Tile is one of the most difficult things to cut. Some of the tiles cannot handle too much pressure and it can easily break into pieces. Cutting a tile cannot be done using standard saw blades and it is equally difficult using stone material since tile is too tough to cut. You need the right equipment when it comes to cutting or drilling a tile. One of the most equipped and useful cutting tool is wet saw or water saw. It is used commonly for cutting tiles.
It is also one of the most accurate and quickest ways to cut tile when you are having ceramic tiles in kitchen or bathroom. Using a water saw is not that hard if you understand the cutting techniques and use the safety methods along with. If you are beginner, then you must buy a high quality wet saw used by professionals. If you are using a diamond blade, then you need to fill the tray with water in order to cool down the blade during process and understand the DIY techniques to cut tiles.
Materials tools and tips
The materials consist of ceramic tiles and water saw. Usually a Water saw or wet saw consists of an electric motor, diamond blade, table, tray and plastic protection. Some of the other variants of wet saw consist of a pump which sprays water on the table to get more accuracy in cuts. You can use basic wet saw for home projects. Apart from materials, tools include eye protection, wet saw and rags. One of the key things to note before beginning the cutting process is that you must place the water saw on a levelled surface while filling the water in the tray till the optimum level.
Using wet saw
A usual wet saw has a start and a stop button. In order to start the saw, you need to press the green button (start button) and red button is to stop the cut. Key thing to note here is that blade keeps rotating for few seconds even after pressing stop button due to inertia so keep your hands away after pressing stop button.
How to cut tiles using water saw
- First thing to do is take accurate measurements using a marker and L-Square in order to make the cut. Then you can make a complex cut according to your requirement using a saw.
- Draw the measurements on the tile and then you need to keep some room around the tile in order to install the spacers. Make sure that you leave enough room for expansion. Good judgement is extremely important in order to take accurate measurement.
- Now you need to fill the tray with water. Before making the cut you need to fill the water in the tray so that blade gets the time to cool down.
- Align the tile on the table and then adjust the fence so the blade cuts the tile exactly on the line. Addition to that, make sure that you place the tile with widest part between the blade and fence. This will keep your hand away from table.
- Keep using the gloves for safety and eye protection and pull the tile off the blade and start pressing the green button. Secure the fences at both the ends and ensure that you keep cutting in straight line.
- In order to cut the tile, you need to hold the tile with both the hands and push it along the fence into the blade. Make sure that you wear protective gear while using the blade. Keep your hands away from the blade while using water saw and never force the tool. Simply let the blade cut the tile.
- Cutting along the tile in 90 degrees is the best thing to do. Keep the tray with sufficient water in order to cool down the blades before going for the second cut. Wait until the blades stop rotating and take the piece off the table. Unplug the wet saw and clean it using a sponge.
- Now cut the tiles in a diagonal manner using a triangle attachment. Keeping your hands away push the tiles towards the blades.
- If the tiles aren’t wide enough then you must ensure great care and pay special attention to the safety precautions.
Conclusion
One should use safety gloves and eye protection while cutting the tiles. In order to get accustomed with wet saw, you must go through the manufacturer instructions. Also the complete cutting process takes several minutes with every cut since the complexity varies according to the type of desired cut.
