Very often, the owners of apartments and houses decide to make repairs on their own and lay or porcelain tiles with their own hands. Regardless of whether you will be laying floor tiles or wall tiles, you cannot do without such an operation as cutting tiles.

In order to cut the tile as little as possible, you need to think carefully about the way it is laid, and then you can reduce the number of cut tiles to a minimum.

In order to cut the required size of the tile, you will need not only special tools, but also the skills to perform such work.

If, when making a corner, you have to cut the material, then The width of the elements must be at least half, otherwise such a coating will look ugly. If you encounter this work for the first time, then it is better to buy a few more tiles and practice cutting them.

It is clear that you will spoil several elements, but you will acquire the necessary skills, understand how to properly cut and further work will be done simply, quickly and efficiently.

If speak about cutting tiles, then everything is simple here. To do this, you can use a conventional glass cutter, and the specified work can also be done using a manual tile cutter.

For curly cut, you can use a manual jigsaw with diamond wire or do it with an electric jigsaw with a special file. Equipment such as an electric tile cutter or a grinder with a special disc is suitable for both cutting tiles and working with porcelain stoneware.

Porcelain stoneware has a greater hardness, so working with it is much harder. A glass cutter will not work in this case; it will also be very difficult and long to work with hand tools. When using a mechanical tile cutter for these purposes, its knife will become dull very quickly.

For cutting porcelain stoneware, an electric tile cutter is best suited, with its help you can make both straight cuts and at an angle, make bends. If you need to cut only a few elements, then it is not advisable to purchase such a tool, so you can rent it or work can be done using a grinder with a diamond disc.

When carrying out these works, it is necessary either to constantly moisten the cut site, or to work in a respirator and glasses, as there will be a lot of dust and fragments.

Using a glass cutter

If you need to cut several tiles, then this can be done with a simple and cheap tool - a glass cutter. For such work a tool with a thin diamond blade is suitable and not with a tip. When working with porcelain stoneware, a glass cutter is not used, as this material is very hard.

If necessary, cut a thin strip less than 1 cm wide, it will not work with a tile cutter. If you have worked with glass, you can handle tile as well. The tile is placed on a flat surface face up and a cut line is applied with a marker.

A metal ruler is applied along the line and cutting is carried out, when you pass the glossy part, it will take a little effort to break.

If the glass cutter is new, then it is enough to draw one line, then it will be necessary to draw the tool several times along the cut line. After that, a wire or a wooden block is substituted along the line from below, and evenly pressed on the edges of the tile, after which it breaks clearly along the line. The edges are treated with sandpaper and the job is done.

When cutting tiles, you need to be careful not to get hurt on sharp chips, so you need to work with gloves.

Manual tile cutter - how to use

With this tool, you can only make straight cuts along one side of the tile or diagonally. The tile cutter has a base, skids are fixed on it, the carriage and the cutting roller move along them.

When the marking of the element is carried out, it is laid on the base, the roller is installed and when the handle is pressed, the cutting process takes place.

Only one cut is made with a manual tile cutter, you can’t do this two or three times, as the line will turn out to be uneven and not the way you needed it.

Usually the cutting tool is removable and if it becomes dull, it must be changed, be sure to follow this, otherwise you will not be able to do the job well. Using this tool, you can cut wall or floor tiles, but it will not be able to cope with porcelain stoneware.

Advantages manual tile cutter is that the work is done simply and quickly, it is inexpensive. Of the minuses it should be noted that it is impossible to make a figured cut, often the edges turn out to be uneven and they have to be refined with sandpaper, it is impossible to cut strips less than 5-6 mm wide.

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A grinder or an angle grinder is used to perform various jobs, and if you put a diamond disc on it, you can cut both ceramic tiles and porcelain stoneware. With this tool, you can carry out not only rectilinear, but also figured cuts.

If we talk about the quality of the edges obtained, then they will be worse than when working with a tile cutter, in addition, dust and fragments of tiles fly around the room. Work is carried out using personal protective equipment: seals, goggles and a respirator.

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The disadvantage of using a grinder to perform these jobs is high noise and a large amount of dust. If you use machines with which wet cutting is carried out, then the cut is even, smooth and without chips.

