Cutting ceramic split face 600mm long tiles - nightmare! - Tile Advice

[Kcoh]

Hi all,

I’m using split face tiles (10mm ceramic 600x300mm) on one wall and I’m failing to cut them along the wavy lines, the manual cutter I have will not cut straight through the split lines and the small wet saw I have, doesn’t support the long tiles, it cuts it like butter but when it reaches the end, it chips the corner of the cut I want use. I have wasted may tiles so far, I’m wary of using angle grinder as the tile gets chipped very easily ... any recommendations? I have to cut the rest of tiles along to finish my tiling. Also is it a good idea to use a gloss porcelain tile that I’m using on rest of walls and floor on the bottom reveal of the window on the wall I’m using the split face tile on? I’m worried if I use the split face it will catch dirt and chip easily - I just found a chip at one of none cut tile edges after I laid it ...

 

[Dumbo]

You could try scoring it before wet cutting then cut into your tile an inch beside the score line then turn the tile around and then cut from the other end this should cure the issue of breakout as you finish the cut .

 

[Bill]

don't push too hard when using the wet cutter......let the blade do the work.

 

[Kcoh]

I tried everything with the wetsaw and I don’t want risk to it anymore, but I think if I build some sort of temp support for the tile beyond the wet saw it could work. But scoring it too is a good idea, do you recommend scoring with angle grinder (risk of chipping) or hand held scoring tool? Thanks

 

[Dumbo]

Score with tile cutter ie sigma or rubi type , 600 x300 is not that big you should be able to support both parts whilst pushing through. As said before don't push to hard .

 

[Tony_C]

At a guess i would also say maybe you are pushing it through too hard which is causing it to kick and chip, when it gets near the end take is real slow. You can also run it through the wet saw and stop at the last inch, take it out and turn it 180 and cut from the other side

 

[Doug]

At a guess i would also say maybe you are pushing it through too hard which is causing it to kick and chip, when it gets near the end take is real slow. You can also run it through the wet saw and stop at the last inch, take it out and turn it 180 and cut from the other side

i had a similar issue when cutting 120x60cm tiles... the gap is too wide at the base of the wet saw which supports the bottom of the tile.. with modest force sometimes a corner broke out. so i bought two 30mm thick square aluminium bars from ebay and rested those on the base of the wet saw but put very close together so that the blade would just pass through. now i have no issue with even using large force as the tile is nice and supported. you could even use a scrap of wood and just cut through but the aluminium is best for long term

 

[Doug McAlpine]

At a guess i would also say maybe you are pushing it through too hard which is causing it to kick and chip, when it gets near the end take is real slow. You can also run it through the wet saw and stop at the last inch, take it out and turn it 180 and cut from the other side

i had a similar issue when cutting 120x60cm tiles... the gap was too wide at the base of my wet saw which supports the bottom of the tile.. with modest force sometimes a corner broke out. so i bought two 30mm thick square aluminium bars from ebay and rested those on the base of the wet saw but put very close together so that the blade would just pass through. now i have no issue with even using large force as the tile is nice and supported. you could even use a scrap of wood and just cut through but the aluminium is best for long term

 

[Kcoh]

I did this today, replaced the blade and did the cuts slowly, resulted in no chipping in the first cut, but the second and third got slightly chipped when I tried to straighten the corner (these where on the edges going against the ceiling so I will cover them with silicone). I’ll have to be more careful for the rest of the cuts

 

[Boggs]

Maybe a better wet cutter would give better results.

 

[Kcoh]

Maybe a better wet cutter would give better results.

it isn’t too bad for £30! Cuts square and like butter.

 

[Kcoh]

End of today. The parallel chipping happened due to a wedge popping and they’re uncut edges ... I’ll leave it as it is.

 

[Unused Account 1]

A pro tiler would have a wet cutter what will cut them no bother ,

 

[Kcoh]

Just to add I’m DIYer and this is my first tiling work.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Maybe a better wet cutter would give better results.

A ‘cutting’ remark!