Re: ATM Porcelain verses ceramic tiles

["Herb Kasler" <h.kasler@worldnet.att.net>]

Adam Perkins wrote:
>
> How do you cut porcelain without a tile saw?
>
>

Adam,

    As I'm sure you've read, most people will just leave out any overhanging
tiles on their tools, but I was not satisfied (probably for no good reason)
with that solution. For my 16" tool, I drew the outline of the circle onto
all of the overhanging tiles and then chipped them down to size by putting
them on a cement step, kneeling on a brick to hold down the back end, and
chiseling them back with a flat-blade screwdriver and a hammer. The thing
is, If you just put the screwdriver in the middle of the tile and hit the
back end with a hammer, you can be almost 100% sure that the tile will break
in half in the wrong direction. The trick is to chip away at the tile
gradually, setting the blade as close to the working edge (or corner) as you
can and then hitting it to remove just a small flake. With some practice, I
was able to sculpt about 4 out of 5 tiles into the right shape without
breaking them. You just have to be patient and not try to remove too much
material at once. I then smoothed the sharp edges of the tiles somewhat
(important so as to avoid cut fingers and scratches from splinters braking
loose during grinding) with some carbide paper and a pair of pliers. A small
carbide grinding wheel or wirebrush wheel mounted on a drill works faster,
but man, what a horrible noise!  The whole process was definitely somewahat
time consuming and generally a pain in the buttocks, but it required no
special tools and I ended up with a tool that had a perfectly circular
outline. I should stress again, though, that going through the effort of
making your tile face perfectly circular as opposed to just leaving out
overhanging tiles probably has no effect whatsoever on the final result.
They certainly don't bother at the Chabot workshop, and they make plenty of
perfectly good mirrors there. I think I just did it out of beginner's
paranoia and wouldn't bother with it the next time. But at any rate, that
was my solution to the problem, and it did work.

Later,
Herb. >
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