Electric tile cutter

This tool can be used both for working with tiles and with porcelain stoneware. To work with an electric tile cutter, you need to have special skills, as this is a rather complicated process.

If you are engaged in construction professionally, then you cannot do without an electric tile cutter, and if you decide to lay tiles on the floor or walls yourself, then you can rent such equipment.

The construction type of this tool is very similar to a circular saw that uses diamond blades and has a water bath. With the help of such equipment, it is convenient to make a cut with an inclination, which allows high-quality facing of external corners.

Docking elements occurs at an angle of 45 degrees, so no need to use aluminum or plastic corners, and the coating is very beautiful.

Before starting work, water is poured into the bath to such a level that the disk is immersed in it by 2-3 cm. The tiles are marked and brought to the disk. It is not necessary to press hard so as not to overload the tile cutter.

To increase the service life of the cutting disc, it is necessary to monitor the purity of the water in the bath and as it gets dirty, the water must be changed.

Main Benefits electric tile cutter:

• the cut is even and smooth;
• no chips are formed;
• the possibility of cutting at an angle;
• during operation there is practically no dust;
• high performance;
• It is possible to cut very thin strips.

Despite this, this equipment has its own limitations: there is no possibility to carry out a curved cut and its cost is very high.

Electric jigsaw

Almost any home craftsman has such a tool, so if you need to cut tiles, then there is no need to purchase new equipment, since this work can be done using a jigsaw. You only need buy a special abrasive nail file.

With the help of this equipment, it is easy to work with wall tiles, and the one that is used for flooring or porcelain stoneware is best cut with a grinder or an electric tile cutter.

When planning facade cladding or laying flooring in the house or on the street, many people opt for porcelain stoneware. This material is an order of magnitude superior to conventional ceramics in terms of strength, while maintaining decorative qualities. At the same time, such tiles are close in durability to natural stone, but much more practical in installation. However, it is not always possible to form an even coating without additional processing of the material, which raises a fair question about how to cut porcelain tiles at home without the use of machines and other specialized equipment.

Features of cutting porcelain stoneware

The complexity of processing porcelain tiles is due to its characteristics. This is a fairly solid material, which in structure resembles a stone. Accordingly, the tool for cutting it should be selected with great care. Porcelain stoneware is a cross between granite and ceramics. But in the case of a stone, you can’t do without the help of professionals if you need to get perfectly even sides. With ceramic tiles, things are not so deplorable, and it is quite possible to limit yourself to standard cutting kits. When deciding how to cut porcelain tiles at home, you can immediately consider tools such as a grinder, tile cutter, jigsaw, etc. The processing process is quite painstaking and time-consuming, but this is the only way to get the best result without outside help and financial costs .

Preparing the tool for work

Regardless of which tool will be used in the work, it is necessary to check its technical serviceability. Even knowing at a professional level how to cut porcelain tiles at home will not help if the equipment is in poor condition. This is especially important if you plan to operate a device that has been in storage for a long time. So, first of all, the integrity of the cutting organs is checked. These can be diamond rollers, saws, crowns and other abrasives. At the same time, the quality of their sharpening and the fixation system are checked, on which safety will directly depend. Further, the reliability of the body fastenings, the position of nuts and screws are evaluated. If a power tool is being used, all contacts must be checked, and in some cases the lubrication as well.

cutting grinder

If the choice fell on this tool, you should immediately prepare for the fact that the workflow will be accompanied by a large amount of dust and dirt. In addition, safety measures must be observed - the presence of gloves and goggles is a prerequisite for preparing for the operation. must have a special cover that protects against fragments of material.

Depending on the planned result, you can determine how to cut porcelain tiles at home with a grinder - for example, it can be figured or straight-line processing. In the course of work, it is not necessary to try to cover the entire thickness of the element, since the tile can easily break along the created incision. However, this line should be deeper than in the case of cutting ordinary ceramic tiles. Among the disadvantages of using a grinder, one can single out the need to provide special working conditions and a relatively low cut quality. The first minus is due to the fact that a lot of dust and fragments appear, and the second is associated with rough processing with diamond abrasives.

