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Cutting a curve in a ceramic tile with an angle grinder

last photo ←

Hi here is something I posted on You Tube some time ago and would like to share it with you ... now i have discovered this web site.

While tiling a 50msq (538sq ft) floor area, i had to cut the 450mm x 450mm (17.7" x 17.7") ceramic tiles around the spiral stair case & hand rail, which involved a lot of large curved cuts. So I put this video together to show how to cut a porcelain ceramic floor tile with a 100mm (4") diamond blade fitted to an angle grinder.

Unfortunately i did not take many close up photos at the time, but i have attached what i did have and extracted some snap shots from the video to create this slide show

I think it's self explanatory but please feel free to ask any questions ... Thanks Tony i

Long Audio Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF00fAoK4m0
www.youtube.com/watch

Shorter Commented Slide show Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x26PrtgpZN8
www.youtube.com/watch

5 comments

Jan 20, 2010. 12:48 PM

jeff-o says:

Thanks! I'll be doing something like this soon (tiling around a toilet) and was wondering how to do the curved cuts.

Jan 20, 2010. 9:03 PMtonyi (author) says:

Yes! Good luck ... the only thing i would say is the toilet may have some very tight turn / curves which even a 100mm blade may not be able to do.

So i would make a series of 15mm apart straight cuts up to about 5mm before the curve cut line,
then break off all the strips carefully,
then gently grind away the rough 5mm distance to the curve cut line to a neat finish

Jan 21, 2010. 7:08 AM

jeff-o says:

Good idea! I'll be sure to try that if, as you warned, the curves are too tight.

Jan 21, 2010. 2:03 AM

bongodrummer says:

Nice! I love your style of control: with the whole body especially the legs, makes perfect sense. I wonder if you might consider clamping or weighing the tile down some how?

Jan 21, 2010. 3:00 AMtonyi (author) says:

yes, good idea of, course you could do that, just be careful not to over tighten the clamp you may end up cracking the tile. These 450 x 450 Porcelain Floor Tiles were pretty tough & heavy, but if i were to cut a smaller tile i would defiantly secure it down.