Due to its characteristics, gres resembles a natural stone and has a high durability and abrasion resistance. Thanks to these unique properties, gres got its huge popularity and wide use, as a finishing material of high quality. However, these advantages made the process of cutting the tile at home quite complicated. Besides, with the right tool everyone can do this work.
Tools for cutting gres
Depending on the thickness and type of gres tile, as well as the amount of work, it is better to use the tile cutter or the angle grinder.
How to cut gres using a manual tile cutter
To cut the gres with a manual tile cutter correctly, you should:
• mark with a pencil or marker on the tile the necessary cutting line;
• firmly fix the tile on the cutter frame;
• in one movement, pressing the cutting wheel to the front surface of the tile, pass it over gres.
When you use a manual tool, the most important requirements are the efficiency and accuracy of the cut line, which must be done in one motion. Repeated and fuzzy movements in most cases lead to the formation of different chips and cracks on the tile surface.
How to break the cut tile
After the cut was made, the tile should be broken. To do this, you can use the lever mechanism of the tile cutter handle; accurately put it on a tile and press by lugs over already made cut line. Moreover, you can make a break manually by placing a wood strip under the tile along the cutting line, and step on it. In addition, breaking the tile must be done in one sharp movement.
Difficulties in using a manual tile cutter
Unfortunately, a manual tile cutter of the required size is not always kept at hand (for example, for a diagonal cutting of 60×60 cm tile requires a device with cut length 90 cm). However, the use of mechanical tile cutters is not possible in all cases. For example, with the help of such tool, it will not be possible, to cut a strip with a width of less than 0,6 cm or make a high quality cut of thickened or relief ceramic tiles, where the cutting wheel cannot reach the bottom of all indentations on the surface of the gres.
How to cut gres using an angle grinder
To cut the gres tile using an angle grinder, you should:
• mark with a pencil or marker on the tile the necessary cutting line (to minimize the number of chips and cracks, you can glue a line with painter’s tape);
• put the ceramic tile and fix it on a flat surface (as a supporter, it is convenient to use a thick piece of foam or other similar material);
• accurately make a cut away from yourself, moving along the intended line, and minimize the cutting speed at the inlet and outlet.
As well, you can polish the cut edge of the tile with the help of the angle grinder. To do this, at low speed use diamond flexible grinding disks. In addition, use a sanding paper or a sponge with a diamond coating for polishing.
Professional cutting of a gres tile
In case, you need to cut a large amount of thickened gres and there are strict requirements to the quality of the cut, it makes sense to use a professional equipment. For example, if it is possible you can buy or rent an electric tile cutter with the water cooling system. For cutting ceramic tiles, a diamond disc, which is driven by the electric motor, is also used.
Depending on the model of the tile cutters, there are:
• devices with a movable cutting element that cut fixed gres tile on the table,
• devices, where the cutting part is fixed permanently, and it is necessary to move the tile itself.
The cut that was made by using the tile cutter with the water cooling system is almost perfect, and the work with this tool is not difficult. It is enough to draw on the tile a correct cutting line, place the material on the table of the tile cutter, connect a cut line with a direction of movement of a cutting disk, gradually move the tool or tile along the cutting line. At the same time, we must not forget about safety and regularly change the water, which is used to trap dust and cool the disk of electric tile cutter.
Except using an electric tile cutter, professional cutting of a large amount of ceramic products also is possible with the help of water-jet cutting machine. Reliability and accuracy are ensured because the water with abrasive impurities is fed under high pressure. Cutting with the help of water-jet machines can be realized not only by making just a straight line, but also in the form of figured decorative cuts.