Using a tile cutter

The popularity of this method is due to the fact that the tile cutter is designed specifically for working with materials such as ceramics and porcelain stoneware. The quality of the resulting cut in this case is higher than when working with a grinder, but subject to the rules for operating the equipment. Despite the prevalence of electric models, it will not be superfluous to know how to cut porcelain tiles, as this method is more accurate. But it is important to note that it is desirable to make an incision once, since repeated attempts to get it and make the desired break can spoil the appearance of the element.

Technique of working with a tile cutter

When the initial cut is ready, you should continue fixing the tile, raise the handle of the tool and place the paws in the central part of the line so that its stop is directed into the tile. Next, you need to press the handle and increase the effort, achieving a break. The parameters and quality of the resulting cut are determined not only by the user's manipulations, but also by the structure of the porcelain stoneware itself, its composition and rigidity. If there are extra pieces of chips left on the edges of the tile, they can be easily removed with pliers.

Processing porcelain stoneware with a glass cutter

The force of the glass cutter is not so high compared to the tools described, so this method is advisable to use only in the case of a small amount of work. Now you can move on to the question of how to cut porcelain tiles with a glass cutter to get a result no less decent in quality.

Roller glass cutter must have a diamond element for processing tile material. The tile itself is immersed in water for about 30 minutes before work to facilitate the cutting process. Next, the element is laid on a smooth surface. The incision should also be made only once with strong pressure. The cutting part must be rolled along a pre-drawn line from the far point to yourself. As a result of this operation, a groove should form on the porcelain stoneware coating - it will act as the basis for further fracture. To facilitate scrapping, it is necessary to put a thin wire, nail or match on the formed line. By double-sided pressing, the tile is divided into two parts.

Jigsaw cutting

This method will also require considerable effort and is more suitable for modest volumes of tiles intended for cutting. Unlike alternative methods, this option involves sawing. By the way, knowing how to cut porcelain tiles with a jigsaw will allow you to perform similar operations. In addition to patience, you should stock up on interchangeable cutting blades, which will most likely require working with dense material.

The first step is to fix the file. A jigsaw should be drawn along the intended line on the tile so that the most even cut is formed. To eliminate the possibility of overheating of the tool, it is also necessary to moisten the material. This is how the electric model works, but there are also manual jigsaws, which, with appropriate skill and effort, allow you to create accurate and even curly cuts. Again, the main thing is to use files or diamond wires suitable for specific purposes. Of course, the cutting procedure will take a lot of time, but this is one of the best examples that demonstrates how to cut porcelain tiles at home with maximum precision. This method is especially useful if you need to create curvilinear cuts for the further introduction of electrical appliances.

Making holes in porcelain stoneware

Often, cutting operations are complemented by drilling. To do this, you can use special drills, and if you need to create holes of large diameters, you will need a powerful low-speed drill. Knowing some of the principles of how to cut porcelain tiles at home will help in this procedure, but there are some nuances. For example, drilling can only be carried out from the outside of porcelain tiles, since the exit of the working element from the back will cause chips. In some cases, it is also possible to use a ballerina to create holes. This tool is good because it allows you to set the cutters manually, so you can fine-tune the parameters of the hole.

The processing of any material that is intended for decoration is aimed at obtaining a high-quality result without affecting the aesthetic properties. In the case of tiles, this is especially important, since it will not be easy to disguise defects. Obtaining even sides and precise lines is largely ensured by initially correctly marked contours. For example, given the principles of the technology of how to cut porcelain tiles with a grinder, we can conclude about the meaning of the cut lines. The performer takes the contours as the main direction in the process of work. In addition, safety issues are also important - protection against fragments, dust, as well as protection against failure of the equipment itself are paramount measures in preparation for work. Of course, you can’t do without small tricks, including the use of water to wet porcelain stoneware, the use of suitable cutting elements and even distribution of loads during the formation of the cut.

The answer to the question of how to cut porcelain stoneware has to be sought by anyone who is going to use this facing material.

Even if the dimensions of the room are a multiple of the size of the tile, it will still have to be adjusted at the exit points of utilities.

Porcelain stoneware is made by pressing a mixture of clay, quartz sand, feldspar and other minerals, followed by high-temperature firing.

The result is a dense material with a meager amount of pores and the highest hardness - 7 - 8 units on the Mohs scale.

