Who knows wet saws?

[Donn]

It looks like I'm going to have to enable myself to cut marble tile, mostly 5/16" but some thicker.

I have a good handheld right-angle grinder which will take a diamond blade, but from my early research, it seems I may need a dedicated tool, which irrigates the work while the cutting is being done.

Porter-Cable makes one, for about $380, which has mostly good reviews.

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00004Z06O.01._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Use will range from very small mosaic cutting, up to cutting actual floor tiles for installation purposes.

My haphazard schedule makes rental inefficient.

Another question is if my RA grinder can be used to grind and polish edges on marble.

Any experience, ideas or suggestions?

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Donn, I bought a little 7 inch workforce chinese tile saw at home depot about three years ago for 150 bucks Cdn. It's been an awesome little saw. Set up like a small table saw, and it works really really well. It's done slate, marble, ceramic tile, and did well over 1500 cuts on the original blade. Because it's set up like a table saw, it's easy to do odd ball cuts, since the blade run on isn't visible from above on the tile.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Do it wet, and with purpose built kit - the dust is unbelievably damaging - I knew a lass who killed a succession of grinders making Tiffany style lampshades.

[Donn]

Remember the brand name?

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Yep... "Workforce". I also use a diamond wheel on a grinder to fit tile around plumbing and so on... I do bathrooms, and kitchen floors mostly. When I bought the little thing, I thought hey, if it helps me get my kitchen done, and it's not total junk... it's worth it. It surprised me. Comes with a fence and a angle jig, and a blade and the water pan. Probably... 129 in your neck of the woods

[Donn]

Workforce:

http://www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/eplus/163849_4.jpg

$88 US, and rave reviews on HD's website.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

That's the one.

[Donn]

Thank you, sir! That's a much better deal than the PC, and I've found good reviews all over the web.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Once I learned to do ceramic tile, I gave up on doing linoleum in apartments. Ceramic is pretty easy with a wet saw, and sounds like you got a good deal on lots of marble. Let me know if you need any tips. I have some marble in the shop that I've been waiting to build a nice wrought iron garden table with a marble top with.

[W Grabow]

My wife and I did most of the tiling in our home. First I bought a small wet saw at Home Depot. It quickly became obvious that it would burn out with much use. So we took it back and bought a full-sized wet saw. This too proved inadequate; so we took it back and got our money back. I finally just rented the biggest tile saw that HD rents, and it worked fine. We were cutting a lot of large, 18' by 18', porcelain tile which puts quite a load on the machine.

[StevenBauer]

I've got the $88 Workforce. Totally awesome little tool. I've done some granite tile countertops and bathroom floors and it cuts the soapstone I used for my own countertops like butter. :) Just don't let the water get so low that the blade doesn't reach it. There is no water pump. The blade is cooled by the bottom edge sitting in a tray of water.

Steven

[Stiletto]

I've used angle grinders and a diamond blade, That looks like a better solution to me.

[merlinron]

don....
home depot and harbour freight sell a small sliding table wet saw that uses a 4 inch grinder motor and a 7 inch blade mounted much like the porter cable cable saw you posted, but they aren't made of plastic. i have the one from home depot and it works great, the tub is pvc, but the stand and saw mechinism is all metal.the motor/blade is fully adjustable for depth of cut and angle to about 50 degrees and has positive stops for 90 and 45. the sled is all aluminum and has a 45 degree fixture and a fence that locks onto the sled with a thumbscrew for repeated cuts, it is also fully adjustable to get the sled traveing parrallel to the blade.. i paid 300 bucks for mine and shortly after i purchased it, i saw that harbour has the exact same thing for 200 bucks... well worth the price either way. i built a totally marble bathroom in my home with lots of mitered corners( shower has a 45 degree wall with the entrance in it. it paid for itself twice over on that project alone. aslo marketed by work force. much better than the "table saw style posted above. with the table saw type you have to slide the tile past the blade just like a regular table saw, if you have to cut a piece upside down for opposite miters, you are sliding the tile on it's polished surface...not good.... with the sliding"sled" type, you just put the tile on the sled upside down and the sled moves past the blade with the tile sitting stationary on the sled...no scratches on that shiney surface.

[whb]

Don,

If I recall correctly you have a Dremmell. A diamond tile cutting bit is available that works very well for small diameter cutouts for plumbing and such.

Howard