Choosing a Tile Saw

Though the finished tile looked fabulous I spent an inordinate amount of time cutting tiles. In addition, I spent a small fortune on broken tiles due to not using the tile cutter properly.

Inexpensive Tile Saws

For my next ceramic tile project, I broke down and bought an inexpensive tile saw. The tile saw had a ¾ horse power motor with a 7 inch diamond saw blade. The blade and motor sat below a cutting table surface. A water reservoir tray also sat underneath the table surface as well, and as the blade turned it ran through the water, which cooled and cleaned the tile saw blade.

The tile saw also included a fence for making straight cuts. The tile saw only cost me $75 but did one heck of a job cutting tile, at least for a few tile projects. Not only did I not need the tile cutter, I hardly ever needed to use even the tile nippers. The problem however with these inexpensive tile saws, is that they don’t last long and the motors can burn out easily if not used carefully. You can also trip the circuit breaker fairly regularly with them. The reason for this is that small bits of ceramic tile fall down into the well where the blade sits and wind up jamming up the saw at inopportune times. This jamming action can wear out the blade and the motor fairly quickly, so it is important to try to remove any ceramic tile chips from the blade well quite regularly.

In addition, the water in the reservoir gets dirty fairly quickly and thus does not do a very good job of keeping the tile saw blade clean and sharp.

More Expensive Tile Saws

More expensive tile saws that will set you back a couple of hundred dollars or more have a tile saw motor and blade that sit above the cutting surface and a large tray for holding water. In addition they have a large table surface that slides forward and underneath the tile saw blade. They also include fences for making straight and angled tile cuts.

These types of tile saws typically have a more powerful motor, e.g. around 1-3/4hp or more and thus make short work of cutting ceramic tile. In addition, since the motor and blade sit above the tile and table surface they are not prone to jamming. This helps to extend the life of the tile saw blade and motor.

Make sure when investing in one of these more expensive tile saws to include a water pump. The water pump sits inside the water tray and pumps water up onto the tile saw blade.