For comparison: corundum has the same hardness (sapphire and ruby ​​belong to this variety of minerals), only diamond and some other materials have a higher indicator.

This feature makes porcelain stoneware wear-resistant even under the most intense loads, but at the same time very difficult to process.

The problem is exacerbated by the fragility of the material: with careless actions, chips appear on the front side. Therefore, the question of choosing a tool for cutting porcelain tiles is very important.

How to cut porcelain stoneware

The processing methods of this material are primarily divided into two types. Each of them has its own indications for use.

Manually

Cutting with a hand tool is justified with small amounts of work. It is usually resorted to by owners of apartments and houses who decide to carry out repairs on their own.

Advantages of the method:

• an available tool is used;
• no dust.

Manual cutting tool

Flaws:

• poor performance;
• often poor cut quality.

power tools

A professional has to cut porcelain tiles in large volumes, so he cannot do without a power tool.

Advantages of the method:

• high speed of work;
• quality cut.

Power tool use

Flaws:

• a large amount of dust;

How to cut porcelain stoneware so that there are no chips

In order to avoid the appearance of chips on the front surface of porcelain stoneware tiles, when trimming it, two rules must be observed:

1. Start cutting from the front side, since chips are most likely when the tool exits the material.
2. When using a power tool with a cutting disc, the rotation speed of the latter at the beginning and at the end of the operation is slowed down.

Can glass cutter be used?

Porcelain tiles will be too tough for a manual glass cutter, with the exception of its thinnest varieties. When cutting thick modules, this tool is used only as an auxiliary tool.

Is it possible to cut porcelain stoneware with a manual tile cutter?

This tool for cutting porcelain stoneware is quite suitable. It should be noted that it requires some skill, so it is advisable to practice beforehand.

Manual tile cutter

What tools are used for cutting

A complete list of tools used for cutting and drilling porcelain stoneware includes manual or electrical devices.

Manual tile cutter

The cutting element in a manual tile cutter, as in a glass cutter, is a roller, but not carbide, but diamond. When rolling it with clamping force on porcelain stoneware, microcracks form in the surface layer. Next, the tile is broken into two parts.

A manual tile cutter is used like this:

1. Check the condition of the tool: you need to make sure that the roller is sharply sharpened and firmly fixed, and the carriage has no play. A dull edge and loose supports will affect the quality of the cut. In this case, the roller is changed. If it dangles from side to side, it is necessary to tighten the fixing screws. When the carriage is jammed, bearings are changed in the guides during movement or the guides are cleaned, lubricated with machine oil. The same is done in the presence of backlash. It is useful to drop oil on the roller as well, so that it turns more easily and wears out less.
2. According to the results of measurements, a cut line is applied to the tile.
3. Lay the module on the base of the tool so that the roller runs exactly along the line. At the same time, the carriage is installed on the tile with support legs so that the cutting element does not touch it.
4. With force pressing the tile with one hand to the base, with the other they take the handle of the tool and set the carriage to the working position: the supports are removed and the roller is placed on the tile.
5. Bring the roller to the beginning of the cut line and, pressing the handle, roll it modulo from one edge to the other. A good cut requires constant force and speed.
6. The second hand continues to hold the tile, preventing it from shifting.
7. Then, the carriage is reinstalled with support legs on the tile and, continuing to hold the module with your hand, by pressing the handle, break it. With a low cut quality, the edge is ground with a grinder armed with a cutting disc for stone.

The incision must be made in one pass. When rolling the roller again, the cut will be uneven.

Electric tile cutter

The electric tile cutter cuts with a diamond-coated blade rotated by an electric motor. In addition, the engine moves a table with a tile fixed on it or a head with a disk along the cut line (depending on the model).

Discs called wet cutters are used. They provide a high quality cut but require liquid cooling. In different models, two methods of cooling are used:

1. a container with water is installed under the base of the tile cutter, so that the lower part of the disc is immersed in it;
2. flowing water is supplied to the disk.

Tile cutter manual electric Greapo PTC1200

When working, the following rules are observed:

• The speed of rotation of the disk at the beginning and end of cutting is slowed down.
• The tile is held by hand with sufficient force to avoid vibration. The module is pressed by hand on both sides of the incision.
• When using a tool with non-flowing cooling, the water in the tank is changed more often, otherwise the disc will capture the debris accumulating in it, which will negatively affect the quality of the cut and the resource of the cutting element.

