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Hi all,

I've tried cutting my first porcelain floor tile with the sigma cutter - it failed miserably. I've got a bucket full of curved cuts from a single 600x600 porcelanosa VENIS tile. Maybe 2 cuts oout of the 10 I tried worked.

Before I go and hire a bridge saw for the weekend, have any of you sigma users got any advice or tips? I've tried light scoring, heavy scoring, double scoring etc.

In contrast, it cuts ceramic with ease. I could even ease the crack up the tiles. In contrast the porcelain tile has no give at all....
 
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White Room

Thats the pull one then?...if it is I can't get on with that handle and find that there's not enough pressure being applied.
 
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WetSaw

Someone has to do it....... Should have bought a Rubi!!

Sorry I've nothing useful to add, never used a Sigma.
 
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lizzardtong

It could be down to tile you're cutting. Did you try it on other porcelain tile?
Seen tread here couple months ago and it was down to strees in tiles.
 

Sean Kelly

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Straight away we have to rule out it's the Sigma's fault!

Seriously, it is 95% down to the tile being so dense that it is virtually impossible to cut dry. It sound like you have tried all the different ways (hard, soft breaking, hard, soft scoring). The last time this happened to me I complained to the tile shop. They said 'Ahh yes, full bodied porcelain tiles.........you have to cut them on a wet cutter' Luckily for me the problem tiles were confined to a couple of boxes of tiles.

I even tried making sure I cut the tiles by making sure I only cut in the direction of the arrows or markings on the back, but that did not help!
 

Andy Allen

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Bad workman blames his tools. .....unless its a rubi then its fully justified. ...:lol:

Sorry couldn't resist it..
 
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Rookery

I think it might be down to your technique rather than the machine. Once you've scored the tile, give the handle a short, sharp thwack, see if that makes a difference. And if that don't work, buy a Rubi :lol:
 

Andy Allen

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I have come across some tiles even the mighty sigma won't cut....made by the devil himself if you ask me....no choice but to wet cut..
 
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ruairi mac

Would a new cutting wheel make any difference? Some tiles are a nightmare to cut to be fair, I find that sometimes even adjusting the height of the bar can make a big difference. If your able to cut ceramics ok, then maybe the porcs are a bit thicker? Try raising the bar up 5mm or so both sides.
 

Chalker

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You have to be confident with full bodied porcelain.
make sure you score over the edge of the tile, then one constsant pressure score across the tile.

then a quick push down with the breaker (quite hard)
i like to put a bit of pressure with my hand on the opposing end of the tile to help.

even with that method, you still find tiles with so much tension in them, that the only way is to wet cut.
 
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Dash J

Scribe it quite hard then hit either side of the scribe whilst it is still on the bed of the sigma
should snap no problem
the pull handle is by far the best sigma btw
 

widler

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Some porcelain won't dry cut, no matter what cutter, some of the buggers are just to hard
 

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