How and what to cut porcelain stoneware at home: 4 proven methods How to cut porcelain stoneware tiles at home: a description of four possible methods. Step-by-step instructions for chip-free cutting.
How to cut porcelain stoneware with a glass cutter
This is the easiest tool to use. It also gives a minimal effect. Using a glass cutter, you can cut off porcelain stoneware, but provided that its thickness is small. This is how the wall cladding is most often cut. The glass cutter cannot cope with floor tiles.
There are two types of tools: with a hard metal roller and with a diamond cutter. The latter option cuts better, but fails faster. Its cost is higher than that of a roller analogue.
With a glass cutter, you can make a straight or figured cut. In the latter case, you will also need special nippers. To cut the tiles along a straight mowing line, proceed as follows:
- We lay the cladding on a flat base. Determine where the cut line will go.
- We take a ruler, lay it along the future cut-off mowing line and press it with our fingers.
- Gently, but with strong pressure, draw the line along the ruler with the tool. Trying to scratch a deep enough groove at a time. Otherwise, chips cannot be avoided.
- We put the part on the edge of the table or workbench and press firmly on its edge. So that the liner splits along the intended mowing line.
- Grind the edge if necessary.
If you want to make a curved cut, a line is drawn with a glass cutter. Then you need to take pliers and use them to remove sections of the tile. The closer the cut is to the mowing line, the smaller the pieces should be cut off. The edge with such processing will turn out to be sharp and not entirely even, so it must be sanded.
Cut off the plate without chips
Porcelain stoneware belongs to the materials of increased strength. There are practically no pores in it, it does not absorb water and does not crumble. It is very difficult to even scratch it. Therefore, home craftsmen have the question of how to cut off porcelain stoneware without chips and is it possible at all. It must be admitted that theoretically it is possible, but in practice it turns out very rarely. often, small chips remain on the cut, which have to be sanded.
To keep them as small as possible, experienced craftsmen advise following these recommendations:
- Cut the part from the top side. Most material chipping occurs where the cutter exits the plate.
- The lower the thickness of the selected cutting disc for the grinder, the lower the chance of chipping.
- Reduce torch speed at the beginning and end of the cut line.
- When working with a mechanical tile cutter, apply more pressure to the lever than when cutting a regular tile.
- Cut slightly to the right of the intended mowing line so that it stays on the cut piece. Then you can remove unwanted chips with a sander.
It is very important that the tool is of high quality and suitable for the material of choice. Otherwise, getting a beautiful cut without chips is almost impossible. If, nevertheless, they appear, which happens most often, the defects should be sanded down. You can use sandpaper or a diamond sponge.
The optimal version of the grinder with a special attachment. This is the so-called turtle or flexible diamond circle. They are distinguished by the diameter of the particles applied to the surface of the diamond coating. The turtle can only work with a grinder, the model of which provides for the ability to adjust the number of revolutions. If it is higher than three thousand per minute, the nozzle can fly off the axis.
How to cut a porcelain stoneware angle grinder without chips
Almost every home master has an angle grinder, or an angle grinder. Therefore, it is she who is most often cut porcelain stoneware. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to make such a cut without chips, but it is quite possible to minimize their number. For this, it is very important to choose the right disc. He must have:
- High-quality diamond dusting;
- Marking confirming that the device is intended for cutting porcelain stoneware;
- The minimum possible thickness;
- Continuous cutting edge.
The angle grinder is a potentially dangerous tool, so you shouldn’t neglect the safety rules. You should take care of the means of protection. The kit includes:
- A respirator, since a lot of dust is generated when cutting.
- Safety goggles to prevent possible exposure of disc fragments to the eyes.
- Special clothing.
- Ear plugs or ear muffs to protect your hearing from loud noise.
It is not recommended to neglect protective equipment, even if you plan to cut several plates.
Cutting porcelain tiles correctly using an angle grinder is quite simple if you follow the instructions:
- Preparing a place to work. Lay a substrate on the leveled surface, which will protect the base. You can choose penoplex, polystyrene, etc.
- We put the part face up on the base, mark the section of the cut on it. To make the chips less, we glue a strip of masking tape on it, draw the cutting line along it.
- We put a metal corner on top of the tile along the cut path, fix it with clamps. This will allow you to make an accurate cut. This must be done when cutting products with a large thickness.
- We start the angle grinder. We cut the part at a time, direct it away from ourselves. To get an even edge, cut off the fragment so that the line of the marking remains on the product. It will be removed during the sanding process, and the tile will retain the specified size.
- We remove the masking tape, if necessary, grind the end of the part.
If the plate is thin or you do not need a perfectly straight cut, you can simplify your work. The angle grinder does not make a cut, but only a cut. Then the fragment is broken off with a sharp strong movement.
It is very convenient to use a grinder to cut porcelain stoneware tiles. First of all, because it is the most accessible of all the devices that can be used. They can make cuts of various shapes, including any curved. However, the angle grinder is traumatic, you need to work very carefully. It is very dusty and noisy.