A disc clogged with crumbs is cleaned by cutting a brick of pressed sand with it or by setting it with the reverse side (in the absence of an indicator of the required direction of rotation).

Bulgarian

To cut porcelain stoneware, a diamond-coated cutting disc is also installed on the grinder, but designed for dry cutting (dry cutter).

It consists of segments, which improves heat dissipation, but the quality of the cut deteriorates.

Rules for choosing a disc for cutting porcelain stoneware:

• thickness - not less than 2 mm;
• the width of the cutting edge is greater than the thickness of the tile (otherwise the cut quality suffers).

It matters which way the disk is spinning. When installed with the wrong side, the cut is of poor quality and the injury risk of the tool increases.

When cutting porcelain stoneware with a grinder, the following rules are followed:

1. The disc is periodically inspected and, if chips and other damage are found, they are changed.
2. The tiles are fixed with clamps. It is useful to attach a steel strip along the cut line with them - then it will be easier to cut the tile evenly.
3. The operation is performed in one pass. Cutting with a disc is accompanied by the formation of chips and the more passes, the higher the percentage of such defects.

The tile is not cut to size, but with a margin of 2 - 5 mm. It will allow you to grind the edge, removing chips and cracks. Grinding is performed around the stone.

If the edge is supposed to be hidden with a plinth or corner, and therefore there are no high requirements for its quality, grinding can be omitted. Also in this case, it is not necessary to cut the tile completely: it is cut and then broken.

The eyes are protected with goggles, the respiratory tract with a respirator, since a lot of dust is generated. It is possible to reduce its amount in the surrounding space during work with the help of a construction vacuum cleaner. This will require an assistant.

In order to minimize damage to the front surface, it is recommended to first cut a shallow groove in it, and then remove the remaining material from the back.

A circular saw

You can turn a circular saw into an electric tile cutter by replacing the circular saw with a diamond-coated cutting disc. The tile will have to be fed onto the disc manually, so you need to be very careful.

Electric jigsaw

This tool can be used to cut thin porcelain tiles. To do this, he is armed with a diamond-coated thread.

Electric jigsaw

wire cutters

With wire cutters, you can break off the edge of a small width - within 1-1.5 cm. To make the cut more even, you can first walk on the tile with a glass cutter.

ballerina

This tool has a large diameter.

It resembles a compass: it has a center drill and one or two cutters on legs set aside.

The distance between the center drill and the cutters, and accordingly the diameter of the hole being made, are adjustable.

That is, the ballerina, unlike the crown, is a universal tool.

The ballerina is used as follows:

1. In the middle of the planned opening, a hole is made with a diamond drill for the ballerina's centering drill. The impact mechanism on the drill is not activated at the same time - it will cause damage to the tile.
2. A ballerina is installed in the drill, its centering drill is inserted into the prepared hole and a circular groove is cut out with a cutter half the thickness of the tile. The impact mechanism is also not used.
3. Turn the tile over and select the remaining material on the other side.

During operation, the drill is cooled with water.

The sliding of the drill on porcelain stoneware at the beginning of drilling is avoided in various ways:

• scratch a hole with a sharp angle of the file;
• stick paper tape;
• put a mark with a clerical proofreader;
• use a jig - a bar with a guide hole for the drill, pressed against the tile with force.

Waterjet cutting

An expensive installation is used, which supplies a thin jet of water (with a diameter of tenths of a millimeter) under considerable pressure with the addition of crumbs from a solid material. The cut is carried out quickly and efficiently, but such equipment is available only to large workshops.

Tool selection

For one-time work, it is not advisable to purchase a specialized tool. It is more rational to use a grinder, which is a universal tool and is available in every household.

For cutting along a curve, a manual tile cutter is not suitable. Only a waterjet, a grinder, an electric jigsaw and, if you have the appropriate skill, an electric tile cutter will cope with this task.

