How can i cut tile without tile cutter

If you decide to tile the walls or the floor with ceramic tiles in the house, then you should know that in most cases a part of the tile needs to be cut. For this purpose, there are manual and electric tile cutters - tools that do an excellent job, but it is hardly advisable to acquire them in order to use them every few years.

Figure 1. Proper use of glass cutter for cutting tiles.

The use of specialized tools - the lot of professionals who need them almost daily. Those who decide to lay the tile on their own will find tips on how to cut the tile without a tile cutter.

Alternative cutting tools

Tile cutting tools: A-tile saw; Carbide carbide crown; C-Bulgarian; D-hand tile cutter; E-cutting pliers; F-glass cutter; G-hacksaw.

Its division into fragments of the required size can be maintained with the help of tools that are probably in your home workshop, or those with the purchase of which you will not spend large sums. You can cut the tile into pieces:

• ordinary glass cutter;
• angle grinder (grinder);
• nippers;
• Hole saw or ballerina.

The latter are used for cutting round holes in the finishing material (more about this method will be described below).

How to cut a tile with a glass cutter

Glass cutter until recently was considered a device that was available in almost every home workshop. He perfectly cuts not only glass, but also tile. True, his resource is hardly enough to perform a large amount of work, but the cost of purchasing a glass cutter is minimal.

The device tile cutter.

To cut a tile, you first need to make a markup on it. For drawing lines of a cut usual marking tools are used:

• ruler;
• pencil or marker.

After applying the marks on the front of the product tile should be put on a flat solid base. A glass cutter roller is applied to the marked line on the far side. Lead him toward you, pressing him evenly against the surface of the workpiece throughout the entire cutting line. It is necessary to remember that the foundation on which you will work must be not only smooth, but also cleared of debris and grains of sand, which can prevent the tile from lying on it as a whole plane. In addition, try to cut the tile in one motion (practice cutting the tile on roughing surfaces to develop the necessary pressing force and speed of cutting the glass-cutter). Do not try to cut ceramics as deep as possible. How to properly conduct a glass cutter on the workpiece is shown in Fig. one.

After making a glass cutter on the enamel, a slightly visible strip remains on it, along which the tile will break. For this, a match is placed under it. You can lay the panel line of cut on the edge of the table. Breaking is carried out without noticeable effort, but only by pressing on the product with hands on either side of the dividing line.

Glass cutter is better to use for the manufacture of wall cladding elements. The floor tile is noticeably thicker and stronger than the first, so cutting it will be more laborious.

Use for cutting slab sanding machines

Figure 2. Diagram of tile cutting with a grinder.

The grinder can be called a universal tool, which is used for metalworking and stone processing, so the grinder can easily handle ceramic materials. It is worth saying that the work performed with its help cannot be called low-noise or dust-free, but the use of the grinder in cutting tiles significantly increases the speed of the cutting process. In addition, the grinder can cut the tile without tile cutter into fragments of a rather complex configuration. A non-segmented diamond wheel should be installed on the power tool (its relative high cost is compensated for by a large working resource and versatility of application) or a disk for working with concrete. The use of a cutting wheel for metal is unacceptable. Of course, to work necessarily need:

• tape measure or ruler;
• pencil or marker.

Figure 3. To break the tile using nippers.

A more accurate markup will help the construction angle. In some cases it may be useful and a square with a protractor.

Please note that when working with grinders, you must fully comply with safety precautions. Expect that you can securely hold the tile with one hand, and with the other you will confidently guide the machine on the blank, you should not. Sooner or later the experiment will end with injury. The tile should be cut, securing it with clamps on a surface specially prepared for this purpose (Fig. 2). Cutting tiles with an inverted tool, even securely mounted on a workbench, is traumatic.

In addition, for working with ceramic material, it is more advisable to use a grinder with a variable engine speed. Rotation of the circle at maximum speed will lead to overheating of the tile and cracking of the enamel. The optimum number of revolutions of the diamond disc per minute is 3.5 thousand. The edges of the cut fragments need additional processing, which is carried out using sandpaper and files.

How to work with nippers

Tile processing scheme.

In fig. 3 shows how to cut a tile without a tile cutter with nippers. This tool removes small fragments of the cladding, so that later the tiles can be laid, for example, near pipelines. In order to obtain a high-quality result when working in this way, it is necessary to have some experience, but even an experienced craftsman should be careful not to cut tiles with a wire cutter (or rather, break it off).

The separation of unnecessary areas is carried out after marking the enamel tiles. Nippers captured the smallest pieces of ceramics. The fault line is located between the pliers clamps. It is necessary to bite off a tile, beginning from a corner. It is best to perform the work with a tool with carbide edges, which will provide the most accurate cutting. After it, the tile is sanded with emery paper or file processed.

Use of hole saw

Stages of cutting tiles with a glass cutter.

To make a tile round holes, you need to use a hole saw. With such devices, large-diameter holes are drilled in wood and concrete. Tools for concrete are most suitable for working with ceramics. The ring saw is a carbide-tipped drill and a toothed crown of a specific diameter. Before cutting marks the center of the future hole. At this point, the enamel is removed with a center punch so that the drill does not slide over the surface. At first, drilling is carried out at a normal speed, but before diving into the body of the tile of the crown, it is necessary to reduce the number of revolutions of the drill. In order not to overheat the enamel and ceramics, tiles should be dipped in water before cutting. The same operation should be repeated during cutting. Do not overdo the cutting tool pressing on the workpiece. The recommended frequency of rotation of the hole saw is 100–200 rpm.

You can use a hand drill, securing the workpiece on the workbench, but better drilling results when working with a drilling machine. In this case, the tile is best placed in a box specially made for it with sealed seams. The tile is laid in the box and the water is poured. Its 5-6 mm layer above the tile provides cooling of the workpiece and the absence of dust during drilling.

When working should be aware of electrical safety (connect to the circuit of the RCD).

Instead of a hole saw, you can use a ballerina.