How to cut porcelain tiles with an angle grinder. Combination disc models

Techniques for drilling and cutting porcelain tile at home

Despite the high performance characteristics, even in the arsenal of the home craftsman there is something to drill porcelain tile and cut it in a straight line. For this purpose, either a standard tile cutter is used, or an electric tool with diamond or pobedite accessories. drill, jigsaw, angle grinder. In the absence of these tools, the glass cutter and pliers or pincers will help.

• Manual glass cutter. due to the considerable thickness of tiles compared to glass, to hold the tool and press it to the surface should be two hands, so the line for the trimmer is drawn in advance, it is not recommended to cut porcelain tiles with a ruler;
• tile cutter. a budget option. the cut is made once in a single touch, so there is no need to rush, you should provide even pressure throughout;
• angle grinder. it is better to use a diamond wheel, as the tools for stone or concrete are thicker and less reliable, firstly the tile is cut through on the whole length by the third, then the inner layer is finished.

• the partner presses the tile, previously aligned by the cutting line on the edge of the tabletop, with his own weight to the table, the craftsman breaks off a piece with a sharp downward movement of two hands;
• Under the line for the cutting trimmer laid steel rod or wooden staple with the smallest possible cross-section, the tiler jumps up to 10-15cm, lands with two feet on different sides of the tile.

Attention: The tooling of the handheld glass cutter or tile cutter (roller, diamond) must be sharpened. Do not run the tool over and over on the same line. Such a tile will not split evenly, and the decorative layer will be damaged in the areas adjacent to the cutting line.

How to choose the right disc?

Depending on the disc modification, the angle grinder is able to process a variety of materials. metals, wood, ceramic granite, reinforced concrete, natural stone, etc.

What the price of a circle depends on?

As a rule, diamond-coated diamond tools are hard-wearing replacement parts for hard materials, giving the cutting edge a special solidity. It is the diamond coating that significantly increases the cost of the nozzle wheels. But they are also the strongest and most durable, coping easily with complex processing tasks.

A more simplified version. a stone disk, designed for sawing a small amount of tile. It is much cheaper, but it wears out faster, generates a lot of dust and does not allow for high precision machining.

The final cost of the product is influenced by the pricing policy of the manufacturing company. Products of such famous brands as Hitachi, Bosch, Distar are much more expensive than the products of less “popular” brands.

Professional discs for cutting ceramic granite tiles with a diameter of 125 mm to 350 mm also have high price. They are characterized by maximum service life, excellent abrasive dusting and cutting quality, even with regular use. Not only tiles can be cut with such bits, but also marble, granite blocks and even reinforced concrete.

Important! The thicker is the diamond layer of the wheel, the more porcelain tiles it is able to process.

What does the grinding wheel price depend on?

Among domestic manufacturers, it is worth highlighting such as:

It is obvious that foreign manufacturers will cost more expensive than domestic ones because of the markup for the cost of brand and shipping. According to the results of independent testing by famous manufacturers on the market, ZUBR shows the results that are far superior to foreign models.

The disc price is also influenced by the technology of diamond abrasive spraying on the cutting edge. The most common technologies are:

• Soldering. These products we mentioned above, where the abrasive shavings are soldered to the edge with silver solder. The technology is cheap and allows reducing the cost of models, but when heated, the solder loses its quality and the diamond coating quickly wears out. Consequently, the service life of a wheel is short, but it is well suited for domestic use.
• Geometric Clamping. This method uses electricity to maximize edge heating and diamond sand is firmly bonded to the surface of the wheel. The service life of such products is much longer than the previous ones, the price is still within reach. This method is usually used for combination wheels, which are suitable for dry and wet cutting.
• Laser welded. This is a very expensive technology and is used for models of industrial use. With this wheel you can cut everything from white brick to granite.

Important! Today’s market is filled with blatant imitations of well-known brands, so when buying a disc for dry cutting ceramic granite or tiles, pay attention to the price. There is no way a wheel from Bosch or HILTI can cost 900-1200. Only buy from specialist retailers or brand name retailers.

Recommendations for choosing an angle grinder

It is preferable to use a small angle grinder with speed control. The low weight enables more precise handling. No great power is required for cutting. Up to 1 kW is enough power for all tile operations.

But it is desirable to be able to reduce the rotational speed for some operations. Reducing the speed will reduce the likelihood of chipping, cracking tiles.

When choosing an angle grinder, it is recommended to pay attention to the possibility of speed control. Here is a close-up illustration of the speed regulator.

According to the optimal seating position, the angle grinder is suitable for 125 mm discs. Generally speaking, it is possible to cut with a wheel of any diameter. Reducing the rotation speed is critical in certain situations, as will be discussed below. The smaller the cutting wheel, the more precise work you can do, but a small cutting wheel on the other hand is not good for a high volume of work. the wheel will wear out quickly. Powerful, heavy tools quickly cause muscle strain and result in decreased accuracy and precision.

In summary, it is better for the purpose of working with tiles a medium-sized tool with adjustable speed.

Safety rules for cutting

Safety rules when working with cutting tools are very simple, but it is necessary to obey them, because your health and even life depends on it. When using non-electric tools, gloves and goggles are a basic set of safety equipment. Gloves will help prevent cuts from sharp edges of material, and goggles will prevent chips and dust from getting into your eyes.

