Cutting sqaure 'holes' in porcelain

[DHTiling]

Very true john.. i do plunge cuts on my rubi wetsaw as it has a removable guard....easy to do and cuts in one go coz you are cutting from the back...but takes practise to hold the tile still so it doesn't jump....

But for newbs...face cutting with a grinder will be better imo...then trim from the back to complete hole...

 

[obobsmith]

hrpuffnstuff, jack wild wasn't it, god I'm old

My thoughts to, where's witchypoo, the freaky trees and the stupid bat thing.......FUNNY as :lol::lol::lol::lol::smilewinkgrin::smilewinkgrin:

 

[obobsmith]

hi all
well I'm a newbie on here, but have been tiling for a very long time now, but I dont tile every single day, only when its part of my job
(I'm a Kitchen/bathroom installer)

OK....My friend has brought 400mm x 400mm porcelain tiles and I have to cut 8 x double electric sockets in these tiles.
Some of these 'square holes' are very near to the edge of the tiles.

So my question is this...............
How can i cut a hole in a porcelain tile to take a double electric socket.
I have 8 of the 'square holes' to cut

Cheers in advance folks

Is there not a better way to set out the job so that you either have a fairly "meaty" bit of tile round the plunge cut or good cuts using two tiles so you dont have to plunge cut near an edge.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

It what comes first - the sockets or the tiles!

There is no way I would set up all the kitchen tiling just to accommodate the sockets.
You've got to many factors with so many different tile types even to think it can be done.
However - you can move the sockets if there is enough cable (not that I would - I'd get an electrician) to make the cuts more even.
After all how many times do we have to straighten sockets etc.

John.

 

[brian c]

thats when the pocket size level comes in handy John.Customers love it when they see there wonky plugs being levelled.

 

[White Room]

It what comes first - the sockets or the tiles!

There is no way I would set up all the kitchen tiling just to accommodate the sockets.
You've got to many factors with so many different tile types even to think it can be done.
However - you can move the sockets if there is enough cable (not that I would - I'd get an electrician) to make the cuts more even.
After all how many times do we have to straighten sockets etc.

John.

Hi John
They did on my kitchen, the fitters were going for 150mm tiles. They told the sparks where they wanted the sockets, 150mm of the worktop to the bottom of the sockets, laid 3 tiles high then put the wall units on top of the last tile.

 

[kaharrison9]

Hi p-a-s
Would agree with Daves way.
I recently did my first Porcelain 600x300 that had it's fair share of sockets and had to work out quickly how to go about it.Tried the plunge cut and stuggled,found i wasn't going to be accurate.
Purchased a quality wheel for the angle grinder and cut the 4 sides then turned over the tile to get into the corners.
As well as watching the wheel cutting be aware of the back of the wheel is not cutting into the tile as well
kev

 

[doug boardley]

http://www.tilersforums.com/tiling-tools/16388-cutting-hole-tile-jigsaw-doug-boardley.html
ok not posted a link sucessfully yet, but this method works well with ceramic tiles

 

[Alberta Stone]

Sockets are no trick at all.
Mark the front first, then turn over and mark the back, but draw the lines extra long.
Use the angle grinder (4") with a good turbo blade and cut the face first to the corners.
Flip over and finish the cut and if necessary you can go a bit past the corners to complete it.
If the edge is a bit thin you can cut an x pattern from the face from corner to corner, then do the rear and lightly tap the bits in the middle and then use the grinder to clean the corners up.
If it is less than a 1/4 inch don't bother trying to cut it as you can fill the void with grout and the cover plate will conceal it.
I also use a dremel with a coarse electroplated diamond tip (cone shape) to do any detail work like the little notch on top and bottom where the screw holes are.
(do they have that style of box in the UK or is it just a rectangle?)

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Whitebeam - There's always one!
As a tiler I usually get called in to quote for wall tiling after the kitchen is fitted and the customer is asking my opinion on tile type/colour etc.
In this case my original post is the scenario I would recommend - set the tiling out to the units and let the plugs take care of themselves!
This thread was originally about cutting around sockets and it was a post from a retail outlet that suggested setting the cuts to fit the sockets!

Happy days!

John.