Use a tile cutter as a hobby table saw?!!!

[HankMcSpank]

Just wondering on the feasibility of using a tile cutter as a general purpose hobby saw.


Background.

It seems I'm constantly cutting up small bits of wood/perspex for odd cranky wotsits, thingymajigs & widgets...but I've no easy/quick way of ensuring the edges are square.

Alas, I haven't the room for a proper table saw.

The mini table saws manafacturers are taking the absolute p1ss with their prices (eg http://www.proxxon-world.com/product/table_saw_fet_220-240v - nice bit of kit, but overkill for my needs).

I'm therefore thinking creatively & just seen this...

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.204-7769.aspx


It uses a 180mm diameter blade, which appear to be easily sourcable in the more standard 'saw' blade format (as opposed to the diamond wheel it comes with - which in itself might be useful for cutting up PCB board)

The only problem I can see is the noise (likely to make a racket!) - but it's not as if it'll be in constant use....& dust (but hey, for the £280 saving, I'll use it outside!)

What major problems have I not foreseen?

[John S]

Plenty on Ebay for a tenner, search by your postcode and collect.

.

[Swarfing]

Hank you are on to something here as i bought a tile cutter for £20 from Wickes, modified the top plate and mounted a piece of worktop as a face plate. i use it as a bench sander with 8" self adhesive backed sanding discs stuck to the Formica side. I did think about buying another just for the same purpose as you are thinking. The motor in these are just a converted grinder in the one i had.

[HankMcSpank]

I can't seem to establish whether it's possible to adjust the height of the saw blade! That one I linked to on Tescos, clearly has a bevel/angle adjustment knob, but I can't see anything else (doesn't mean to say it hasn't got one).

Does your Wickes tile cutter come with a blade depth adjuster? (presumably it's very noisy too?)

Edit: BTW John...I can't find one of these for a tenner anywhere on Ebay?

[irving2008]

machine mart have a £50 150mm cutoff saw (http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mc06-230v-cut-off-machine) similar to the Silverline one but the problem with these small ones is the limited work size... 25 x 15mm

£80 gets you 50mm (http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/evolution-fury3-b-210mm-tct-multipurpose-mitre/path/07-mitre-saws-cut-off-saws) and £103 gets you 52mm (http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/rage-4-110v-cut-off-saw/path/07-mitre-saws-cut-off-saws)work size... still not good enough for 60mm ali section

but £80 gets you 65mm (http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cms10-10-compound-mitre-saw/path/07-mitre-saws-cut-off-saws) as long as you can find a suitable blade for ali...

[Swarfing]

Unfortunately it does not have height adjustment as i suppose they don't expect you to cut anything thick than about 12 - 15mm which would max thickness of a floor tile.

[HankMcSpank]

Unfortunately it does not have height adjustment as i suppose they don't expect you to cut anything thick than about 12 - 15mm which would max thickness of a floor tile.

...& for that reason alone - I'm out.

(sorry, got the Dragon's Den on in the background!)

[Swarfing]

You weren't gonna buy one unless you had secured all of the knowledge...lol:heehee:

[Lee Roberts]

12-15mm ?

DipyDopyLittleCheekieMonkie You - Totally UNinvestable, IM OUT!

[Swarfing]

I will grab some picks of mine and you make your own minds up about what you can can't do with it. At the time Wickes had mine on offer and at £20 it could remain a tile cutter if it was no good.

[Swarfing]

Here you go and note that is an 8" sanding disc for size. I cut the top in two and spot welded a piece of angle iron for support, modded the angle adjustment by welding some nuts lower down to accommodate the thumb screws. Forgot to mention the motor is just an angle grinder inside, running like this is very quiet. The cheapest i saw at the time was a pro bit of kit which was £140 at the time