tile nibblers/nippers

stofts · Post by **stofts** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:57 am

Hi

I am new to tiling and I have bought a set of tile nibblers or tile nippers; they look a bit like carpenters' pincers. The trouble is I can't seem to make them break the tile. I am using a 4 inch square ceramic tile 5mm thick.

Any tips?

chris_h · Post by **chris_h** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:14 am

They`re not supposed to `break` the tile, just to nip/nibble very small pieces a bit at a time till you get the desired profile.

DIY_Johnny · Post by **DIY_Johnny** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:32 pm

I tiled my kitchen and bathroom and I used them a lot to break off strips of tile (i.e. <1") that had been scored well with a tile cutter first. I too thought thats what they were for

Worked well, tiles were ceramic wall tiles. I found the best way is to keep the edge vey near the scored line, keep the rest of the tile on a flat surface and bend the cutters downwards, holding it tight. But I had to give it a rub with a tile file afterwards to straighten it up.

couldn't do it with floor tiles. So ended up buying a electric tile cutter. the cheap ones do the job for the DIY man stofts but blades blunt quickly

Opus Romano · Post by **Opus Romano** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:23 pm

If you score the tile first, you will be able to gradually nibble the "waste" away. I would suggest that you try to take no more than 5mm chunks at a time until you have a lot more nibbling experience. Straight edges will often come away fairly clean and are easy, but internal corners and curves require a lot more patience.

You may want to get some free broken tiles from your local tile shop to practice with first.

Good luck.