How To Cut Ceramic Tile With A Grinder

Every tile installer needs an angle grinder in their toolkit. The tile installer frequently uses a wet saw for straight and L-shaped cuts and an angle grinder for more specialized cuts that arise along the way, like the tile around a floor drain. You may cut ceramic tile with an angle grinder, also known as a side grinder, and its glazed surface is not broken or chipped.

The right diamond blade for angle grinder can make any cut, but that only sometimes means it is the best tool for the job. A wet saw consistently produces cuts with the ideal edge. A manual cutter has straight break cuts. Small chips and slivers are eliminated by a tile setter using portable nippers. Making minor cuts with strange shapes is where an angle grinder shines.

How To Cut Ceramic Tiles With Angle Grinder?

1. Selecting The Appropriate Angle Grinder Blade

The blade is essential while cutting tiles. A tile-cutting blade grinds and cuts through porcelain and ceramic tile using small diamond chips along its edge. Because they have more diamonds, higher-quality blades typically last longer and cut more quickly. 

You can also cut tile with a diamond blade made for brickwork. This diamond blade removes concrete dust using serrated dust channels along its edge. Masonry blades efficiently cut soft tile; however, when using them aggressively or while grinding curves, the dust channels tend to chip the tile's glazing. Tile cannot be cut, ground, or sanded with discs made of metal or wood. The blade size should correspond to the grinder.

2. Install The Blade On The Angle Grinder

Install a tile-cutting blade on the side grinder's arbor, so it points in the same direction as the tool. You can still cut tile with a blade that has been put in reverse. However, when used in this manner, the edge loses diamonds and their durability.

Check that the brass arbor bushing on the blade centers it on the grinder's arbor. The bushing maintains the arbor's arbor's edge in the center. Adjust the arbor nut by hand. Lock the tool's blade into place before using the grinder's spanner wrench to finish tightening the nut.

3. Design The Cut

When planning a job, a craftsman thinks about the end product. Small changes can occasionally eliminate sliver or angle cuts. Unfortunately, bespoke scratches sometimes occur even with the most excellent plan. Make all necessary dimensions and transfer them to a tile when this happens. Make quick cuts on the tile's glazed surface, like straight or angled ones using a speed square and pencil.

Plan intricate cuts like curves and holes on the completed and unfinished surfaces. Remember that the final cut is mirrored in the reverse layout. Reduce the size of the curved component of the reverse pattern so that the blade's arc may cut through the tile without enlarging the visible piece of the cut. A rough cut on the back and a finish trim from the glazed surface are frequently necessary for these cuts.

Easy Cut Directions

• Put on a dust mask, ear protection, and safety glasses.
• Please turn on the angle grinder while holding it firmly in one hand. Let the engine run at full throttle. If the blade vibrates erratically, shut off the angle grinder right away. Check that the blade or brass ring is still positioned on the arbor after removing the blade-holding nut.
• Apply light pressure while softly rubbing the blade of the angle grinder against the tile's line while the machine runs at full speed. It should score the pencil line until it forms a 1/16-inch deep groove. For any further cuts on the same piece, repeat this procedure. Sometimes breaks occur before the score lines.
• Angle the grinder back and forth continuously until the blade cuts through the tile. Make sure the blade stays in one place. The edge becomes overheated when it is kept stationary and becomes dull. Utilize the score mark as a reference to finishing the cut.
• It should grind any sharp edges away from the blade's side. When using an angle grinder, it is often helpful to hold it at a slight incline so that the blade cuts from the unfinished side toward the glaze.

Complex Cut Directions

Using the angle grinder, mark a 1/16-inch profound outline of the cut on the tile's glazed surface, as many massive, unnecessary, simple cuts as you can remove. It is frequently simpler to divide difficult cuts into several little, simple cuts and trims. The curves and indents should remain after this.

Turn the tile over to make sure the layout lines roughly align with the score mark's interior and make any required adjustments. Cut it out. The cutout is consequently somewhat smaller than the final product. Trim the unfinished tile's edge until it fits the cut. Just before installing, test the cut.