It is New Tool Tuesday! - New Tools Other Tilers Have Bought Recently

[Concrete guy]

Just ordered a couple of those blades and a couple of other blades. It’s not all great stuff. The vanity blades are too rough IMO

We had the same complaint with our vanity blades originally, so when we re-ordered we had the grit size reduced to make them less aggressive. We then got complaints they weren't aggressive enough!

So we're considering bringing in a coarse and medium version to suit both customer types.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

So now your looking for ‘rough and aggressive’ tilers to test them!

 

[Waluigi]

May I be the first to put my name forward

 

[Dumbo]

We had the same complaint with our vanity blades originally, so when we re-ordered we had the grit size reduced to make them less aggressive. We then got complaints they weren't aggressive enough!

So we're considering bringing in a coarse and medium version to suit both customer types.

Something that would interest me would be a 115mm convex blade for cutting circular holes for say toilet waste but rather than segmented have a semi continuous turbo type grit

 

[Concrete guy]

Something that would interest me would be a 115mm convex blade for cutting circular holes for say toilet waste but rather than segmented have a semi continuous turbo type grit

The thing with convex blades is they aren't great being used on standard angle grinders (11000 rpm +).

The very nature of the way the blade is being used substantially increases the incidence of grab and kickback. For that reason they are really designed to be used at sub 6000 rpm, which means the user needs a variable speed grinder (more money). They also need to be made thicker to be able to cope with the lateral forces being applied to them.

You'll have seen the thread on here with pictures of our blades along with pretty much any other manufacturers blades that have chunks missing. These all have one thing in common, they're all super thin and they all work nicely in hard material. They take a small knock and they're toast. That knock could be as little as putting the grinder down on it without noticing.

All these things combined mean that a 115mm/120mm/125mm holesaw is just a cheaper and better option for that kind of hole.

Marcirst make a dished blade but I think it's electroplated. That means once it's attached to the grinder it's lifespan is no better than a teabag when you're trying to cut porcelain.

The convex blade we stock is a segmented one and it's a chunky monkey, about 3-4mm thick. It needs to be that substantial to cope with lateral forces when used on natural stone. It would just muller porcelain.

 

[Dumbo]

I have a segmented convex blade . Its not the thickness that bothers me its just that it's segmented and is very chippy . I just thought a turbo type grit would be better for chipping .

 

[Italy]

this morning I left the tile cutter home ... too eager to use the black blade

 

[Italy]

this morning I left the tile cutter home ... too eager to use the black blade

View attachment 100933 View attachment 100934

then, I had never experienced such a blade before.
(And I swear I've tried many)
I do not care about the blade life, I'm interested in finishing and speed.
I will still do some tests, then I will go to buy the 125mm and if I find it
a small one for thin porcelain.
I fell in love
now I will speak only if I have problems with the black blade.
ps (I will sell all the other blades I have,
in one block).
excluded the one that gave me albert, again
in the package

 

[Concrete guy]

then, I had never experienced such a blade before.
(And I swear I've tried many)
I do not care about the blade life, I'm interested in finishing and speed.
I will still do some tests, then I will go to buy the 125mm and if I find it
a small one for thin porcelain.
I fell in love
now I will speak only if I have problems with the black blade.
ps (I will sell all the other blades I have,
in one block).
excluded the one that gave me albert, again
in the package

This is quite a find Antonio.

We've been looking for a blade that cuts 20mm porcelain well for our landscaping customers.

We've found the factory that makes the blade for Diatools and we've ordered some in to test.

 

[Italy]

This is quite a find Antonio.

We've been looking for a blade that cuts 20mm porcelain well for our landscaping customers.

We've found the factory that makes the blade for Diatools and we've ordered some in to test.

well, then I also expect 10% of your turnover.
as a discoverer it belongs to me rightfully.
ps, you could even start making porcelain cuts,
the dust is tasty

 

[Flintstone]

I think if they brand it as the Antonio supercut blade that's a fair offer!

 

[Waluigi]

I’d like an 8% finders fee.

It’s weird though, when I posted about these Chinese bits I was told they would be inferior quality and could potentially take your eye out.

Oh well

 

[Concrete guy]

We've got two lots coming in from different factories (one is the Diatool blade a second is from a factory we already use that make a blade that looks a similar spec) and we're going to run back to back tests to see if there's any difference.

The difficulty for an end user buying direct via aliexpress or similar outlet is you don't know who you're buying from. Diatools is a trading company, they don't make anything. They buy from factories and resell worldwide. So if something does fail and take your eye out you're on your own. That's the downside.

The upside is you're paying cost +100% with no import duty, no VAT, very small shipping costs and no importer markup.

Companies like us do exactly what Diatools does, but in the UK. We buy direct from the manufacturer of the blade and import it. We need to make a margin that covers a number of costs that Diatools wouldn't pay. Corporation tax, import duty, public liability and product liability insurance (if the blade does take your eye out you can sue us and we're insured) then there's our profit.

That's the reality.

The world (or how we shop) is changing. You see on the news every night about the abandoned state of the high street, people simply no longer want to pay high street prices.

eBay and Amazon has wholly embraced Chinese wholesalers and both platforms have now become like the wild west. See this article specifically about Amazon's struggle. Amazon investigates staff bribery claims - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45543063

eBay is suffering the same issue.

Aliexpress is eBay/Amazon but based in China.

It will be interesting to see how we adjust over the next decade as a nation.

Does it effect us? Well to a small degree, but the number of people willing to buy direct is so small (as a percentage of our customer base) that's it not a problem.

The other thing I often chuckle about is the conversations about products being manufactured elsewhere (in Europe etc). I've stood in the Chinese factories that make Dewalt and Bosch blades in the millions along with every other brand name you'd care think of . We even stumbled across the Marcrist factory quite by accident and once they discovered we were from the UK we were politely told they wouldn't supply us due to their arrangements with Marcrist.

China is the worlds factory, despite Trumps best efforts to mess it up it's still that way.

As long as you understand about what and who you're buying from that's all that matters.

 

[Waluigi]

I’ve been using AliExpress for 15 years, long before it was AliExpress. When it was purely Alibaba which is who AliExpress is part of.

There’s a hell of a lot more buyer protection nowadays if you use AliExpress. I can’t fault the service. I don’t buy that much from them really.

I will do anything to maximise my profit margin. My local Tile shop is suffering, my local Bathroom showroom is suffering because I buy direct from Germany, the list is endless. We’ve all got to make money.

 

[Waluigi]

Just to add- I think there’s a market for everyone. You have the likes of the brand name who are the most expensive but people see the brand and know the gear is good as they have some brand loyalty.

You have those who like to save some money but often need their gear straight away. The gear is often just as good quality as the branded goods.

Then you have the likes of me who tends to buy direct, sort of direct anyway and saves the most money. However I do still buy branded gear and would also buy from UK companies if I wanted my gear very quickly and needed some advise on what to buy. That’s something you don’t really get from China- advise.

Ive started to get all my Bathroom gear direct from Germany. In the UK it’s either overpriced or such poor quality that it becomes embarrassing to fit.