Those who opt for the DIY way with the tile cutting job can have a snap cutter handy. Additionally, a wet tile saw comes as another important saw that makes tile cutting possible, effortlessly. Both snap cutter and a wet tile saw slice the tiles: the former being a manual saw and the latter being an automatic saw.
Let’s see how both of these saws work that you can bring to use for tile cutting-
How Do a Wet Saw and Snap Cutter Work?
A wet tile saw can most likely be considered as a table saw. However, as its name implies, the saw adds up a water reservoir that continues to flow the water through the saw. As a result, the saw performs very quietly and with much less dust if we compare this to a table saw. So, it is like a table saw but with a water source added.
Snap tile cutter on the other hand majorly resembles a glass cutter. The user puts the tile in the given space and snaps it down. As the blade cuts the tile, it gets off the surface into a straight cut piece.
The snap tile cutter consists of three major parts the score, snapper, and the lever. Once you insert the tile into place, you make the mark using the score and snap it down using the lever. So, with a snapper, it is a manual job rather than machinery.
A snap cutter can work as your only needed tool when you have a small project to work on and there you need only straight cut tiles. The saw works with ceramic or porcelain tiles.
However, when you have large projects to work on where you would need curved cuts as well, snap cutter alone is not going to help you much. The saw doesn’t cut as straight as a wet tile saw, and hence the wet tile saw is always used by the professionals. Also, when a tile comes larger than12″ to 16″ it is difficult to cut the piece using the snap cutter.
How to Cut Ceramic Tile With a Snap Cutter
Learn how to make the score: as above stated, a snap cutter works using three major parts the core, snapper, and leaver. First, you place the tile into space and draw the cutting wheel over it using the score. Secondly, you position the snapper on top of the tile, and finally, you press down the lever that slices down the tile and puts it aside.
Practice on cheap tile: practice is the key here with any machinery whether manual or automatic. If you want the finest cuts out of the snap cutter, you need to practice beforehand. For the purpose, you can take any paper sheets or the cardboard and hone your skills.
The first score matters: the total time of scoring matters too. In the first attempt, you should score the tile forcefully, but not too much as it will break the tile. In the second attempt, go a bit deeper which then by the third attempt break the tile. You should not make more than three scores if you want to have a finely sliced piece of tile.
Always keep in mind that cutting the tile using the snap cutter will not be very much clear or professional-grade. The sides may be uneven slightly, but that doesn’t create any significant problem while placing the tiles.
Summary
A snap cutter doesn’t give better results than a wet tile saw and you should always expect some redundancies. However, a snap cutter is a much cheaper tool that costs you around $20. Though you can go pretty expensive with it too such as around $100, it would be best to buy or rent a wet tile saw if you can spend an amount close to $100.