Think wet tile saws are limited to professional tile layers and weekend warriors? Think again! High quality tile saws have a wide variety of unexpected applications for artists, artisans, crafters and hobbyists. So long as you use the correct diamond blade for your tile saw and the material or materials you are cutting, plus the right technique, a wet saw can help you streamline your creative process and get better results than you ever imagined.
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Glass artists get precision cuts with wet tile saws
Glass artists who specialize in kiln formed glass art have a lot to gain by investing in a good tile saw with a high quality diamond blade. Cutting glass with a wet saw allows you to cut through much thicker pieces than you would normally be able to with the traditional scoring-and-snapping method. You also have the possibility of cutting extremely thin pieces of glass with minimal chipping and breakage.
What happens to your glass while it’s in the kiln is not an exact science, and you might end up with slightly rounded or misshapen edges and corners when it comes out. Your tile saw can easily make them perfectly straight, with corners that are a perfect 90° angle.
If you work with pattern bars, you are familiar with the challenges involved in cutting slices that are thin enough to reveal the depth and character of the colored glass. With the proper diamond blade mounted on your tile saw, you can cut glass slices as thin as 1-2 mm. This also allows you to work with darker colors than before in your pattern bars.
The diamond blade will remove some material during the cutting (i.e. grinding) process, so keep this in mind when measuring. Thinner blades will remove less glass, but are more susceptible to a slight “wobbling” when spinning at high speeds; this can be reduced by applying a wheel stiffener to the cutting wheel.
Hobbyists easily cut carbon fiber with a tile saw
Carbon fiber or graphite tubing and rods are a marvel of human engineering and one of the best materials for hobbyists (if it’s good enough for NASA, it’s good enough for your model airplane). Basically, this is an indispensable material for hobbies like model airplane or helicopter building, building custom stock cars, robotics, kites, and even for building custom or artisan musical instruments (e.g. guitar necks). It’s extremely lightweight, strong, and resistant to heat and chemical reactivity. Best of all, it can be easily cut with a wet tile saw!
Not only does a wet saw give you fast, clean cuts when you use the correct blade, the water cooling system also keeps carbon dust from flying everywhere; while perhaps not as dangerous as the silica dust that is released when cutting concrete, stone or glass, carbon dust is electrically conductive and has been known to find its way into electric motors and short them out.
A fine-grain diamond blade should give you a nice, clean cut on your carbon fiber tubing. However, you can further improve the cut by simply wrapping a layer or two of ordinary masking tape around the cutting area.
Tile saws for cutting glass and carbon fiber
As in all applications, artists and hobbyists should carefully research that a wet saw meets their needs in terms of horsepower, maximum cutting depth, etc. and ensure that the diamond blade fits securely on the tile saw’s arbor. Always wear proper safety gear and appropriate clothing, and ensure that you are using a GFCI outlet (as you know, water and electricity don’t play nicely).
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