Tiles chipping when cut

[Simon T]

Attempting to tile my bathroom.

Got a bunch of ceramic wall/floor tiles, 250 x 500 x 7.8mm

Bought an el-cheapo wet cutter from Screwfix to make things easy, but when
cutting it leaves a chipped edge along the glaze.

Been taking my time, used plenty of water, even tried scoring the glaze with
a hand tile cutter beforehand, but it's not producing the nice neat edge I
had hoped for.

I understand that putting tape over the glazed side of the cut line works,
but masking tape just peels off as soon as it gets wet (tried frog tape and
even electrical tape, to no avail).

Any suggestions on what to do here? Was hoping to get the tiling done this
weekend, but at this rate will be lucky to get started!


--
Best Wishes
Simon Taylor

[tabb...@gmail.com]

You might get away with cutting the tiles upside down. And of course pushing too much causes chipping.


NT

[Simon T]

tabbypurr wrote in message...

> You might get away with cutting the tiles upside down.

Tried that too! :-(

>And of course pushing too much causes chipping.

Again, tried pushing forward slowly, results are much the same.

[Moron Watch]

"Simon T" <darka...@REMOVETHISBITlineone.net> wrote in message
news:o5tcls$bjf$1...@dont-email.me...

>
> I understand that putting tape over the glazed side of the cut line works, but masking
> tape just peels off as soon as it gets wet (tried frog tape and even electrical tape,
> to no avail).

Without being an expert on cutting ceramics - it should be only necessary to
use water once you're actually cutting into the tile. While you're breaking
through the surface glaze at the start you can use the tape dry.

Basically with any tape the bond between the tape and the tile should be
stronger than the strength of the glaze.

Basically the stronger the bond, and the more of a b*strard it is to remove
after, the better. Although this may also mean you're going to have to clean
up the blade during the cut. So choose a tape for which a standard
solvent - white spirit etc. works. OTTOMH I'd imagine standard duck/t
tape would do the trick although there's always going to be trade off
between how much faffing about/cleanup you're prepared to do/how
many tiles you need to cut in order to achieve the finish you want.

Presumably experts/professionals using the best kit don't have to worry
about this.

[newshound]

On 1/20/2017 5:41 PM, Simon T wrote:
> tabbypurr wrote in message...
>> You might get away with cutting the tiles upside down.
>
> Tried that too! :-(
>
>> And of course pushing too much causes chipping.
>
> Again, tried pushing forward slowly, results are much the same.
>

Sounds like a tile with an unusually sensitive glaze, then. Not a
problem I have ever seen. Unless it is a really dodgy blade? I assume
there is no obvious axial or radial run-out?

[mechanic]

On Fri, 20 Jan 2017 16:10:10 -0000, Simon T wrote:

> Any suggestions on what to do here? Was hoping to get the tiling
> done this weekend, but at this rate will be lucky to get started!

The grouting hides small imperfections.

[tabb...@gmail.com]

On Friday, 20 January 2017 17:41:38 UTC, Simon T wrote:
> tabbypurr wrote in message...
> > You might get away with cutting the tiles upside down.
>
> Tried that too! :-(
>
> >And of course pushing too much causes chipping.
>
> Again, tried pushing forward slowly, results are much the same.

Yes, I expected so. Maybe time to return it as defective.


NT

[tabb...@gmail.com]

The idea of finding tape with adhesive stronger than the tile glaze is very fanciful. Unless of course you're willing to pay well over £100 a roll. But... how would you ever get it off! And the blade would be ruined by clogging.


NT

[Phil L]

It sounds like the disk is knackered, I can easily cut a jam jar or glass
bottle in half and there are no sharp edges, you should be able to do this
with yours, I'd take it back to Screwfix

[Brian Gaff]

As does blunt crappy cutters. Some tiles also have kind of raised embossed
pattern on them as I found out with some pretty pink flecked ones some years
ago. Sods to cut due to this embossed effect.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please!
<tabb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:964dee2b-23e1-4f94...@googlegroups.com...

[harry]

On Friday, 20 January 2017 16:10:10 UTC, Simon T wrote:

The cracking is caused by "shock waves", "chatter" or "vibration" running through the ceramic.
The idea of tape is not to glue anything in place but to dampen this effect.
Water cools and also dampens this effect too.
You need a different disk in your tile cutter.
Or possibly a small sheet of plastic to rest the tile on while being cut,

Unless the chipping is very bad, in practice after grouting it can't be seen.
Put cut edges into corners and they won't be visible.

[harry]

Further to above.

There is a difference in this respect between segmented and non-segmented cutting disks.

[jim]

harry <harry...@btinternet.com> Wrote in message:

Segmented discs in tile cutters? Where? Which ones?
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

[Moron Watch]

<tabb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:6ec838de-157d-4025...@googlegroups.com...

The glaze is brittle. Subject to a shockwave it will have zero strength
across its weak points - where it cracks. That's the strength I'm talking
about across the surface of the glaze, not the adhstion of the glaze
to the substrate. Tape isn't similarly brittle.

In answer to another post in order to have a "dampening effect"
its necessary for the tape to adhere strongly to the glaze.

