How to cut porcelain tiles at home with a Bulgarian, glass cutter, hand tile and jig saw?

When planning a facade cladding or laying a floor covering in a house or on the street, many choose to use porcelain stoneware. This material an order of magnitude superior to conventional ceramics in terms of strength, while maintaining the decorative qualities. At the same time, such a tile is close in durability to natural stone, but much more practical in installation. However, it is not always possible to form an even coating without additional processing of the material, which raises a fair question about how to cut porcelain tiles at home without the use of machines and other specialized equipment.

Features of cutting porcelain stoneware

The complexity of processing ceramic granite tiles is determined by its characteristics. This is a fairly hard material that resembles a stone in structure. Accordingly, the tool for cutting it should be selected with particular care. Ceramic granite is a cross between granite and ceramics. But in the case of a stone without the help of professionals you can not do it if you need to get perfectly smooth sides. With ceramic tiles, things are not so deplorable, and it is quite possible to limit oneself to standard cutting sets. Determining with what will be the cutting of ceramic tiles at home, you can immediately consider tools such as a Bulgarian, a tile cutter, a jig saw, etc. The processing process is quite painstaking and time-consuming, but this is the only way to get the best result without outside help and financial costs .

Preparing the tool for work

Regardless of which tool will be used in the work, it is necessary to check its technical serviceability. Even knowing at a professional level how to cut porcelain tiles at home will not help if the equipment is in unsatisfactory condition. This is especially important if you plan to operate a device that has been in storage for a long time. So, first of all, the integrity of the cutting organs is checked. These can be diamond rollers, saws, crowns and other abrasives. Together with this, the quality of their sharpening and the fixation system are checked, on which safety will directly depend. Further, the reliability of the body fastenings, the position of the nuts and screws are evaluated. If a power tool is used, it is necessary to check all contacts, and in some cases also lubrication.

Cutting Bulgarian

If the choice fell on this tool, you should immediately prepare for the fact that the work process will be accompanied by a large amount of dust and dirt. In addition, safety measures must be observed - the presence of gloves and safety glasses is a prerequisite for preparation for the operation. The angular grinder must have a special cover protecting from splinters of the material.

Depending on the planned result, you can determine how to cut granite tiles at home by a Bulgarian - for example, it can be curly or rectilinear processing. In the course of the work, it is not necessary to try to cover the entire thickness of the element, since the tile can easily break through the created notch. However, this line should be deeper than in the case of sharp conventional ceramic tiles. Among the shortcomings of the use of Bulgarian it is possible to distinguish the need to provide special working conditions and a relatively low quality of the cut. The first minus is due to the fact that there is a lot of dust and debris, and the second is associated with rough processing with diamond abrasives.

Using a tile cutter

The popularity of this method is due to the fact that the tile cutter is designed specifically for working with materials such as ceramics and porcelain stoneware. The quality of the resulting cut in this case is higher than when working with a Bulgarian, but subject to the rules of equipment operation. Despite the prevalence of electrical models, it will not be out of place to know how to cut ceramic granite tiles with a hand tile, as this method is more accurate. But it is important to note that the incision is desirable to do once, because repeated attempts to obtain it and execute the coveted fault can spoil the appearance of the element.

Technique for working with tile cutters

When the initial incision is ready, you should continue fixing the tile, raise the handle of the tool and put the paws in the center of the line so that its stop is directed into the tile. Next, you need to press the handle and increase the effort to achieve a break. The parameters and quality of the resulting cut are determined not only by the manipulations of the user, but also by the structure of the ceramic granite itself, its composition and rigidity. If on the edges of the tile there are superfluous parts of the chips, they can be easily removed with pliers.

Ceramic granite processing

The magnitude of the force of the glass cutter is not so high in comparison with the described tools, therefore it is expedient to apply this method only in case of a small amount of work. Now we can proceed to the question of how to cut ceramic granite tiles with a glass cutter to obtain an equally worthy result in quality.

Roller glass cutters must have a diamond element for processing the plate material. The tile itself before the work falls into the water for about 30 minutes to facilitate the cutting process. Then the element is laid on a smooth surface. The incision should also be performed only once with strong pressure. The cutting part must be rolled along the previously applied line from the far point to itself. As a result of this operation, a groove must be formed on the porcelain tiles, which will form the basis for further fracture. To facilitate scrapping, it is necessary to lay a thin wire, nail or match on the formed line. By double-sided pressing, the tile is divided into two parts.

Cutting with a jigsaw

This method will also require considerable effort and is more suitable for modest volumes of tiles intended for cutting. Unlike alternative methods, this option involves sawing ceramic granite. By the way, the knowledge of how to cut ceramic tiles with a jigsaw will allow you to perform similar operations with a hacksaw for metal. In addition to patience, you should also stock up on replaceable cutting blades, which will surely require working with dense material.

The first step is to fix the saw. On the intended line on the tile should be held with a jigsaw so that the maximum level cut is formed. To avoid the possibility of overheating of the instrument, it is also necessary to moisten the material. So the electric model works, but there are also manual jigsaws, which, with the appropriate skill and effort, allow creating precise and even curly cuts. Again, the main thing is to use suitable for a specific purpose saws or diamond wires. Of course, the cutting procedure will take a lot of time, but this is one of the best examples demonstrating how to cut porcelain tiles at home with maximum accuracy. Especially this method is useful if it is necessary to create curved cuts in a wall tile for the further introduction of electrotechnical devices.

Creation of holes in porcelain tiles

Often, cutting operations are complemented by drilling. To do this, you can use special drills, circular saws, and if you need to create holes of large diameters, you will need a powerful low-speed drill. Knowing some of the principles of how to cut porcelain tiles at home will help in this procedure, but there are also some nuances. For example, drilling can only be carried out from the outside of the ceramic granite tile, since from the back side the output of the working element will cause chipped. In some cases, it is possible to use a ballerin to create holes. This tool is good because it allows you to adjust the cutters manually, so you can fine-tune the parameters of the hole.

General recommendations for cutting

The processing of any material that is intended for decorative design, aims to obtain a quality result without affecting the aesthetic properties. In the case of tiles, this is especially important, since it will not be easy to disguise the defects. Obtaining equal sides and exact lines is largely ensured from the very beginning by properly marked contours. For example, considering the principles of the technology of how to cut granite tiles by a Bulgarian, one can draw a conclusion about the significance of cutting lines. The artist takes contours as the main direction in the process of work. In addition, safety issues are also important - protection from splinters, dust, and protection from failure of the equipment itself are the primary measures in preparation for work. Of course, we can not do without minor tricks, including the use of water for wetting ceramic granite, the use of suitable cutting elements and the uniform distribution of loads during the formation of the cut.