Looking for cutter for hard Porcelain tiles that actually works

[mts1]

Can anybody recommend a cutter that will produce very good edge cuts on 10mm very hard porcelain tiles (Peronda from Spain). The cuts will be visable and therefore need to be clean, straight and unchipped. I have several hundred straightish cuts to do and about 20 corner/curve/awkward one's as well.

I have a plunge saw and tried a blade from ATS which they recommended but I have found it performs quite poorly and causes a lot of chipping and tile breakages at the end of cut (face down, face up, slow, fast, single pass, double pass, combination of methods etc).

I have therefore tried a manual cutter, Big Clinker (QEP/Vitrex), which was awful and the breaks were all wavey and uneven and the break lines really poor.

The tiles samples I obtained were cut with an Ishii 620 Pro but again the cuts were fairly poor, although no chips just not straight or even edge.

I therefore purchased a Vitrex 103420 Versatile Power Pro 750w Wet Saw but the quality of the saw is terrible as the spindle wobbles by around 3mm which would result in chipping, therefore that's going back.

Final option I am considering is the Vitrex Versatile Power Pro 900 Bridge Saw, although a bit put off by the quality of Vitrex/QEP stuff but not a lot else within budget.

Anyone know whether this will perform OK or anything else that might do the job OK.

 

[Dumbo]

It looks like you are looking for a professional quality finish from what looks like diy budget but that aside you may find you have to spend more money on a better saw or cutter but after cutting you may have to polish the edges with a polisher with diamond or Silicon carbide pads

 

[WetSaw]

What size tile?
This is 600 x 600 Peronda tile cut with Sigma 3C3M...

 

[Dumbo]

Considering you are going to have a capital outlay maybe you should consider water jet cutting .

 

[GoneGuy]

Try montolit, sigma or rubi tile cutters.
Then when you finished the job you can sell it on.

 

[One Day]

Sigma rail cutter then Silicon carbide discs 60 and 120 on a soft velcro pad at low speed on a grinder to work the edge.

 

[jasper]

Can anybody recommend a cutter that will produce very good edge cuts on 10mm very hard porcelain tiles (Peronda from Spain). The cuts will be visable and therefore need to be clean, straight and unchipped. I have several hundred straightish cuts to do and about 20 corner/curve/awkward one's as well.

I have a plunge saw and tried a blade from ATS which they recommended but I have found it performs quite poorly and causes a lot of chipping and tile breakages at the end of cut (face down, face up, slow, fast, single pass, double pass, combination of methods etc).

I have therefore tried a manual cutter, Big Clinker (QEP/Vitrex), which was awful and the breaks were all wavey and uneven and the break lines really poor.

The tiles samples I obtained were cut with an Ishii 620 Pro but again the cuts were fairly poor, although no chips just not straight or even edge.

I therefore purchased a Vitrex 103420 Versatile Power Pro 750w Wet Saw but the quality of the saw is terrible as the spindle wobbles by around 3mm which would result in chipping, therefore that's going back.

Final option I am considering is the Vitrex Versatile Power Pro 900 Bridge Saw, although a bit put off by the quality of Vitrex/QEP stuff but not a lot else within budget.

Anyone know whether this will perform OK or anything else that might do the job OK.

I am in total sympathy with you and have recently had the exact same issue.

My first course of action was to purchase a new cutter thinking the same as @Adey1980 . To sell it when the job is over.

I went for what I thought was a good machine which was the Rubi DX250. Terrible, terrible build quality. The first machine came out and wouldn't work. You had to spin the blade with your fingers to get it to start ( 110v) and the cutting was poor. Couldn't cut a straight line in any tile. I advised Rubi they had the wrong capicitors on the machines but they wouldn't believe me. 3 machines later they finally realised they had the wrong capicitors and had sent 9 machines out incorrectly built. The 3rd machine even had vital overhead brackets missing and a casing that had 'forgotten' to be drilled and tapped with a thread. They then gave me a DC250 which was a lower spec machine but all they had - wouldn't cut in a straight line in even the softest of tiles. Final Rubi DX250 ( machine number 5) came out to me and it worked, but you could clearly see as you pulled the overhead cutter towards you along the rail that it wobbled quite severley. Rubi's answer to this was ' don't worry, when it spins up it will straighten'. Absolute nonsense and I could have cut a straight line better freehand with a grinder. Bytheway, Rubi technical suck! Their guy on the road is a good guy but he is working for a company that really has no clue - certainly the UK side anyway.

Next option was Montolit. I had to wait for the F1-131 115V UK to be made up in Italy as this was the first UK 110v version they had done. I wanted the smaller machine but this was the quickest option. It is a monster but so very much better built than the Rubi - it pulls the entire length of the bridge rail in a dead straight line. There were a few teething issues however their technical help and response times to problems is fantastic. If you want to go down the Montolit route then speak to Colin at Kwiksplit. Give him a shout. I can honestly say, I have never come across someone who wants to help more. Nothing is too much trouble and he actually gets back to you with updates - even if there's no news, just to let you know he hasn't forgotten you.

