help cutting tiles

longwalks1

ive got some 8" tiles and need to cut some, one in particular has to acommodate a double socket face dead centre (think square tile with rectangle cut out dead centre) i cant seem to cut them for love nor money... whats the best way to cut them? they're bloody tough!!!! :mad: was told tile retailers can cut tiles but phones several and was told "yes, we cut in half nothing else"

anyone got any suggestions?

wallbash

When I require to mount a ( socket) item in the middle of a tile, I use an angle grinder
, used from the back of the tile.

Remember to use eye protection and gloves

bookduck

youtube has the answer. they show you how to cut round holes - using a diamond drill bit. Then there is the one about making holes in tampered glass, and the glass shatters.

The cutting hole in tampered glass which shatters is one you want - sorry I'm at work and cant get to the site. What they do is make a round hole in a template but in your case square in a template from ply etc. should work.

Take your SMALL (as in very fine think around 2mm???) diamond or masonry drill bit (diamon will work, but masonry???) and put it in a hand held craft drill like this http://www.dremeleurope.com/dremelocs-uk/Category.jsp;jsessionid=134C5C0B743D9D944460F62EE2830599?&ccat_id=472 and then they trace around the edges and dip the drill bit in water every few seconds (i'd stick the mould to the tile and pour water in it as it would be easier, or put it into a basin, or plumbers putty and make a well.

This method will probably take some time though, all depends on what level of perfection you are willing to accept?


a slighty different approach is a round diamond coated saw blade.

yorksguy11

When i did the kitchen i invested in a Plasti Plugs Electric Tile Cutter. It was the best investment i made. It saved me a fortune in broken tiles.
I got it from B&Q for about £30. Although other stores have them and other makes

Incisor

britishboy wrote: »

ive got some 8" tiles and need to cut some, one in particular has to acommodate a double socket face dead centre (think square tile with rectangle cut out dead centre) i cant seem to cut them for love nor money... whats the best way to cut them? they're bloody tough!!!! :mad: was told tile retailers can cut tiles but phones several and was told "yes, we cut in half nothing else"

anyone got any suggestions?

That is basically it, cut it in 2. If you use a professional tile cutter tool which is quite cheap, like cutting glass, you score the tile on the glazed side, put the tile on a firm edge under the score mark and snap it open from the score mark, which is a weak preferential break point. To cut a hole like a socket box is virtually impossible, you have to use the technique I described to extract a piece the shape of the socket box and then use the bits left over.

turk3y

i used a drill and cut a hole in the middle of the area to be cut, then i took the blade out of a carbide tile saw (think thats the name like a g wood saw with a serrated rope 'blade', cheap from any diy store) and threaded it through the tile, put it back on then cut the shape out, you cant get an exact shape (ie perfect lines, they had a slight wobble) but close enough as my facia had a small overlap so its invisible once assembled.

I tried something similar to these idea for a small cut out for a pipe, but this was at the edge of a tile, not in a tile so only 3 not 4 sides, so these ideas may be utter runnbish

if you needed a more exact cut you could do the short edges and then use a normal tile cutter to score and break along the long edges, or even more complex (read might not work) drill each corner then saw diagonal from each and cut a rough middle hole out, so you can use a regular tile scourer and breaker bar to do the edges but would be fiddly.

Canucklehead

Hi

Drill a hole in the tile, big enough to feed the blade through, and saw away.http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-14132-Tile-rod-saw/dp/B0001K9Q0Y

All the DIY sheds stock them.
Most wall tiles are quite soft . Have you chosen a particularly hard one?
Corgi guy.

phill99

Mark out the hole that you want in pencil on the front of the tile. In each corner drill a hole using a Tile cutting drill bit. Use a ceramic tile blade in a jigsaw to join the holes. Then you have a hole in the middle. I wouldn't encourage cutting the tile in half like incisor suggests -thats the amateur way of doinjg it and it looks naff when you put it together on the wall.

weekendwarrior

This is an easy way to do it-

http://www.ultimatehandyman.org/videos/186/how-to-cut-a-square-hole-in-a-tile

Incisor

phill99 wrote: »

Mark out the hole that you want in pencil on the front of the tile. In each corner drill a hole using a Tile cutting drill bit. Use a ceramic tile blade in a jigsaw to join the holes. Then you have a hole in the middle. I wouldn't encourage cutting the tile in half like incisor suggests -thats the amateur way of doinjg it and it looks naff when you put it together on the wall.

I agree to an extent that it is naff, but at 8" tiles, I am assuming we have the real hard ceramic tiles, rather than the soft substrate smaller tiles. At a pinch, I might take out a rectangle from a corner by other techniques, but a hole from the centre is potentially grief big time with the hard substrate.

poppyolivia

I would seal up the power point and move it further up the wall!!!!;) Sounds like a flippin hard job that one!

Let us know how you get on!