A non-specialized tool does not allow high-quality trimming. Therefore, it is advisable for the home master to apply a combined approach: cut most of the modules, the edges of which will be hidden by a plinth or corner, on their own with a grinder or a manual tile cutter, and take those that will be in sight to the workshop for cutting with an electric tile cutter or waterjet installation.

Sometimes it is necessary to cut already laid tiles. This can be done only with the help of a grinder.

Due to the absence of pores, porcelain stoneware is an extremely hard material, therefore, to cut it, you need to choose the right tool and equipment. It is faster and more convenient to use a power tool, manual tile cutters are suitable only for small amounts of work.

At the end of the 20th century, a new finishing material, porcelain stoneware, was developed and released for the first time. It is produced by dry pressing a mixture of crushed clay, quartz sand and feldspar. The result is an easily moldable and extremely durable material with an excellent appearance. High strength turns into some processing problems - porcelain stoneware is not so easy to cut. To do this, many methods are used - from manual to high-tech.

Advantages of porcelain stoneware

Porcelain stoneware has clear advantages over traditional ceramics obtained by firing wet clay. Extremely durable material has an excellent appearance, very close to natural stone. Construction experts formulate the following advantages of porcelain stoneware:

• Strength and resistance to abrasion. Provide long service life with preservation of appearance.
• Resistant to aggressive environments and other contaminants. Porcelain stoneware does not stain and is easy to clean.
• Environmental friendliness. It is made from natural ingredients without the use of chemicals harmful to health and the environment. Microbes and other microorganisms slowly multiply on the surface.
• Forms even edges and cuts. This allows you to accurately cut the material and form seamless surfaces.

Most of the advantages are due to the low porosity of porcelain stoneware.

Disadvantages of porcelain stoneware coatings

To properly cut porcelain stoneware, you should be aware of its shortcomings:

• High price. Due to the complexity of high-pressure pressing machines. It should be borne in mind that natural stone will cost more.
• High thermal conductivity. The floor will chill your feet. This disadvantage is combated by the device of heated floors.
• Slippery surface. Especially manifested in damp rooms, tiles with a rough surface texture are recommended for them.

Material Features

The main features of porcelain stoneware are

• high homogeneity of the material;
• almost complete absence of internal and surface pores.

Other features follow from these properties:

• high strength;
• abrasion resistance;
• resistance to temperature extremes;
• resistance to chemicals and fire;
• long service life;
• high hygienic and ecological qualities;
• inability to accumulate charges of static electricity.

These features attract the attention of manufacturers and consumers to the material. However, high strength poses a difficult question for them: how and with what to cut porcelain stoneware?

The best ways to cut porcelain stoneware

When starting a renovation or construction, many home craftsmen are misled by the similarity of the material to traditional ceramic tiles.

How to cut porcelain tiles?

It will not be possible to cut porcelain stoneware in the same way as they are used to cutting familiar ceramics. Attempts to take durable material with a glass cutter, saw it with a cutting disc for metal, and the like will not be successful. The performance of such attempts will be very low or zero.

How to cut porcelain stoneware?

For this use:

• angle grinder;
• circular saw;
• electric jigsaw;
• manual tile cutter;
• electric tile cutter;
• hydraulic cutter.

Angle grinder, or grinder

An angle grinder can be found in any home workshop. It is a versatile tool designed for stripping welds and has found a thousand and one uses in the household. To cut porcelain stoneware, instead of a cutting disc for metal or stone, you should purchase a diamond-coated disc.

Work with the following precautions:

• use personal protective equipment: glasses (or better - a transparent shield), a respirator, tight clothing that does not leave exposed skin;
• cut outdoors or in a well-ventilated area;
• do not use open fire and do not smoke: dust suspension is explosive.

You should come to terms with the fact that cutting without chips will not always work. They will have to be leveled with a file or a grinding disc.

The tile is placed on a smooth surface and fixed with a clamp or clamp. You need to cut on the front side so that chips and bumps remain on the back. The incision must be made from the far edge towards you, without jerks and in one pass. This will reduce the number of chips.

Circular saw and electric jigsaw

On a circular saw, you will also need to install a "diamond" blade. The safety rules are the same as described above. It is necessary to securely fix the porcelain stoneware on the desktop and firmly press the circular platform to it.

