Will a “Multi-tool” cut ceramic tile?

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

I’m getting ready to install ceramic tile in my bathrooms. I know that I’ll need to cut many of the tiles, and I’m thinking of buying a tile saw, but some of the cuts will be at strange angles, etc., and I don‘t think that a standard tile saw will be able to do some of them.

I’m also interested in buying some brand of one of the new “multi-tools”, and it would be great if I could it to make the odd cuts on the tiles.

So does anyone know whether one of the multi-tools (the Fein, the Rockwell, etc.) is capable of cutting ceramic tile?

Thanks,
Louis

[Scott Hildenbrand]

you're far better off picking up a cheap wet saw at the BORG if you're going to do any number of tiles.

Angles are not an issue.. Tile saws, just as table saws, come with a miter gauge.

You can even cut curves on the wet saw with some cuts and a pair of nippers.

Will be much easier, cleaner and much safer..

[Joe Scharle]

No, they don't have a tile cutter. They have 2 grout cutting blades; carbide and diamond. I found that a wheel cutter works well for small jobs I've done.

[frank shic]

the multi-tool is simply INCREDIBLE for almost all other jobs though especially if you do any kind of remodeling. i'm using it now to undercut door jams for hardwood flooring, making cutouts that require nice finish edges and even for chopping off an occasionally misfired staple (ever try to pull or drive one of these things in?!?). the only thing that annoys me is the high pitched whine it makes, but that's what earmuffs are for lol. btw my favorite tile saw is the cheapo THD 550 from home depot. the blade is blunt so you can safely run your fingers near it to do all sorts of cuts as scott mentioned.

[Wayne Cannon]

I can't imagine cutting a series of tile along an edge without a wet tile saw with a sliding table.

However, for miscellaneous cuts, MK makes a small (around 4"), relatively inexpensive, tile cutting saw that looks like a small sidewinder Skilsaw. It has provision for a water drip, but can also be used dry.

A RotoZip, or equivalent, also works well with a diamond blade for freehand cutting, though dry cutting will generate a storm of ceramic dust.

[Peter Quinn]

I have used the rotozip to make small tight circles in ceramic tile such as for plumbing penetrations. Not sure the multi tool would be much help there. I'd use a wet saw for every other possible cut. They do angles very well.

[Michael Poller]

I just recently tiled my bathroom.

Not a large area (about 55 sq feet) but we did it with:
- score and snap style manual tile cutter for all straight full tile cuts; picked it up used for $10 at a yard sale; added a new cutting wheel from the borg for $6 and was good to go
- Dremel tool with Diamond Wheels for all the corner or rounded (pipes and such) cuts. Worked flawlessly if a bit dusty. Wear a mask and your good to go.

For the size of job we did, we took a night to layout and pre-cut every single tile in the room. Then the next night laid them all down. Went down really easily.

[Louis Brandt]

I just recently tiled my bathroom.

Not a large area (about 55 sq feet) but we did it with:
- score and snap style manual tile cutter for all straight full tile cuts; picked it up used for $10 at a yard sale; added a new cutting wheel from the borg for $6 and was good to go
- Dremel tool with Diamond Wheels for all the corner or rounded (pipes and such) cuts. Worked flawlessly if a bit dusty. Wear a mask and your good to go.

For the size of job we did, we took a night to layout and pre-cut every single tile in the room. Then the next night laid them all down. Went down really easily.

Are you referring to the new Dremel multi-tool, or are you referring to the "standard" Dremel tool, which has been around for several years?
Louis

[Michael Poller]

The standard Dremel XP line. Not the oscillating multi-tool.

Are the multi-tools smooth enough to allow a controlled easy cut in tile the way a rotary or grinder style tool would? Just curious as I have no experience with those types of tools.

[Wayne Cannon]

First, my tile work is strictly non-professional do-it-yourself, but I would put my work up against anyone if you don't count the fact that it takes me ten times as long to complete the job.

A circular diamond saw blade in a RotoZip or Dremel (or an MK 4" hand-held circular tile saw) works fine for curved and specialty cuts. You can use the edge like a grinder for small-radius concave cuts. Yes, it is easily controlled. You'll have a tremendous dust cloud of nasty stuff.

Smooth? A straight-cutting diamond wet-saw on a sliding table will cut smooth enough to leave an exposed edge on slate, granite, and marble tile with only minor smoothing with a stone. Aside from that, with patience, a hand-held rotary tool with a circular diamond blade can be controlled well enough enough to look nice for any grouted joint.

I have not been happy with any of the tile-cutting bits (the ones that look like drill bits) cutting ceramic or stone tile. Maybe it's just me, but they are hard to control freehand, are extremely slow, and they break easily.

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[Don Bullock]

you're far better off picking up a cheap wet saw at the BORG if you're going to do any number of tiles.

Angles are not an issue.. Tile saws, just as table saws, come with a miter gauge.

You can even cut curves on the wet saw with some cuts and a pair of nippers.

Will be much easier, cleaner and much safer..

Cutting tile with a multipurpose tool would take a lot of time and not be very accurate.

I fully agree with Scott. We decided to do some tile work in our new home. I feel the $200 I spent on a tile saw at Lowe's to be money well spent even though I have only have installed a small amount of tile so far.
http://images.lowes.com/product/010306/010306600835.jpg

The professional tile layer that put down a whole room of tile for us used one of these mounted on a plywood base.
http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/010306/010306105521md.jpg
He was able to do a fantastic job very quickly, but he's a professional.