By Tim Carter
Saturday, July 12, 2008; F08

Q: DEAR TIM: I have never used a ceramic tile cutter. Is cutting tile possible with such a simple tool? How can it make straight cuts without shattering the tile? What tips can you offer for working with this tool? Is it faster to cut by hand, or should I rent a tile-cutting saw?

-- Steve K., Oak Park, Ill.

A: DEAR STEVE: You bet it is possible to make highly acceptable cuts with a ceramic tile cutter. I have done it for years, and there are tens of thousands of professional tile setters who use this tool each day. Depending upon the tile, you can make precision cuts with a regular tile cutter that rival cuts made on a wet diamond tile saw.

A ceramic tile cutter is fairly simple. The tool is equipped with a sharp carbide or tungsten-steel wheel. A lever handle allows you to drag the wheel across the glazed-finished surface of the tile. The wheel scratches and cuts into the glazed finish, creating a plane of weakness. When you press down on the handle of the tool, pressure is applied equally to the tile on each side of the cut line.

Many common ceramic tiles are made from clay, which is much softer than the ultra-thin glazed surface, which has the hardness of glass. Ceramic tile is very strong when you compress or squeeze it, but it has less than 10 percent of this strength when you apply tension to it. Bending or pulling is a tension force, and this is exactly what happens when you press down on the handle of the cutter. The tile begins to bend and cracks readily on the scored line. This is why you are often able to tear a piece of paper in a straight line after putting a hard crease in the paper.

I have used several ceramic tile cutters. I have found that the hand cutters that cost a little more money tend to make better cuts. The extra money you spend will often allow you to get a tool that has better mechanical advantage, cuts perfectly square and is easier to use.

Look for ceramic tile cutters that have rotating guides that allow you to make angle cuts from zero to 45 degrees. Some tile cutters have attachments that allow you to make circle scribe cuts for faucet valve holes.

Be sure the tool is well lubricated, as the cutting wheel needs to rotate freely and the sliding arm needs to move with ease.

You should practice on some inexpensive ceramic tile. If you try to cut all types of tile, you will quickly discover that porcelain tile and thicker tile are considerably harder to cut. As tile gets thicker, the thin scored line in the glazing is not enough to guarantee a perfectly straight snapped line in the tile. Porcelain tile often contains a higher amount of crystallized silica, and as such it wants to break in an unpredictable conchoidal fracture. You can cut porcelain tile with this tool, but be prepared for more waste.

It is difficult to cut off narrow pieces on most ceramic tile with tile cutters. Any successful cuts that are a half-inch or less in width are pure luck. It is best to use a diamond wet saw to make these cuts.

As crazy as it seems, it is far faster to cut tile with a simple ceramic-tile cutter than with a diamond wet saw. With practice, you can probably cut three or four tiles with a simple cutter in the same amount of time it takes to cut one using an expensive wet diamond saw. I have both tools, but I use the diamond saw to cut thicker tiles, granite, marble and other things you simply can't cut with a ceramic-tile cutter.

Tim Carter can be contacted via his Web site, http://www.askthebuilder.com/printer_Submit_Question.shtml.

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