tapering ceramic tiles odd shape

finest1 · Post by **finest1** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 2:56 pm

hi all.

i'm planning to relay some border tiles on my shower tray. the shower tray is not flush level and has a taper to it. so when you put straight tiles the grout lines start thin on one end, gets larger, then tapers off, like a bow. my intial thoughts was to try and taper cut the tiles. i have a wet tile cutter with a fixed blade. been having issues tapering the cuts. i was practicing with some off cuts today to see if i can get something looking good. has anyone any tips on getting a good taper?

thanks

finest1

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:00 pm

In the past I scored the line and nibbled it off with pincers. Now I would make a temporary fence guide using wood and hand clamps on my tile saw.

DWD

finest1 · Post by **finest1** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:12 pm

hey DWD! thanks for the swift reply. i don't have any nippers or tile cutters, just a scribe. the tile is glazed for the scribe just skids off. i have enough tiles left for the job in hand, i don't want to waste tiles by making mistakes thanks

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 4:05 pm

I have cut slivers off tiles on my saw. I am sure a tapered fence will do the trick

DWD

finest1 · Post by **finest1** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 7:44 pm

ive never heard of a fence guide, have you any vids or online resources. i've tried googling it, but fencing work comes up!! i'm sure thats not it!!

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 8:39 pm

The fence is the guide bar on the table of your electric tile cutter, it has just occurred to me that you might not have one and you only have a manual one. An electric one is not that expensive see https://www.screwfix.com/p/performance- ... 240v/469gt take the guide off and replace it with a strip of wood clamped at an angle to guide your tile. I can see that you would not want to do £50 for a few cuts, can you borrow one?

DWD

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 10:22 pm

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 4:05 pm I have cut slivers off tiles on my saw. I am sure a tapered fence will do the trick

DWD

tapered fence as such wont work unless you mean a sliding angle guide ??
if you can get the first one cut accurately, you can use the off cut against the fence and push through with the tile to present the tile at the correct angle adjusting the fence position iff necessary to give the exact same width off tile

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 10:52 pm

It is the fence angle to the blade that determines the cut line, the straight edge of the tile follows the fence and the blade cuts the angle on the opposite edge. I have a similar jig on my table saw for cutting tapered legs.

DWD

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Thu Sep 15, 2022 11:03 pm

not familiar with tile saws as such do they have a carriage to transport the tile in a parallel line but sitting at an angle or a blade moving in a slicing motion like a mitre saw :dunno:

finest1 · Post by **finest1** » Fri Sep 16, 2022 9:13 am

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 8:39 pm The fence is the guide bar on the table of your electric tile cutter, it has just occurred to me that you might not have one and you only have a manual one. An electric one is not that expensive see <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">https://www.screwfix.com/p/performance- ... 69gt</span> take the guide off and replace it with a strip of wood clamped at an angle to guide your tile. I can see that you would not want to do £50 for a few cuts, can you borrow one?

DWD

oh, i see! yes, i have a manual guide. i did try that approach at first, but the tile kept reverting to a stright cut i was fighting against the stationary blade. should i have been firmer in my approach?

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Fri Sep 16, 2022 9:41 am

Yes, your focus is holding the tile tight against the guide and feeding slowly to let the blade cut at its rate to avoid snatch. Tape and mark the cut line, it is easier to see during cutting. Use gloves for grip.

DWD

etaf · Post by **etaf** » Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:14 am

i borrowed a small table saw , from brother-in-law - pretty much the same as they sell at toppstile and screwfix/toolstation for around £50
I did purchase a new 110mm blade for it , hes was from B&Q , but pretty much identical

https://www.toppstiles.co.uk/fixing-fin ... utter-450w

But i was cutting quite a few tiles - so easy to do - and i also cut a taper by doing exactly as described , fitted a bit of wood with clamps , although the guide it had was OK
Also you need to make sure the taper is the correct way - so you dont jam the blade by mistake

the one i had was very messy and water etc went everywhere - but that seems to be the feedback for all of them , so do make sure you do it outside , I did mine on a lawn

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:25 am

Yes they are messy the coolant water and tile dust form a sludge, I laid out some plastic sheets on my garage floor which made clean-up easier. I could have cut Finest's tiles quicker than writing this

DWD

etaf · Post by **etaf** » Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:28 am

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:25 am I laid out some plastic sheets on my garage floor which made clean-up easier

yep, i should have done that , as you say all the dust & sludge and some small bits of tile - at least the bit of ground i used was nolonger going to be lawn and not cut with a lawnmower which would not have done the blades much good

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Fri Sep 16, 2022 11:05 am

DWD