The Peculiarities of Two Main Types of Tile Cutters?
During the repair or renovation of an apartment, house, sooner or later you will be faced with the need to lay new tiles or repair the old ones. The tile cutter is an irreplaceable assistant in this situation. As the name suggests, it is a ceramic tile cutting tool.
As always, when choosing a tool, the success of the work and the feasibility of the spent finances depend on the correct choice. You don’t need to buy a professional electric tile cutter, for example, if you just need to replace tiles in a small area. In addition, in order to choose the right tile cutter, you need to focus on the characteristics of the tile being processed.
Tile cutters are usually divided into manual and electric. Let’s see how both of them work.
Manual tile cutters
A manual tile cutter is used for a small amount of work, more often at home, when the number of tiles to be cut is small. Structurally, it is very simple: a titanium or diamond wear-resistant cutting element, a convenient ruler in order to obtain a thin and precise cut, a floating base, a guide that prevents backlash in the cutting part.
The most common pliers type cutters, fitted with plastic or metal corners and a cutting roller. Tile processing takes place in two stages: first, a cut is made on the enamelled side, and then the tile is gently broken off by the corner of the tile cutter. Tile cutting tongs do not require any special skills to work with it.
More sophisticated model: tabletop tile cutter. It is also, like the tile cutter, suitable for processing tiles up to 15 mm thick at home. It is convenient and relatively inexpensive; the price varies depending on the length of the tile cutter. For holes up to 80 mm in diameter, some tile cutters are equipped with a round cutter or “ballerina”.
If you need a high cutting accuracy, when choosing a tool, you need to pay attention to how the tool holder moves along the guides. The rings along which it moves should not be made of plastic, since they will not give high accuracy. It is optimal if these are self-lubricating rings or bearings.
Electric tile cutter
An electric tile cutter is already a professional tool used for a large amount of work and when working with thick tiles. Their design is a stationary cutting blade and a retractable table.
Features of electric tile cutters: power (from 500 to 2200 W), circle diameter (from 180 to 200 mm);, maximum cutting depth (from 30 to 40 mm), cutting length (up to 500 mm), table size, time of continuous work in minutes, weight (from 10 kg).
The electric tile cutter is equipped with an adjustable tilt angle so that it can cut material at an angle of 45 degrees. The range of materials is quite large: stone tiles (except for stone tiles coated with carbide chips), tiles with a soft or hard base. And for each material, it is necessary to choose a disc suitable for it, whether it is: a disc for marble, travertine, granite, tiles, or glass.
When choosing a tile cutter, you need to pay attention to both the manufacturer and its characteristics. The hallmarks of a good quality tool are a rigid base and thick-walled guides. If you have already decided which tool to buy, visit the B&Q website and you will find it there.
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