With regards cutting blades - again, speak to Colin. I was cutting 600mm x 600mm Porcelaonsa Urbatek Porcelain. Quite possibly the hardest Porcelain I have ever come across. I tried quite a few of the Rubi Blades and their 'best' porcelain blade which I was told would cut a perfect edge - didn't. The only blade I could get a perfect cut edge on is using the Montolit CX DNA 3 Evo Sandwich Blade - and I mean perfect, like it has been polished, with zero chipping on the top edge. You do need to dress the blade and I have been doing it after every cut - the Rubi block is actually quite good for that, the montolit dressing block not quite so good.

One problem I do have is that these tiles are so flipping hard that is does sometimes force the blade off course. Not always, but I have found score and snapping close to the cut line then running through on the wet cutter works. Where we've done wet trays the only way to do it has to cut across the surface of the tile a few mm depth at a time. So time consuming but necessary. Hopefully your tiles are not as hard as these and so won't create these issues.

I also tried water jetting - but it was far from successful. I don't think the company spent the time setting the pressures up correct and basically killed £800 worth of tiles. I couldn't afford to try another company in case the same happened. There is a jetting company called Southside WaterJet ( london SE16) who sounds like he has a lot of experience in water jetting tiles but if you have 100's of tiles to do with individual measurements thayt wouldn't be fun. If they are all the same cut, hell, give them a go on a sample tile. Probably work out so much cheaper from a labour point.

The Montolit F1 is an expensive machine. You may be able to pick one up used, or if funds allow, buy one new, to sell it on. If you do that, go for the 110V version as it should be easier to sell ( in my opinion).

 

[Old Mod]

 

[Blunt Tool]

I am in total sympathy with you and have recently had the exact same issue.

My first course of action was to purchase a new cutter thinking the same as @Adey1980 . To sell it when the job is over.

I went for what I thought was a good machine which was the Rubi DX250. Terrible, terrible build quality. The first machine came out and wouldn't work. You had to spin the blade with your fingers to get it to start ( 110v) and the cutting was poor. Couldn't cut a straight line in any tile. I advised Rubi they had the wrong capicitors on the machines but they wouldn't believe me. 3 machines later they finally realised they had the wrong capicitors and had sent 9 machines out incorrectly built. The 3rd machine even had vital overhead brackets missing and a casing that had 'forgotten' to be drilled and tapped with a thread. They then gave me a DC250 which was a lower spec machine but all they had - wouldn't cut in a straight line in even the softest of tiles. Final Rubi DX250 ( machine number 5) came out to me and it worked, but you could clearly see as you pulled the overhead cutter towards you along the rail that it wobbled quite severley. Rubi's answer to this was ' don't worry, when it spins up it will straighten'. Absolute nonsense and I could have cut a straight line better freehand with a grinder. Bytheway, Rubi technical suck! Their guy on the road is a good guy but he is working for a company that really has no clue - certainly the UK side anyway.

Next option was Montolit. I had to wait for the F1-131 115V UK to be made up in Italy as this was the first UK 110v version they had done. I wanted the smaller machine but this was the quickest option. It is a monster but so very much better built than the Rubi - it pulls the entire length of the bridge rail in a dead straight line. There were a few teething issues however their technical help and response times to problems is fantastic. If you want to go down the Montolit route then speak to Colin at Kwiksplit. Give him a shout. I can honestly say, I have never come across someone who wants to help more. Nothing is too much trouble and he actually gets back to you with updates - even if there's no news, just to let you know he hasn't forgotten you.

With regards cutting blades - again, speak to Colin. I was cutting 600mm x 600mm Porcelaonsa Urbatek Porcelain. Quite possibly the hardest Porcelain I have ever come across. I tried quite a few of the Rubi Blades and their 'best' porcelain blade which I was told would cut a perfect edge - didn't. The only blade I could get a perfect cut edge on is using the Montolit CX DNA 3 Evo Sandwich Blade - and I mean perfect, like it has been polished, with zero chipping on the top edge. You do need to dress the blade and I have been doing it after every cut - the Rubi block is actually quite good for that, the montolit dressing block not quite so good.

One problem I do have is that these tiles are so flipping hard that is does sometimes force the blade off course. Not always, but I have found score and snapping close to the cut line then running through on the wet cutter works. Where we've done wet trays the only way to do it has to cut across the surface of the tile a few mm depth at a time. So time consuming but necessary. Hopefully your tiles are not as hard as these and so won't create these issues.

I also tried water jetting - but it was far from successful. I don't think the company spent the time setting the pressures up correct and basically killed £800 worth of tiles. I couldn't afford to try another company in case the same happened. There is a jetting company called Southside WaterJet ( london SE16) who sounds like he has a lot of experience in water jetting tiles but if you have 100's of tiles to do with individual measurements thayt wouldn't be fun. If they are all the same cut, hell, give them a go on a sample tile. Probably work out so much cheaper from a labour point.

The Montolit F1 is an expensive machine. You may be able to pick one up used, or if funds allow, buy one new, to sell it on. If you do that, go for the 110V version as it should be easier to sell ( in my opinion).

AND you get sweeties in with your purchase from Colin at Kwik Split, must of given you the whole jar for spending that amount! Colin is a cool guy that sells cool stuff

 

[Old Mod]

Couldn’t agree more, Colin is a top guy.