How To Cut A Tile Without A Grinder
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 grinder to cut tiles.
We cut the tiles with a grinder
Sometimes there are cases when you need to cut a narrow strip of 0.52 cm tile, and a regular tile cutter does not take it, because it has too wide legs.
In such cases, you need to draw an incision with a pencil and make a cut with a grinder with a diamond disc. But if you try to cut it off in one go, the narrow strip will break off in parts. Therefore, you need to smoothly and without pressure walk the grinder along the markings to get an incision about 2 mm deep. You need to walk along the mowing line with the disc, and not directly along it, then the width of the already narrow strip will not decrease.
Using the same method, running several times along the same seam will cut a narrow strip. The second and next time it will be possible to drive the grinder faster, but try to press it to the opposite side, then there will be no chips.
It is better to do this work by weight, so the vibration will go into the hands. When you already see that the strip will soon fall, it is advisable to put something soft so that it does not break.
Cutting tiles with a grinder with a special diamond-coated disc on tiles
Be sure to wear glasses when working with a grinder.
We make a drink at 45 degrees
Ceramic pencil skirting is best for protecting the sharp outer corners of tiles
If you are using a professional electric tile cutter, the tilting platform there makes it easy to make a 45-degree angle on the tile bevel, but not everyone has such a tool. It is easy to make such an angle on your own using the same grinder by eye. The disc is guided along the cut line with the disc tilted slightly inward.
Undercut tiles at 45 degrees
3 ways to cut tile at home
Any process of laying ceramic tiles is not complete without cutting it. There will be a lot of it especially if you use some kind of non-standard layout, for example, diagonally. In the last article, we talked about which layout is better to choose in order to get uniform and beautiful cuts everywhere. Now we will talk about how to properly cut tiles at home.
As you know, tiles are made of baked clay, which is covered with glaze on top. It’s hard to break it with your hands, but if it lies on any unevenness, then it easily cracks from a small load. To simplify this process and make the required break line, you need to loosen the top layer of the glaze, that is, cut it, and therefore make efforts to break.
There are 3 main ways to do this:
- Special hand tool, electric tile cutter or special tongs.
- Bulgarian.
- Other handy sharp tools.
Let’s talk in more detail about each tile cutting method.
How to cut a tile with the letter G
Since the tile cutter can only cut tiles straight, many have difficulty with L-shaped cutouts. The easiest option is to divide this tile into 2 rectangular elements, but then you get an extra ugly seam that will catch your eye.
But this can be avoided if the short side is cut with a grinder, and then the long one with a tile cutter.
Step-by-step instructions on how to make L-shaped cuts on tiles
The second method: by any method available to you, a cut is made on the glaze, and the excess is gradually broken off with pliers. Irregularities are sanded with sandpaper. This option will even allow you to get a rounded incision for abutting the risers.
How to cut porcelain stoneware
It is believed that porcelain stoneware is the hardest material from which floor tiles are made. You can trim it in the same way as a regular tile.
Sometimes simple floor tiles are more difficult to cut than porcelain stoneware. There is a hardened tile on which, after cutting with a tile cutter, almost no notch in the glaze is visible. And even the diamond disc on the grinder does not take it, the cut turns out to be torn, like after a tractor. In such cases, you need to use a grinder, and saw off a 23 mm groove on the back to mark the place of the break.
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 paws, 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.
Stone circles
Cutting element of considerable thickness. Due to this, the cut is wide, the amount of dust increases during operation. The main disadvantage is the rapid wear of the consumable. Over, if chips or other defects appear on it during operation, the circle is immediately changed. Otherwise, it can collapse, damaging the workpiece and causing harm to the person working with it. Stone discs are the cheapest.
What disc to cut tiles
Tool accessories are selected for a specific material. Several types of discs are suitable for cutting tiles.
LBM Makita GA5030
You can cut the ceramics with it, the result can be very good. But for this you have to try. It is desirable to have the skill of working with a grinder, otherwise there is a great risk of spoiling the material. The tool will cut any veneer if the correct blade is selected. We must be prepared for the fact that during the cutting process it will be very noisy, a lot of dust will rise into the air. The cut line may be chipped.
Why is a grinder better than a tile cutter
To begin with, the tile cutter is designed to cut tiles. For each of its varieties: thick or thin, more or less durable, you can find a suitable model of the tool. The main advantage of the tile cutter is that it gives an even cut without chips. There is not a lot of dust during work, the risk of spoiling the plate is minimal. Not so with an angle grinder.
