Tiling tools - question to tilers out there!

[CYC]

Hi all,
I case some of you have been or are tilers (ceramic), can anyone point to me a good professional tile cutter (you know the ones with the diamond small ring which scores the tiles ready to get snapped). Also what is the thickest tile you can score and snap with this tool or when should you start using a water cooled electric cutter?

Is there any good brand I should look for on the net?
Any links or brand names for general professional tiling gear would be great.

Thanks in advance.

 

[cambournepete]

Rubi are reckoned to be the best.

I bought the bottom of the range Rubi (a star-40 I think) from Topps Tiles for ~£35-00. It is heavy, the cutter mechanism slides well and it cuts tiles easily. I can cut full 20mm strips from 8-10mm ceramic floor tiles (and I'd not done it before 2 weeks ago).

They do an enormous range of manual cutters, capable of cutting up to the largest floor tiles you can buy. Rutlands do some of them, but a more comprehensive site is Trade Tiler.

I looked at the cheapo manual tile cutters but they are nothing like as well made as the Rubi.

I only used a borrowed electric cutter for doing curves and cut-outs, which was very noisy and very messy, and I'm glad I didn't need to buy one, even though they are cheaper than my Rubi.

You might like to look at this thread which I started in June when looking at how to tile the hall, which is now complete.

HTH

Pete

 

[thomaskennedy]

Hi CYC,

I have recently done my kitchen with slate tiles....They were big tiles for a floor and i saved myself around £250 by cutting them down myself!

Just a word about water cooled cuttters...They make a bloody damn big mess! The one i got (around £60 from B&Q) soaked the floor and stained around 4 towels!!

Annoying, but it was cutting through tiles that were around 8-10mm thick :shock: and it did cut around 250 cuts which made it much quicker than to do it with a hand one!!

Just a little advice to buy some rags :shock:

Ta

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

I bought a fairly good tile cutter from wicks (manual type labeled 'PRO' in big grey box) very surprised does any thing from small 4" wall tile to 18" floor tiles its done 4 kitchens and 2 floors and still going strong for L shaped cuts i use a tile cutting jigsaw blade works well providing you hold the tile firmly also i recommend getting a grout trowel as these save loads of time (looks like a rubber plastering trowel) oh tile cutter was £29 or £39 cant remember now :lol:

 

[CYC]

Thank you very much Pete, your information is spot on
I see some Pocket 40 & 50 cutters on Rutlands, is this the one you have?

Tom I think I would get a hand cutter, I have an angle grinder and a diamond disc for the odd angles. Although I think the problem with water going everywhere must be down to the machine you have cause I haven't seen such a mess before :wink:

AP, I will most certainly get the grouting float, I recently seen it in action and I was biting myself for using a squeege throughout my house!!! :roll:

Anyone used a grouting gun before, is it as good as it looks?

 

[StevieB]

I chalk up my vote for an electric tile cutter and a manual one! I have a manual one for straight cuts across the tile, cheapo job from wickes just a small heel on a hadle type that has done both small wall tiles (4") and large floor tiles (12"). For angled or odd shaped cuts I use an electric wheel tile table saw from B&Q (again cheapo, performance power brand, not Pro). Its very good at nibbling bits away to make a tight fit, but the diameter of the wheel means it undercuts the back of the tile past your markout line which can sometimes lead to cracking of the tile on thin sections. I dont use the fence, just cut freehand (fence is worse than useless). Not sure it would be any good for continued professional use but for my bathroom and kitchen and a friends bathroom it has been fine, havent needed to change the wheel yet.

I have tried tile hacksaws and files, but the finish they gave was not straight enough for my liking so I prefer to use the electric tile saw.

Tom, sounds like you have too much water in your reservoir. You only need enough to keep the cutting edge of the blade wet. I typically use mine at the min mark on the reservoir and top back up to this level when the blade dries. You can tell from the speed of the cut if the blade is wet enough or not. If you have too much water the blade just lifts it out and deposits it all over the table, the floor, my shirt etc etc :roll:

Cheers,

Steve.

 

[cambournepete]

Thank you very much Pete, your information is spot on
I see some Pocket 40 & 50 cutters on Rutlands, is this the one you have?

No it was definitely a Star-something, but I guess the pocket ones are just as good.

 

[ike]

Tom, sounds like you have too much water in your reservoir.

:shock:

Yes, but what about the tile cutter? b,boom! :lol:

 

[thomaskennedy]

No there wasn't too much, up to the max mark!

Maybe its just 'cos it's a cheapy model ah well, saved me money and time

Ta

Tom

 

[CYC]

Thanks everyone, my questions are answered

Ike, hahahahahhahahahahhahahaha

 

[CYC]

A local toolshop appears to be selling the Sigma tiling tools.
I am told it's a italian company and they are good (says the salesman!).

Do you know if this is a good brand?

 

[Bean]

CYC The only tile cutting kit I know of is RUBI but I think they are expensive, but I have seen them cut through porcelane tiles easily, the scoring edge did not blunt.

Bean

 

[Anonymous]

I use a Sigma tile cutter and find it to be very good.

It cost around £100 if memory serves and a couple of other people I know, who also tile regularly, use them. They are a heavy duty professional tool, they cleanly snap large tiles with ease and they stand up to hard use. A little WD40 on the cutter rail instead of oil, and a dab to lubricate the cutter itself, makes a world of difference. It just slices through the tiles until it dries out but I imagine that applies to any good manual cutter.

I think Rubi are now doing a cheaper range of entry level cutters but I don't know whether or not they would be cheaper than or how they would compare to the Sigma. I do like the look of the more expensive Rubi's with their angle gauges etc, though.

I also have a wet electric cutter, which although good for repetitive cuts, is now gathering dust due to chipping the glaze and throwing water everywhere, mostly in a stripe up my shirt. I am now back to using my 4" grinder with diamond disc which I find much better personally for those kinds of cuts. Other than that, I much prefer a good manual cutter because it is faster, quieter, cleaner and should give you a sharper edge.

I hope this helps you,

Regards

Mick

 

[CYC]

Mick, do you know where to get the Rubi stuff in Ireland?
Are you around Dublin?

 

[Noel]

CYC,

Two Rubi agents are

Gilroy Tiles in Grange, just north of Sligo 071 9163139 and Kage Industrial
Tools in Clondalkin, Dublin 01 4592535.
Have a word with one of them to see if there's an agent closer to you.

Noel

 

[CYC]

As always Noel, you have the right number :wink: . I contacted the clondalkin shop which is the closest to me and they have the rubi cutters (cheaper than sigma).

Thanks a million

 

[Anonymous]

Hello again CYC,

Sorry I didn't get back to you.

I'm around 60 - 70 miles north of Dublin so no help there, but I hope you enjoy your Rubi cutter and that it is every bit as good as they say! They certainly look the business. I'll probably get one myself eventually too.

Maybe I should drop the Sigma a few times to speed the process up a bit...

Good luck with it!

All the best,

Mick.