> Unless of course you're willing to pay well over £100 a roll. But... how would you ever
> get it off! And the blade would be ruined by clogging.

IMO standard duck/t tape maybe cut into strips lengthwise to save waste
would easily fit the bill. Removal would simply be a matter of soaking with
white spirit

[Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk ;¬)]

That's always been my experience too and The last few tiling jobs I've
used a "cheapo" tile cutter. I think it was around the £20 mark when I
bought it many years ago and yes it gave a slightly chipped edge to the
glaze but was, dare I say, essential for cutting those tiles that have a
smaller tile effect on the top where scribing/snapping isn't an option.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <o5tcls$bjf$1...@dont-email.me>,

Simon T <darka...@REMOVETHISBITlineone.net> wrote:
> Attempting to tile my bathroom.

> Got a bunch of ceramic wall/floor tiles, 250 x 500 x 7.8mm

> Bought an el-cheapo wet cutter from Screwfix to make things easy, but
> when cutting it leaves a chipped edge along the glaze.

> Been taking my time, used plenty of water, even tried scoring the glaze
> with a hand tile cutter beforehand, but it's not producing the nice
> neat edge I had hoped for.

Is the ceramic edge of the tile perfectly smooth?

> I understand that putting tape over the glazed side of the cut line
> works, but masking tape just peels off as soon as it gets wet (tried
> frog tape and even electrical tape, to no avail).

> Any suggestions on what to do here? Was hoping to get the tiling done
> this weekend, but at this rate will be lucky to get started!

I'd try buying a decent blade first. Set the height so it is only just
greater than the tile thickness. And cut very gently.

I'm not saying you'll get a 100% perfect edge to the glaze. For where that
matters, use a suitable file or stone by hand, after cutting or snapping.

--
*Why is 'abbreviation' such a long word?

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Simon T]

Thanks for the replies everybody

I tried a new disc today, which does seem slightly better. Still chipping
slightly, but not so bad.

Tried Duck tape, which is supposedly waterproof, but again, lifted off as
soon as the wet disc touched it.

Perhaps my expectations as to how good these wet cutters are supposed to be
was too high.

Anyway, with a bit of luck, the grout will mask any chips.

Thanks again.

[michael adams]

"Simon T" <darka...@REMOVETHISBITlineone.net> wrote in message

news:o6080l$e0i$1...@dont-email.me...

> Thanks for the replies everybody
>
> I tried a new disc today, which does seem slightly better. Still chipping slightly, but
> not so bad.
>
> Tried Duck tape, which is supposedly waterproof, but again, lifted off as soon as the
> wet disc touched it.

"Moron Watch" <moron...@cocas.com> wrote in message news:o5tjbt$5r0$1...@dont-email.me...

[jim]

"michael adams" <mjad...@ukonline.co.uk> Wrote in message:

Erm no.

As the tile saw cut advances it is cutting both the tile & the
glaze... like a table saw cutting wood...

[Simon T]

"michael adams" wrote in message
news:m8-dneSM__zJLh7F...@brightview.co.uk...

>Without being an expert on cutting ceramics - it should be only necessary
>to
>use water once you're actually cutting into the tile. While you're breaking
>through the surface glaze at the start you can use the tape dry.

Even if that were so, there's a water reservoir underneath the disc, so the
water starts spraying the moment you hit the on button.

[Simon T]

And another update

The el-cheapo Energer wet saw I bought packed up today, after less then 3
days use, so took it back to Screwfix.

Whilst in there, someone else was returning another product by the same
company.

I decided at this point to pay an extra £15 and get a Titan wet saw instead.

Think the moral of this story is to avoid Energer products.

Anyway, this saw is better but there's still slight chipping when it cuts.
Guess its just how these things are?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <o634en$72e$1...@dont-email.me>,

Wonder how fast it spins? There's probably an ideal speed for the very
best cut - and I'd guess slow is better than fast. I've got two - both
Plasplugs and the larger one runs a lot slower than the earlier one. And
I've never really noticed a problem with a rough edge to the glaze.


> -

--
*What are the pink bits in my tyres? Cyclists & Joggers*

[Moron Watch]

"jim" <k> wrote in message news:hOmdnYlV49_ybRnF...@brightview.co.uk...

I'm assuming that like a table saw its possible to raise
or lower the blade. So that each tile is cut in two passes
- possibly in a batch. The first pass dry with the reservoir
emptied if necessary to a depth of 2mm, the second pass
set to the thickness of the tile.

[jim]

"Moron Watch" <moron...@cocas.com> Wrote in message:

Mmm somewhat of a palaver?

Not sure cheapos (if any) have height adjustment, after all most
tiles are less than 10mm, bigger than 4mm thick?

There are some radial arm cutters, but never used one.

[tabb...@gmail.com]

Never seen that on an electric tile cutter.


NT

[Roger Hayter]

I've used one like this:

http://www.tradetiler.com/dewalt-d24000-wet-saw-electric-tile-cutter-inc-stand-select-voltage.html

It will cut sheets of porcelain mosaics at any angle, and you can safely
plunge cut in stages. You still get tiny amounts of chipping with
relief patterned tiles, but usually less than about 0.2mm and not very
visible.


--

Roger Hayter