track, and a lever style device to break the tile along that line. It worked a lot faster than a saw & always broke the tile right where it was supposed to.around pipes & such I think I just used a glass cutting tool & a nibbler.

[Mr__Bill]

I'm not a tile man, but I play one at home. I have found the score and break cutters better suited for smooth tile than the bumpy textured floor tile that LOML seems to like. I have the HD saw also, it's as stated slow but it does work. I had to make some changes, the splitter knife was not aligned with the blade and the fence did not lock down parallel to the blade and also needed fixing. The saw also tends to spray the water, I wear a garbage bag bib and put a plastic drop cloth draped on step ladders behind the saw to catch the spray. The advantage of the table saw type is you have an unlimited length for a cut, nice for the marble thresholds. The guy across the street has the moving bed type saw and it's fast, it too throws the water and it's cut is limited to the travel of the sled.

My saw has just enough vibration that I can't cut glass bottles without getting a very jagged edge or a shattered bottle, across the street they cut just fine and require just a bit of fire to soften the edge.

Bill

[JimD]

I have tiled multiple bathrooms, about a 10x10 transition room in our current basement, a few tub surrounds and some countertops. I've used floor tiles, wall tiles, and marble plus a little granite. Wet saws are almost a necessity for natural stone because they have faults in them and if you heat them up they want to break on these faults. For tile, however, a cracker (that's what I call the second tool C'man illustrated) and a right angle grinder (which Norm illustrated) are all you need. I use cheap abrassive blades, not diamond blades, in my grinder. Works great. I made a round hole for a toilet flange in the middle of a tile, first try. I also made a picture frame out of wall tile to put up a soap dish but that took two tries. You need to use it outside but wet grinders make a mess too.

Crackers are better on wall tiles, as has been stated. If you score pretty deep, they will work on floor tiles, at least that is my experience. It's worth wasting a tile to find out if you can make it work because it's much faster. Little rod saws to make curved cuts also work well on wall tiles but almost won't work on good floor tile. For a delicate cut, you can even use a metal cutting abrasive disk in a dremel (but it doesn't really work very well).

A big advantage to me of the grinder is the tile stays dry. You can cut so that the dust isn't slung at you and you have a lot less mess than having to dry off the tiles after you cut them. In tile (not natural materials), I can do anything you can on a wet saw and I can probably do it faster with my $20 grinder.

Jim