Which Glass Cutter is Best to Cut Tiles

Tile cutting tool

The tool can be manual or electric.

Tile cutters belong to the hand tool, or their ancestors. Glass cutters.

The power tool can be universal, designed for various operations (angle grinder, jigsaw, electric drill) or special. Special tools include tile cutting machines.

Which Glass Cutter is Best to Cut Tiles

What to consider when choosing a tool

Factors that must be considered when choosing a tool can be both technical and purely domestic.

The technical nuances include:

  • The need for curly cutouts of ceramic tiles;
  • The need to trim the end of the tile at an angle;
  • The need for internal cutouts or curved fishing lines;
  • Roughness of the front side of the tile and others.
  • Volume of necessary work.

Household factors include the following:

  • The need for silence;
  • The need to cut tiles without dust;
  • Availability of free space;
  • Availability of cash and others.

What tool to use

Let’s review from cheap options to more expensive ones.

In skillful hands and an angle grinder you can cut a circular hole;)

If there is no need for complex trimming, and the tile has a flat front surface, it is quite possible to do with a hand tool. For those who do not have any special tools in their arsenal, the glass cutter can be the cheapest option. The cutting rate will be minimal, the same can be said about quality. But if the amount of work is not large, and you are determined to minimize costs, you can start with it and look at the results. If quality suits you, you can stop there. If you do not have the basic knowledge and basic skills of using a glass cutter, then the question remains: how to cut ceramic tiles?

It is worth considering the purchase of a tool that can facilitate and speed up the process of cutting tiles. It is important to consider the possibility and necessity of using this tool in the future. For example, the use of a manual tile cutter is limited only by this operation. In other areas, you cannot use it. And if you do not plan to do this business regularly in the future, buying this tool is unlikely to be justified.

However, an angle grinder (angle grinder) may well come in handy for domestic needs. Depending on the cutting circle, it can cut metal, and wood, and brick, and concrete, and ceramic tile. Buying this power tool will be justified.

Alternatively, a jigsaw can be used. It is also used for cutting various materials. Its advantage is the ability to cut on curved fishing lines. Such a need arises when you need to bypass the plumbing connectors, sockets and other protruding elements. To drill porcelain tiles, you will need to purchase a diamond crown.

An angle grinder can also cut curved lines, but with relatively large bending radii. In this case, decide, the better to cut the tile, you can experimentally or by the presence of a power tool capable of performing the necessary trim.

The disadvantage of using angle grinders (angle grinder) will be increased noise and dust. The jigsaw will also make some noise, but there will be much less dust.

For a person planning to professionally engage in this type of work, the acquisition of both a manual tile cutter and various power tools will be relevant. It is worth considering the version of the machine for cutting tiles, the price of which can range from several thousand to several tens of thousands of rubles.

Tile Cutting Methods

There are various ways to cut ceramic tiles. First, we suggest watching a on how to cut ceramic tiles and listen to the opinions of experts.

Tile cutter The fastest and most stable option of cutting tiles in a straight line. First, the line marks the cut line (with a pencil or a thin marker) on the tile. The tile is inserted into the tile cutter and the face perpendicular to the cut is pressed against the retaining plate (in the side farthest from you). In this case, you get an even cut at 90⁰. The lever with the diamond cutting roller is pressed against the near edge of the tile and is held to the opposite side with a uniform movement. Then the lever must be pressed (not hard). The tile should break along the cut line. If you don’t break, you need to go through the roller again from you to the stop and press it down again.

If necessary, irregularities are removed on the edge resulting from cutting. This can be done with a spatula or other metal object of sufficient hardness.

Now we will discuss how to cut a tile without a tile cutter

Glass cutter. After you have passed the glass cutter along the cut line, the tile must be laid on a flat surface. Under one edge of the cutting line, a small diameter nail should be placed parallel to the cutting line. On the one hand, hold the tile with your hand, on the other, press down with a level or rule. This method allows good craftsmen to cut strips with a width of 15 millimeters.

Angle Grinder. This method has several advantages over a hand tool. Using an angle grinder, you can cut embossed tiles. After marking the cut line, the tile must be placed so that there is no support under the cut line, since the cutting wheel will fall below the tile. It is also desirable that the tile does not lie on a hard surface, but on rubber or rigid foam. These materials will damp out possible vibration.

How to cut tiles around? For cutting the angle grinder, there are special circles for cutting ceramic tiles. Their cutting edge does not have cuts or waves, which are on the circles for brick, concrete and other materials. Also, diamond spraying consists of smaller particles. These two factors contribute to cutting with much smaller chips. It is important not to exceed the diameter of the wheel provided for your angle grinder and use a protective cover.

Jigsaw. This tool is mainly used if there is a need to cut holes for protruding elements inside the tile. To do this, the fishing line is pre-marked, then a hole with a diameter exceeding the size of the nail file is drilled inside, and a cut is made from this hole with a smooth approach to the intended line.

Tile Machine. What kind of disk to cut ceramic tiles on the machine? A circle from an angle grinder may be suitable for the machine. However, the advantage of the machine is that it can cut without dust if wet cutting is used. In this case, a circle for a wet cut is necessary, which has the corresponding designation.

Since the cutting edge is fixed on the bed in the machine, this method makes it possible to smoothly cut embossed ceramic tiles. Expensive machines with adjustment of the cutting angle allow you to cut tiles at 45 degrees to the surface, and some in intermediate values ​​of the angles.

Cut tiles diagonally it is possible both with a tile cutter, and an angle grinder, and a machine tool. The tile cutter will not work if the cut passage is not full length.