bought myself a sigma :)

[gary b]

evening all
i had to buy myself a new dry cutter and having only ever used rubi and ill be honest i wanted to stay with them. but the job i had was to lay about 23 square meters of 600 x 600 x 10mm porcelain floor tiles and the tx range was well above my budget im afraid (newbie starting out)

so having read all the good banter on here on sigma i managed to buy a new sigma 3b4 tile cutter for less than 200 quid (last one in stock). that includes the vat, so was well happy with the price.

anyway completely different to my rubi and im still getting to grips with it. i feel that im still using it wrong, especially on the breaker side. The first 3 tiles i just smashed and i thought, ship ive brought the wrong cutter for the job, but a quick look on the internet and i adjusted the 2 screws at both end of the cutter which adjust the height and yes worked a treat.
im still unsure though as a couple of times ive chipped the corner of the tile while breaking. how far do i adjust those screws ?? is it just enough so i can fit the tile underneath or do i need a good gap. also when breaking i cant do it by pressing the handle down, i have to bang on it, usually that works but a couple of times it has broke the tile.

so any tips, advice please on how to use it properly, i dont ever use the guides on cutters, i always mark the tiles, but i seem to struggle lining this up, i feel that the measure guide should be at the opposite end or again am i using it wrong.

any help for this convert would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks

G

 

[LM]

To set the height correctly place a tile on the machine and rest the handle on it, the gap at the rear of the handle between the handle and rail should be between 3 & 5 mm, do this at both ends of the machine.
When breaking the tile place the handle at 15mm from the tile edge and then apply firm pressure until the tile breaks or either a quick gentle smack of the handle will do it, this depends on the type of tile. It's sometimes necessary to apply a bit of pressure to the front end of the score line until you hear the glaze start to crack before moving the handle to the bottom of the tile and breakingvas normal.
If your chipping corners off the tile this can also be prevented by placing your hand under the rail and applying pressure to both sides of the cut line at the same time as breaking the tile to hold it steady and stop it bouncing on the spring bed. Hope this helps

 

[Flintstone]

As lee says, also if the tile is textured or very tough you might need to score more than once

 

[gary b]

Brilliant advice, thank you both , i will apply it all tomorrow.

 

[One Day]

I set my height by just resting the breaker foot on the tile, then adjust so it's flat on the tile - not on it's tip toe or heel.
Also, don't go nuts with the pressure on the score. On polished porcelain you don't need loads of pressure, so I'd suggest not holding the arm at the top, but rather, hold it nearer the rail - you get less pressure and more of a "feel" for the cut.
And finally - before breaking (as already said; 10-15mm from the front) just nudge the tile away from the measure bar a couple of mm. It helps too.