An electric jigsaw will also require the installation of a diamond thread instead of the usual file. It will allow you to cut not only in a straight line, but also along an arbitrary path. You need to move the tile slowly and smoothly, without stops and jerks. You need to try to go through the entire cutting line in one go. This is not easy and requires a certain skill and foresight, but only in this way can the number of chips be minimized.

Cutting porcelain stoneware with a manual tile cutter is not too easy, but quite realistic. You just need to make sure that it is designed to work with tiles of large thickness and large sizes. It should have sufficient lever travel, a strong and wide bed, a long and strong handle.

If you see that the tile cutter does not cut, but only slightly scratches porcelain stoneware, you should sharpen the cutter or even replace it with a carbide cutter made of good tool steel.

The procedure for cutting porcelain tiles with a tile cutter is as follows:

• Draw a cutting line.
• Install the tile on the frame so that the rollers of the device rest on it.
• Moving the lever away from you, make a cut.
• Lowering the lever, break the porcelain stoneware along the cut line.

Before starting work, it is worth practicing on scraps. Working on a hand-operated tile cutter will require significant physical effort and a noticeable investment of time.

Electric tile cutter

The mechanization of production processes is designed to save the employee from monotonous repetitive movements and excessive physical effort. It is this effect that will be observed in the case of using a tile cutter with an electric drive. The electric tile cutter can be in one of three versions:

• compact;
• ordinary;
• cantilevered.

Compact and ordinary are cheaper, but for porcelain stoneware it is better to use a cantilever. With it, not only straight cuts will be obtained, but also lines of arbitrary shape. If possible, it is better to use a tool with a wet cut (the cutting disc is immersed in a pan with water), this will save the working area from dust and extinguish the energy of possible fragments.

If the device is equipped with an automatic fluid supply device, do not forget to regularly replace it with a clean one. So the cutting body will last much longer.

To cut a tile, it should be fixed on the frame, mark the cutting line and draw the edge of the disk along it. On compact devices, you will have to feed the tiles manually; here it is important to ensure that there are no distortions.

Professional waterjet equipment

These machines cut materials with a very thin jet of water at high speed and under high pressure. They are able to cut both natural stone and even metal. This equipment is quite complex and very expensive, it is characterized by high power consumption and requires a lot of space for installation.

But the possibilities of such a machine are truly unique - with its help you can not only saw out arbitrary figures, but even do the work of a stone carver. The quality of the cut is exceptional, the accuracy and smoothness do not differ from the factory edges obtained by pressing.

Along with the flow of water, the smallest abrasive particles are also fed onto the material being cut. A machine that can cut metal can easily cut porcelain stoneware.

Since buying such a machine means opening a small factory, it would be wiser to find a manufacturer that already owns such equipment and order cutting from them.

How to make holes in porcelain stoneware

During construction and repair, it often becomes necessary to make a hole in the tile for supplying communications or installing equipment. In this case, specialized tools come to the rescue.

Most of all, the device is like a compass. One leg rests against the center of the future hole, it is clamped in the drill chuck. The other can change its reach by moving about the horizontal bar. A hard alloy cutter is fixed at its end.

When the drill is turned on, the central leg is held in the center of the future hole, and the leg with the cutter, rotating, scratches the tile to a sufficient depth.

Diamond crowns

The technical diamond-coated crown cuts exceptionally smooth holes and does not require much effort.

There is only one minus - a hole of arbitrary diameter cannot be made. Crowns can only be of certain sizes. The shank of the tool is also attached to the drill chuck, the central drill is set to the marked point. Work should be at the highest speed.

Both the ballerina and the diamond crown should only be worked on the front side of the tile. Otherwise, chips are inevitable.

In the process of performing any finishing work using porcelain stoneware, there is invariably a need to cut off excess slabs or give it the desired shape. Such a need may arise if the dimensions of the room and the canvas from the laid plates do not match, or if the finish involves the formation of curly elements. In such cases, the question naturally arises: how to cut porcelain stoneware?

Professional builders recommend several tools for this task, but two main ones are widely used - a tile cutter and a grinder with a diamond blade.

Cutting porcelain stoneware with a grinder

According to experts, cutting slabs with a grinder with a diamond disc is not a very difficult task. This process is within the power of both an experienced builder and a person who has not previously had experience in cutting porcelain stoneware. For cutting, it is recommended to use the dry cutting method.

