Tile-cutting techniques and tools

For straight cutting of hard materials, nothing beats a wetsaw with a diamond blade. Sliding-table wetsaws with a water pump certainly work well, but smaller 7″ machines with a water tray underneath are very affordable and will last for years. Just make sure you keep the tray filled with water, wear eye protection and protect your hearing.

Inexpensive tile saws come with a sliding fence for making straight cuts, and perhaps a jig for cutting 45º angles. When cross cutting narrow pieces, you can make a mitre gauge with a simple scrap of plywood that rides along the fence, keeping your cuts square. Unlike a tablesaw, however, with a little care, tiles can be cut on the wetsaw freehand. When you need a slight angle, scribe the line and make the cut. Because of the water involved, pencil marks often disappear before the cut is finished. You can use a permanent marker or a crayon, but just ensure that an indelible black line won’t be visible after the tile is set.

Straight cuts are one thing, but those tricky, curvy cuts in harder materials can leave you scratching your head. Draw the curve that has to be cut and then make multiple release cuts on the wetsaw from the edge of the tile to the curve. Your tile should end up looking like a comb, with multiple 1?4″-wide (or less) fingers that easily snap off to the line. With a little care, you can fine tune the curve by lifting the tile off the saw table at one edge and use the diamond edge of the saw to grind away gently at the remaining tile bits.

For thick stone or ceramic tiles, you can use an angle grinder with a continuous-rim diamond blade held vertically. When cutting dry, there will be heat buildup and hazardous dust, so you need to protect your lungs and to take it slow, with multiple passes over your initial scoring one.

You can also rent or buy a water-lubricated, diamond-bladed handheld tile saw that looks like a little circular saw that will manage this type of cutting very well in virtually all materials.

Through the looking glass

Glass tile requires slightly specialized tools. Depending on the thickness, you can get a decent cut with a quality oil-lubricated glass cutter. Score the tile with a straightedge, then lay the tile over a thin piece of straight wire, so that the wire is directly underneath the score. Press down on either side of the tile to snap it in two. If you have many cuts to make, use a wetsaw again–but for glass tile, you need a special blade with fine electroplated diamonds. (A regular tile blade will chip glass tile.)

Drilling and coring

You may need to drill or core around pipes and fixtures. You can drill tile with carbide masonry bits, and there are also carbide-encrusted hole saws. But the best option is a diamond ring at the end of a coring bit. The secret–as with most tile-cutting tools–is lubrication and going slow. Start the cutting by guiding the bit with a jig. A V-shape cut out in a scrap of plywood works well. And a dripping, water-filled sponge can keep the bit and tile cool.

With the right tools and techniques at your disposal, you’ll soon make short work of all the pesky tile cuts. Just be sure to plan your layout to minimize the amount of cuts you need to make.