Tile Cutter Vs. Wet Saw

[mikeangelini]

Hello all,
Love the forum. I was wondering how effective a tile cutter would be on various types of tile. I have always made all cuts using a wet saw, but after seeing a few web videos of those score and snap machines, I was wondering what the advantages and disadvantages are. Some even have a circle cutter. Anyone use that? How would it work on very hard floor tile? Seems like less mess, and tiles could be cut very close to the job. Also, any sugestions on brand? Is it important to buy a very good quality, or are they all similiar?
Thoughts?
Thanks so much,
Mike Angelini~

[MNTileGuy]

Mike-

Using a tile cutter will save a ton of time making cuts. Occasionally I'll run into a really thick or hard tile (usually porcelain) that won't break properly on the cutter. I'd say 90 percent of the time you should be fine using a snap cutter for most standard floor and wall tiles.

My cutter is a Rubi TS-40, a pretty common one for pros. No the cheapest, but one that'll last a long time. The cheapo plastic ones they sell at the big box stores probably won't last too long, granted I've never used one.

I can't say I've seen/heard of a circle cutter option. I've either used a grinder or diamond bit for those.

Good luck!

Brad

[sandbagger]

If this DIYer had it to do over he'd put the money he spent on a snapper towards a better saw. My snapper does a decent job, but rarely gets used anymore, and didn't get used at all in the shower project.

Basically I find the cutter is good for trimming floor tiles where they meet the walls. Don't have to be all that accurate, and the cut edges are covered by base molding. For a pro that's a lot of tile and the snapper makes perfect sense - time is money.

But for DIYers?

- snapper takes practice to get clean cuts, and if it doesn't snap clean it's hard to fix
- snapper only does simple, straight cuts
- snapper can't trim small amounts
- snapper not totally clean - chips from porcelain can be very sharp
- sharp edges need to be honed
- more waste from broken tiles.

IMHO, for what it's worth....

[Davestone]

Well, if you're gonna do porcelain, but not too much, i'd opt for the better saw.But if you're gonna do a lot of porcelain i'd get one of the really good cutters like the Rubi tx700,i finally bought one and am impressed.I was a wet saw guy for years cause none of the cheaper cutters would work for me,although i saw others cut tile pretty easily with the same cutter, but i couldn't,till i finally ponied up and got a good cutter.

[Davy]

Yep, if you're gonna get one, get a good one.

[Big Red]

Well, let me get into the fray too!!! I use a tile cutter for 3x3 or 4x4 tiles because it fast and you can move right along when you have a lot of straight cuts. I'm not a professional tile layer but have laid a mile of tile and I'm still working on more!!!!!! One year for my birthday, I received a Roto-zip. On reading the directions, I found out you can use it with a diamond blade to cut tile. Oh boy--lookout now. It's become my favorite tiling saw because I can make all kinds of crazy cuts with it. If you're going to lay medallions, you just have to have something like it to cut the radius on the field tiles. The drawback is the dust. It did a fine job of cutting glass tiles,too.

[simpsonb]

With the Rotozip, are you talking the round blade or a bit being diamond? Do they make a diamond bit for these? I've only seen carbon. That would be cool

[Big Red]

Yeah Bob--it's a diamond blade. You also have to have the angle attachment they sell for the roto zip. I've done amazing things with this little saw!