Safety instructions for working angle grinder
To avoid injury while operating the angle grinder, the following rules must be observed:
- When working, use personal protective equipment, gloves, overalls, safety shoes, glasses, respirator;
- You can work as a grinder only with a steel protective cover installed on the tool;
- The length of the grinder’s electric cable must be at least 2 m, which reduces the risk of damage to it by a rotating disc during operation;
- Cut away from yourself, holding the tool with both hands;
- The direction of rotation of the disc must coincide with the direction of translation of the angle grinder;
- Cut the material by immersing the grinder disc into the cutting line no more than one third of the radius;
- Each material must be processed with the appropriate disc, that is, ceramic tiles cannot be cut with a metal cutting attachment, and a cut-off stone disc is not intended for grinding ceramics (you can grind with a steel dry cutter);
- During operation of the angle grinder, both extremely low and maximum high speed values should be avoided;
- It is forbidden to cut the material immersed in water with a grinder in order to reduce the amount of dust generated due to the danger of electric shock;
Ceramic Cutting Discs Angle Grinder
To cut ceramic tiles, an angle grinder uses stone or diamond-coated steel discs (dry cutters). Dry cutters, in turn, are divided into solid and segmented. The more intense the diamond spraying on the dry cutter, the more efficient and durable the disc will be.
Discs come in stone or steel
Angle Grinder Cutting Large Holes
With an alcohol marker on the ceramics, mark the center of the circle and drill a through hole with a diameter of 3-4 mm with a carbide drill exactly along the mark. Then, on both sides of the tile, a contour of a circle of a given diameter is applied. An angle grinder with a disc make cuts 1-2 mm deep along the contour of the future hole on both sides of the tile, and then make through cuts inside the contour and remove small fragments of ceramics from it with nippers. The inner surface of the cut along the perimeter of the hole can be processed with coarse sandpaper or a file until there are no chips.
Tile cutting with an angle grinder is performed using a diamond grinding wheel
Features of working with the tool
In the process of performing facing work, you will inevitably face the need to correct the size of the tile. In order to make an incision, tile cutters are usually used in various variations, as well as improvised tools. If a glass cutter is enough for wall tiles, thick flooring material is much more difficult to break. Can an angle grinder cut such ceramic tiles?
The angle grinder is one of the most popular tools that, in addition to its direct task of sanding surfaces, can also perform other functions. With its help, metal, ceramic tiles, stone and other durable materials are cut.
Even thick, durable porcelain stoneware can be cut with a special angle grinder
As far as tiles are concerned, working with an angle grinder has its own characteristics. In order to complete the task, you will need a special nozzle and a tile fixer. The tool will do the rest for you.
Features of tile cutting angle grinder: how to cut without chips
When carrying out independent repairs, an angle grinder is often used to cut tiles, as a rule, it is used when working with durable facing material or simply because there is no tile cutter. However, making a cut with such a tool without chips is not so easy. In order for the surface of the tile to remain flat, you need to know some of the subtleties of such work. So let’s take a closer look at how to cut tile with an angle grinder.
Cutting tiles with an angle grinder has certain features that must be taken into account so as not to spoil the material
Used attachments
Tile cutting with an angle grinder is performed using a diamond grinding wheel. This attachment can be made in several variations. Basically, for this type of work, a fine diamond wheel is used for dry cutting. Of course, there will be a lot of dust, but this way you can make a neat cut.
If you plan to work for a long time, a wet wheel can be used to prevent overheating of the tool. In this case, you will need to additionally equip the water supply. This can be done manually, using a spray bottle, or simply by dipping the disc into water.
To protect against possible breakage of the nozzle, before starting work, you need to carefully inspect the tool and securely fasten all its parts. In addition to the protective cap for the angle grinder, use goggles, a mask and gloves to protect against dust and sharp discs.
Diamond wheel for angle grinder can be used in both dry and wet cutting
Cutting porcelain stoneware
When performing repairs, not only walls are faced. On the floors in the bathroom and toilet, ceramic granite tiles are laid with an artificial material that replaces granite and marble. Its cost is several times less than natural, but in terms of hardness and abrasion, porcelain stoneware surpasses them. Recently, it has become widespread. It can also be cut with an angle grinder.
To do this, you need to know the basic methods of processing material at home.
- Choose the right cutting tool. It should say what it is used for: porcelain stoneware, hard ceramics, etc.
- To reduce chips, choose a disc with a continuous cutting edge. The thickness should be minimal.
- Choose a cut-off wheel with a high diamond coating height.
- The angle grinder must have a speed controller.
After choosing the tool, prepare the workplace and start cutting the porcelain stoneware with an angle grinder. To do this, you need to perform the following steps.
- Place the material on a flat surface with thin foam or similar material underneath.
- Fix the tiles securely to the surface with clamps.
- To reduce chips, glue masking tape and make markings along which you need to cut off the excess part.
- Prepare a vacuum cleaner to remove dust.
- You need to cut from the front side, moving the grinder away from you.
- It is recommended not to cut along the marked mowing line, but slightly to the side. This is done for the subsequent grinding of the end of the porcelain stoneware to remove irregularities and chips.
Following these simple recommendations, you can cut the floor tiles with your own hands.
Cutting tile and porcelain stoneware angle grinder
Every master who deals with wall cladding with ceramic tiles knows that it is impossible to lay it without cutting. This is true both for wall cladding and for laying porcelain stoneware on the floor. But not everyone knows that you can use a regular angle grinder (angle grinder) for trimming. Let’s consider how to perform this operation correctly and without chips.