3 ways to cut tiles at home Ways and tools for cutting and adjusting tiles with your own hands to the required size. How to use a manual tile cutter and an angle grinder to cut tiles.
How to choose the right disc by tile
For cutting, metal discs are used with diamond plating along its edges. But they are different: for concrete, brick, stone. Tiled discs do not have any holes, the soldering on them is uniform and smooth. Discs for concrete have slots on the solder, and will chip when vibrated. If you cut ceramic tiles with them, then these chips can fly into your face.
Cutting tiles with a manual tile cutter
How a manual tile cutter works
- The tile is inserted into the tile cutter, and the markings on it are aligned with a special mark.
- The handle is lowered and held away from you. It must be driven at the same speed and even pressure so that the roller cuts the glaze to the same depth. It will be enough to run the roller once. If you drive several times, the breakage can turn out to be of poor quality.
- Next to the roller there are special paws that lower and break the tiles into 2 parts after a sharp push on the lever. over, all tile cutters have a metal tubercle on their platform, and soft pads along the edges. When you press down on the edges of the tile with your feet, maximum tension will be created at the notch, if correctly aligned with the backing, and it will evenly break off.
It is difficult to explain this in words, so it is easier to look at which shows how to cut tiles correctly with a tile cutter:
High-quality tile cutters allow you to cut even 10 mm thick tiles without any problems. And it doesn’t matter at what angle you cut it: at least 45 degrees, at least 30.
Electric tile cutter
If you have a large volume of work, then the fastest and highest quality cut comes from an electric tile cutter. They use a diamond wheel and supply water to the cutting area to cool and remove dust. The cheapest types of the amateur class can be found on sale for 34 thousand rubles.
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;
Dry cutters
A dry cutter can cut ceramic tiles without water cooling, but the duration of one continuous cut should not exceed 1-1.5 minutes, after which the disc is allowed to cool while rotating idle. When buying a dry cutter, a tool with a continuous diamond coating is preferred.
Dry cutters for cutting stone
If, during cutting, a continuous glowing spark-strip appears on the cutting edge of the metal licking phenomenon, then the temperature at the cutting point of the tile in such a situation rises sharply, which is fraught with damage to the material. In this case, a rotating dry cutter can make several cuts on any abrasive surface (concrete, plaster), and the disc comes back into working condition.
Dry cutters are divided into 2 types:
- Segmented;
- Solid.
Grinder cutting rectangular holes in tiles
Mark the cut contour with a marker and a ruler on the front side of the tile and drill holes with a diameter of 5-7 mm exactly at its corners, without going beyond the contour boundaries, with a carbide drill. Then the angle grinder makes through cuts between the holes along the perimeter of the rectangular contour, the cut out fragment of ceramic is removed, and the corners and the cutting surface are modified with coarse sandpaper or a file.
How to cut tiles with an angle grinder?
When doing renovations, many homeowners find it necessary to cut ceramic tiles that can be done using an angle grinder. This tool allows you to do this work at a high level, with minimal risk of chips or cracks. In this article, we will show you how to cut ceramic tiles using an angle grinder.
We cut the tiles correctly
When using tiles for wall decoration, a situation will surely arise when you need to cut off part of the slab so that it fits into the remaining space. over, a similar procedure will be required regardless of which type of tile you choose. Cutting is required most often when unique patterns are created on the walls or various decorative objects are formed using tiles.
If you have already prepared all the attributes you need for work, you can consider how the tile should be cut correctly. An angle grinder is an excellent assistant in this matter, since with its help you can create not only straight cuts, but also curly cuts. Next, we will look at how to cut tiles in various ways.
A straight cut is as simple as possible:
- First, you need to fix the tile on the plane so that it does not slide or ride on it.
- The part of the tile that needs to be cut must remain in weight. The surface line will be the guideline for the notch mowing line;
- Take an angle grinder so that you can see the cut line. If you hide it from yourself, you will not be able to make an even cut.
- You need to direct and move the blade towards you, not away from yourself. This is the mistake many newbies make. Hold the tool firmly and level so that it does not walk in different directions, otherwise the cut will be ugly. Holding the angle grinder crooked can damage the disc, as it can fly off.
A round hole is made as follows:
- Initially, you must use a marker to draw the required hole. Draw on the glossy side of the tile.
- Then you need to determine the center of the circle. This can be done using straight lines drawn crosswise.
- Gently file the tile with an angle grinder from the inside in a circle until we go deeper.
- The angle grinder must be turned so that the blade gradually fits into the outlined circle.
- When the cut is deep enough, you need to cut the drawn cross along the drawn lines, after which you carefully take out the resulting 4 sectors of the circle.
You need to cut the tiles only on the front side, since this is the only way to get a cut without various defects. Consequently, all possible damage will be concentrated on the back of the tile, which will be hidden with tile adhesive.
It is best to measure and mark the tiles to be cut from the start.
To cut at a 45 degree angle, follow the instructions below:
- It is important to note that cutting the tiles obliquely is more difficult than making a straight cut. However, this is much easier than creating curly elements. You need to start by doing.
- The angle grinder must be turned so that the disc is at the angle you need, while you must carefully drive the blade, removing excess, so that at the end an even angular cut is obtained.
- Perfectness can be achieved by using ordinary sandpaper, which is best fixed on a block.
Required tools and materials
Cutting ceramic tiles is a laborious process that requires maximum concentration. The difficulty is largely due to the fact that the tiles are made of durable material. Dust-free tiles can be cut and sawed down with a tile cutter, but such a tool is not cheap. This is almost impossible with conventional cutters and saws, and the cut will most likely be uneven and unattractive. A regular angle grinder is best suited, with a cutting wheel that allows you to neatly cut tiles even at home.
Despite the fact that this process is relatively difficult, if you get the hang of it, it does not take much time and does not require much effort. This task can be handled by an ordinary homeowner who has not dealt with such work and can even cut off a hog without the help of a tile cutter.
You can cut tiles using the following tools:
- Special tile cutter;
- Diamond tools;
- Angle Grinder.
For cutting ceramic tiles, those that are diamond-coated are suitable. Their use minimizes the formation of cracks and chips. It is forbidden to use discs used for metal work, as they will only damage the tile. Even if you manage to cut with such a circle, it will be uneven and of poor quality. This is due to the sliding of the disc on the tile, due to which the presence of small cracks is inevitable. At the same time, when it comes to home surface finishing, you can ignore these damages, since they will surely disappear during subsequent processing.
Be sure to carry the following attributes with you:
- Glasses;
- Mask;
- Thick gloves.
Please note that the selected angle grinder or grinder must have a speed regulator, since many modern inexpensive tools do not have this function. Such models operate at the highest speed, which is why it is impossible to cut tiles with their help.