How to cut tiles with a grinder without chips: a detailed guide for beginners
Installing wall or floor tiles is almost never complete without trimming. Parts need to be adjusted to size, cut to the shape of the base, etc. Traditionally, a tile cutter is used for this, but more and more DIYers choose an angle grinder. Let’s figure out how to cut tiles with a grinder without chips and is it possible in practice.
Tile cutting with an angle grinder
Stone discs are several times cheaper than dry cutters, but they wear out during operation and must be replaced with new ones. In addition, they are thicker than dry cutters, so the thickness of the mowing line for cutting with a stone nozzle is wider and, accordingly, more dust is generated during operation.
In the process of cutting with a stone nozzle, it is necessary to control the condition of its cutting edge if a chip or burr forms on the edge, the disc must be replaced immediately, since such damage is fraught with destruction of the nozzle and causing injury.
Safety rules when working with a grinder
To avoid injuries when working with a 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 the forward movement of the 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);
- When working with a 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;
Discs for cutting ceramics with a grinder
To cut ceramic tiles with a grinder, stone or diamond-coated steel discs (dry cutters) are used. 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
How to cut ceramics with a grinder
One of the tools used to cut ceramic tiles is a grinder angle grinder (angle grinder), commonly called a grinder in everyday life.
- Safety rules when working with a grinder
- Discs for cutting ceramics with a grinder
- Stone discs
- Dry cutters
- Segmented dry cutters
- Solid dry cutters
- Direct cutting of ceramics with a grinder
- Grinder cutting of large diameter holes
- Grinder cutting rectangular holes in tiles
- Figured tile cutting with a grinder
- Outcome
The price range of various grinder models makes it available not only to professionals, but also to home craftsmen, so when using angle grinders, you need to know not only the capabilities of this power tool, but also the rules for handling it in order to avoid injury.
The grinder is best used with adjustable speed
At home, a small grinder is used, designed to work with discs with a diameter of 100-125 mm and performing many operations. The tool can be equipped with a speed controller.
Segmented dry cutters
This type of grinder attachments is a steel disc with evenly spaced slots directed from the cutting edge to the center and dividing the disc into equal segments. The segmented nozzle can be used to cut porcelain stoneware and natural stone tiles. The slots between the disc segments serve to increase the life of the bit by improving the air cooling of the tool when cutting hard facing material, but increase the formation of chips.
Solid dry cutters
This type of dry cutter can not only cut ceramic tiles, but also process the cutting edge with a working side surface. The absence of detonation of the tool during operation due to the solid shape of the disc increases the cutting speed, allows you to cut a fragment evenly and reduces the number of chips.
Which disc to cut ceramic tiles with a grinder?
There are at least 6 types of discs suitable for use with an angle grinder. The quality of work and the achievement of various results at the request of the master will depend on the choice of the nozzle.
How to cut tiles with a grinder without chips and dust?
Before processing, a thorough measurement of the markings is applied with a marker on the outside of the ceramic tile. Since it is impossible to make a perfectly straight cut in most cases, small allowances are made for trimming with a sharpener or file.
How to turn a grinder into a tile cutter?
The design of the grinder does not allow cutting with the maximum emphasis, the device will have to be constantly kept suspended or an assistant is involved. The most rational solution is to slightly modify the grinder, turning it into a convenient and safer electric cutter.
Then proceed to fixing the grinding machine. In this matter, special clamps will help, which can firmly fix the tool body. The improvised tile cutter can be improved by adding a container of water to cool the blade and a wet cutting attachment.
Diamond wheel
A claim for cutting ceramic tiles for a grinder with a diamond coating is the most expensive, but at the same time the highest quality option for grinders. What is able to cut a diamond wheel:
- Tile;
- A rock;
- Plastic;
- Wood;
- Ferrous and non-ferrous metals;
- Concrete;
- Marble.
Carbon spraying on the nozzles has different hardness and composition.
Diamond tips for the grinder are also solid and segmented. There is another type of turbo circles. They are used wherever it is necessary to cut tiles at an angle at high speed.
Straight cutting
The simplest processing option, which even beginners can handle, is cutting tiles with a grinder along a straight mowing line. To begin with, the tool is fixed on a flat surface. It must be positioned so that the cutting edge hangs from the platform. The direction of the cut should remain within the tiler’s line of sight, with the tile placed face up.
Segmented dry cutters
The disc of this modification is also made of steel, but differs from the standard attachment by the presence of slots. They are located along the edge of the product towards the central part and divide it into equal segments.
Segmented dry-cut discs are used to process very durable porcelain stoneware and natural stone tiles. With segmented slots, the nozzle lasts longer than other models. Extends service life and air cooling during cutting.