When working with an electric tool, angle grinder or tile cutter, safety is given special attention:

• Never change or clean the cutting disc if the machine or angle grinder is plugged in. The equipment must be completely disconnected from the mains.
• The cutting wheel must not be inserted more than one-third of the way into the porcelain stoneware when cutting with an angle grinder. When working with a tile cutter, it is allowed to plunge the wheel no more than half.
• angle grinder must have a protective guard and the tile cut is made in the direction from yourself.
• Use protective clothing of thick material and do not leave exposed parts of the body. When the cutting wheel is heated, spray particles can bounce off and cause burns on the body.
• It is important to use gloves of thick fabric. Experience has shown that knitted gloves are unsuitable and may cause injury. Often, if the tool is mishandled, the disc or locknut will catch the glove threads and can twist them.
• There should be no loose straps or clasps on clothing and if you have long hair, you must hide it in a headdress.

Since power tools create noise and often a lot of dust, then the mandatory protective equipment should be goggles, headphones and respirator.

Tools and consumables

There is, however, a solution, such as an angle grinder with a diamond disc for stone and concrete. But do not rush to take on the work, because there are certain specifics both in processing technique and in the choice of appropriate equipment.

Let’s start with understanding which angle grinder is best to use. Variants for 230 mm disc rejected at once: the tool is too heavy and bulky, poor control during work. 180 mm angle grinder can be used, but only when cutting porcelain stoneware of a sufficiently thick thickness, whereby a considerable reach of the disc is required. The optimal variant is an angle grinder with a 125 mm disc, which can be held with one hand while working. Even if the effective cutting depth of 40 mm does not exceed the thickness of the porcelain stoneware, that’s okay. Practice shows that if you make the cut more than half the thickness, the material splits off perfectly along the line of the cut, then you only need to trim the edge a little.

Now about the diamond discs. For cutting porcelain tile should not choose segment grinding discs, which are designed for dry cutting. Blades of solid type with stepped notches on the edges are ideal, but you need to make sure that the allowable speed of the diamond wheel matches the parameters of the tool.

Besides an angle grinder with a diamond wheel we will need some more tools. First of all a plastic bottle with a pierced cap and a piece of thin silicone pipe inserted in it. It is necessary to cut tiles with a constant supply of a small amount of water, or the diamond coating on the disk will not last long. You will also need a pair of quick-action clamps and a piece of steel angle with a 25 mm shelf, the length of which is 15-20 cm more than the line of the cut.

Tips

Cutting tiles with an angle grinder is a painstaking and complicated process. Therefore, it is recommended to first practice with the device. try to process a few elements, and then proceed to the finishing work.

Self-cutting porcelain stoneware and embossed ceramic tiles

Immediately we must say that because of the hardness of porcelain tiles and their embossed surface, you can not use a tile cutter for cutting. You can, of course, try, but the result will be shattered porcelain tiles. For straight or curved cutting of porcelain tiles and ceramic tiles in relief use angle grinders (angle grinders) with a diamond pobedite disc.

Using an angle piece and a simple pencil on the face surface of a porcelain tile make a marking.

Attention!

Marking and cutting on the embossed tiles and porcelain tiles, always perform on the front side of the material. Otherwise, if you perform the cutting from the back side, unwanted chips on the face side will appear.

After laying the porcelain tile on a flat and stable surface, initially rotate the diamond disc of the angle grinder to pass with light pressure once along the drawn line.

After the first shallow cut, the diamond disc produces cuts at the beginning and the end of the line along the whole thickness of the porcelain tile. These cuts along the length of 10-20 mm. They are needed so that the porcelain tile will not break around corners.

Along the previously made longitudinal cut pass the rotating diamond disc angle grinder 3-4 times until the porcelain tile is completely cut.

It should be said that the angle grinder with a diamond disc is also used for cutting smooth ceramic tiles, for example, when it is necessary to perform a curved cut. Depending on the previously developed design project, it may be necessary to cut ceramic tiles along the curve, for example, the line for trimmer sawing needs not straight, but radiused. With a tile cutter such work can not be performed, as it is designed only for straight cutting in a straight line.

Popular porcelain stoneware

Marmo agat PG 01 lappato 60×120

Lusso light PG 01 lappato 60×120

Calacatta extra white porcelain stoneware 60,7×60,7

Grande Marble Look Frappuccino Lux rett. 120х240

Decor Bosco Beige Mix R9 7REK 60×60

Ceramic Charm Extra Laurent 60×60 nat.

All porcelain tile collections

Little tricks

These two methods do not exhaust all methods. With their help, you can get an acceptable result of any cuts at home. The round holes in the material are made with ordinary tools without any special nuances: carbide drills, ballerinas, crowns The only difference is that because of the hardness of the material the cutting tool will fail faster.

To solve the problem of laying tiles you can use a comprehensive approach:

• The easiest way to cut tiles is with a manual tile cutter. It is recommended to cut the main mass of tiles with it;
• Tiles with cut edges, covered by skirting boards or overlays. A manual tile cutter or an angle grinder (in limited cases) will suffice in this case;
• Tiles with an exact fit are few. Fit by sanding;
• To lay all the whole tiles. Depending on the tool available, fit the tiles, which are closed with baseboards and overlays. Precisely measure and mark out the remaining elements on the tile. Either rent a professional tile cutter, or take it to the nearest construction firm that has such equipment, and cut.

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