How to cut ceramic floor tiles?

[Blair086]

I have purchased several packs of Ceramic Floor Tiles 400mm x 400mm for a bathroom floor retiling.

I have tried cutting these tiles with two Bunnings cutters (a DTA Tungsten Blade and Wheel grout remover and cutter) and neither even scratches the surface of the tiles. The tiles are 6mm thick ceramic CMNTO TAU MATT I/N: 0012635.

I expect I might need to purchase a QEP 540mm Promaster Tile Cutter from Bunnings, but I will not proceed until I have some assurance that this machine will do the job. $285 is a lot to invest in an inadequate tool.

Could you please advise. 

[Akanksha]

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, @Blair086 and many thanks for your question. 

Our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @MitchellMc is currently away but I'm sure will be happy to provide his thoughts on the abovementioned tile cutter as soon as he can. 

Let me also call upon our experienced members @Jewelleryrescue, @diy_hausdesigns and @DIYMum to see if they have any thoughts.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime. 

Akanksha

[Jewelleryrescue · Accepted solution]

Hi @Blair086 

I hear you I would want to know if I spent the dollars it  would  work too. Essentialy the price differance between the cheapies and the more  pro stuff is the accuraccy and consistancy of  cuts. The  cutting rails more sturdy less prone to movment  My first tile  cutter $40 range was a handyman version in fact I used it the other day is was loose and wobby but still scored the tile ok for  my 6 cuts the pressure tile snap off did not work had to tap the scored tile on a brick corner.

But if you  bought a tile cutter and took it home and it didnt work bring in straight back for refund as it not fit for purpose  or get some  help in operating it possibly as sometimes a  little experiance tricks we all can  learn will make a difference.  Not saying you need it though.

I might want to try it in store with a tile  if you grab a staff member to assist you. I am not sure what the store policy is on that.

Others  use small angle grinders with diamond  blades  or  I find masonary abrasive disks some time  more to my liking.  Less dollars than  $285 with  goggles  and dust mask

So there is several options for you to consider.

There is also a mini 

QEP 600W Master Cut Tile Saw

I/N: 6654641

$143.06

But I never  used it to test it reviews  where 3 out of 5 stars.

Hope your tiling experiance improves quickly.

[Blair086]

Thank you for this excellent (and very quick) response.

I have several Ozito tools with a shared battery so I have opted for an Ozito 115mm angle grinder (skin only) and a continuous rim 115mm diamond cutting disk from Full Boar. I will build a bench brace and see if this tool can create a shallow scoring line for snapping straight cuts, or cutting the full 6mm tile right through if this is not practicable.

I have also ordered a tile nipper tool for curved cutouts, with the assistance of the angle grinder. I realise the diamond blade needs to be operated wet so will run a trickling garden hose into the bench brace to keep it cool. This is a one-off project and not particularly large, so purchasing a full-blown cutting bench would have been too expensive.

Well done You, and Bunnings. Cheers.

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @Blair086 

Thank you  for your tick of approval Please let me share a little bit more experiance to help fast track you tiling skills.

I like ozito tools ok They arnt the best  but they do work I own a few and  I used to buy the best ,metabol tools. The thing with ozito tools i find is the accessory tools they come with are medium quality and soon wear out always good to buy extra quality say drill bits and blades for use  with them.  An angle grinder lets you cut round (if you use  saw edge and gradual  cut deeper.) notches any shapes in tiles the trick is not to score the tiles with angle grinder as it wont work as a neat break line.  But  do to cut all the way through and then sand the  tile edge  with the diamond  blade if needed .  Cut the tile 0.5mm larger and sand the edge clean to exact size as a guide.

I would buy a better quality  diamond tile   saw blade as cheap ones tend to chip the tiles. Probably less diamonds on the  blade.  I bought a bargin bin stack of 20 diamond blades and thew them all out as tiles badly chipping during cutting.

A wet saw will do a slightly better cut but you can cut  dry too.  I dry cut  many 16mm marble tiles no extra dramas except the hazzard is  tile dust so do this outside as indoors is crazy. I wear full faced mask with cartridge filter for cutting. Do wear  dusk mask as a minimum and goggles for tile fragmets like  glass in case they used silica in tile manufacture and  no dust good  for lungs anyhow a tile job not worth  sickness.  Our ozitos  not designed for wet cuts electrically  so no need to use  hose as water may get in to windings etc  you can spritz the tile 3 times during cut will help dust control .  

If you  want to make a jig to hold ozito angle grinder . Great   a traveling slide will do a better straight cut. 

Some times  i think about buying a good used wet saw working order for a bigger projects and then reselling it after and minimise costs.  But never did it.

Once you start using angle  grinder you wont use nipper tool so if you can cancel that order unless you have a particular need just tring to save you dollars to spend in a better direction.

Good tiling have fun creating.

[Blair086]

You have been very helpful and I genuinely appreciate your comments. I think I have a handle on this now and I'm waiting for my Bunnings delivery. I might leave some feedback on the product sale to make future DYI's aware that the simple score and snap process is possibly not enough for these tiles.

Thank you so much for your help. 

Cheers 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Blair086,

No need to purchase the QEP 540mm Promaster Tile Cutter for a single job; that's a trade quality tool that a tiler would consider buying. The DTA 300mm Handyman Tile Cutter would be fine for your use. Also, consider hiring a tile cutter, as you'll get the quality of a trade tool without having to purchase it; that's what I would be doing.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Noyade]

I bought a small electric tile cutter years ago from Bunnings - A Qep product which I never used at the time as circumstances changed, but I dusted it off yesterday and unpacked it.

To me it's a mini table saw which invites straight cuts - but looking at the blurb on the side of the box - round "pipe" cuts?

Then there is the "inset cut."  Again, how?

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Noyade,

Those cuts are possible on the machine. However, I've spoken to QEP to confirm, and they are very basic stylistic illustrations that show what can be done but lack detail, such as the tile needing to be segmented to achieve those results. You'll notice on the current range that there are no mentions of similar cuts being made.

Mitchell

[Noyade]

Yes - just curious. If they're suggesting 'dropping' the tile on the blade to create an inset cut - very bad idea.

The manual is sparse with no mention of these cuts.

I'll give it a whirl on the weekend and let you know how it goes - straight cuts I mean.

Cheers!