This tool is equally good for straight cutting, and for forming curly elements or slices. It should be borne in mind that the edge of the tile processed by the grinder sometimes turns out to be not particularly aesthetic and has notches. For this reason, slabs cut with this method are best used in places where these flaws will not be visible. You can also process the edge of the tile and remove the notches.

• Cutting porcelain stoneware with a grinder is certainly accompanied by a lot of dust. This should be foreseen at the stage of choosing a room or place for performing work.
• A certain danger is caused by high rotational speeds of the diamond disc. Carelessness and inattention of the master can lead to damage or cutting off the fingers.
• When performing work, you need to take care of safety - wear a respirator, goggles and headphones.

Cutting porcelain tiles with a tile cutter

When deciding how to cut porcelain stoneware, you need to consider how the cut products will be used in the future. In the event that the sloppy edges of the plates after cutting with a grinder do not suit you, you can use an electric tile cutter.

• This tool cuts so that the finished edges look very neat and have a rounded appearance. This is an ideal option if you need to get beautifully finished edges or form figured elements from the plates.

Electric tile cutters are designed for cutting tiles from different materials. Universal discs are used for this task. There are other discs, the purpose of which is to work with a specific type of surface. Manufacturers produce several product options for this purpose. However, cutting porcelain stoneware is best done with diamond blades.

• The electric tile cutter comes with a pull-out table. During operation, it slides out under the cutting blade. The technology for cutting on such a tool suggests that the tile must be cooled. It is possible to fulfill these conditions on the working site with the help of water.
• Some modern tile cutter models are made in such a way that part of the cutting blade is immersed in a container of water during operation. But this does not apply to all products, so cutting porcelain stoneware at home involves periodic wetting of the plates and the working surface of the blade.
• Units designed for processing products on a large scale are equipped with a pump that provides water supply. There is also a drip tray to protect against water splashes. This design provides for the cyclic use of water, so many builders prefer their own version of improving such a product. Those. the pump is turned off, and the water supply is organized using a hose.

As practice shows, a blade cooled with plain running water increases the service life by two or three times. To protect against splashes, a self-constructed canopy is often used.

The principle of operation of the unit for cutting plates is not complicated. The craftsman is required to hold the slab and advance it along the cutting blade until it is cut. The pushing process is carried out smoothly and accurately, with pressure, the strength of which depends on the characteristics of the tile used.

• At the moment of the first contact of the plate with the blade, you should not press hard. Further advancement requires a gradual increase in pressure, which subsides as the incision approaches completion.
• When approaching the edge of the incision, the pressure should be loosened. The tile must be fixed on the sliding table in order to avoid sudden movements and vibrations that can cause the part to get stuck in the middle of the path.

The recommendations of professionals in such work are that the tile must be pushed simultaneously on both sides in the process of its advancement. Such a measure will prevent the possibility of the product falling on one of the sides, which can cause fragments to fly out.

It can also cause the blade to jam during the cutting phase, which will cause the cutting elements of the saw to kick back. You can protect yourself from such dangers by wearing special goggles.

• The water used to cool the stoves must be changed regularly if it is in the sump. This measure is necessary, since during the cutting process a large amount of dust is released, which settles everywhere, including in containers with liquid.

This results in the cutting blade being in contact with the water mixed with the tile chips during wetting. Such a neighborhood will inevitably lead to a deterioration in the quality of the work performed and to a decrease in the life of the blade itself. To avoid such unpleasant consequences, you need to change the water as often as possible.

After completing the work, the blade should be cleaned regularly, because it can become clogged with fragments and ceramic dust. Cleaning this element is performed in several ways.

One of them involves cutting some kind of sand mold. Another way is to turn the device over and rotate the blade in the opposite direction for several cycles. The second method is not suitable for those devices on which the direction of rotation is indicated. An excessively worn blade should be replaced with a new one.

When cutting plates in the first or second way, you should follow the safety rules. In this case, they provide for the presence of goggles, gloves and, if necessary, headphones. Work should be done in closed clothing and shoes. It is also important to be very careful and careful so that the blade does not damage the hands or other parts of the body. Good luck!