Suggest a Cheap Tile saw Please?

[skipdiver]

I bought one from Wickes years and years ago and have done thousands of cuts with it. My mate bought one also and both are still going strong.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Well I tried to use my newly bought saw... Quick review- UTTER GARBAGE Cheap Chinese Pokemon Toy!

-This thing should NOT be sold, why are they even wasting earths resources making such thing.
-weighs nothing, so it slides around and you can't cut anything with it, there's no holes/no way to fix it to a table or screw it down, had to pile tiles around it to keep it in position
-the ''fence'' is laughable, it bends /twists like crazy , there's no real precise way for it to be adjusted at 90degree angle
-It DOES NOT cuts straight, due to bad fence as it twists and makes the cuts uneven.
-the guard is too large so you can't see anything under it and it's a trouble to even cut in freehand.
-Water god damn everywhere...you need to wear a wetsuit ( Ok This is wetsaw and I might forgive it that, but still the bad guard soaks you wet with a fine mist directed at you.)
-I have done about 25-30 cuts so far (just on scrap tiles on practice), I'm yet to cut a tile where it doesnt tears out huge chunk at the end, Not a single tile I was able to cut without chipping it at end badly.
-already got bleeding arm from a flying shard from this utter garbage.
-the size of this thing is laughable,its suited to cut MAYBE 20x20cm tiles, for anything rest..good luck!
-the base/table of it is also pretty terrible
-the on/off switch is in weird place so if you would need to switch it off asap at one moment- you wouldn't be able to find where the switch is.

I really don't think I have one single positive thing to say about this junk, ok maybe you could take its motor/ make new base for it/make new fence, add some bulk to it and clamp it down to a table and now you might have an ok'ish saw.


Whoever said this ''saw'' is good should go to corner!
And please don't start how it was only £30 so it must be good value for money, No it's not, if a tool is complete failure just because its cheap it doesn't means its good value for money! This could be sold in poundland and still it wouldn't be good value for money!

 

[memzey]

You should try the titan saw from Screwfix. About the same price and although not flashy it does work.

 

[Richard S]

So you went for the cheapest possible option and now you're surprised that it has limitations. There is a good reason why professional grade tools are expensive. I have never bought a budget tool and ever been truly satisfied with it, you either accept and work around their faults or pay for quality gear. On the upside well looked after high end tools and equipment command decent prices second hand, perhaps buy something better, look after it keep it clean and sell it on when you've finished with it.

 

[Simou1]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

[Lons]

I just went to a local shop where they had the vitrex on display but at some £50 , not really impressed with the overall feel of it. so went to toolstation accross the road and bought their QEP £30 version, seems about the same overall..
However the build quality of it seems similar to some cheap £4 tesco toaster, pretty nasty.
the case looks a bit to me like some cat litter tray Will try to use it tomorrow ,hopefully it will last me through the few tiles I need to cut.

Pay peanuts buy crap, that's £30 that could have gone towards a proper tool. We've all been caught somewhere down the line which is how we learn not to do it.
From your post yesterday I think deep you must have known what it would be like surely and should have taken it back for a refund.

Bob

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Actually.. once you get a hang of it, you can cut out the square corners from the tile- by doing it freehand, as the motor/blade is pretty good!
Just on everything else they have scrimped,if they would have spent a little more time developing it,and spent a little more to make it- it would be a good tool
shame really...
I will cut out the corners I need and take it back as you can't possibly use it for anything else... Or butcher it up and re-make it properly.

I just don't get this.. what's the point even creating garbage like this, the manufacturers know it's complete crap, the sellers know its complete crap , but still they just waste earth resources making junk like this that's good for nothing.

 

[Richard S]

If they hadn't scrimped on every part and spent more time devoloping it and more making it, it would cost more money and you wouldn't have bought it as it appears you made your purchasing decision primarily based on price.

The manufacturers are just servicing a demand from people unwilling or unable to buy more expensive, better quality versions.





“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When
you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay
too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The
common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well
to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will
have enough to pay for something better.”


― John Ruskin

 

[Lons]

+1
Richard just beat me to making exactly the same point. They must have a market or wouldn't make it and at that price it's disposable. I bet the local skips are home for quite a few.

 

[Simou1]

+2

"Interesting..
anyway, I just went to a local shop where they had the vitrex on display but at some £50 , not really impressed with the overall feel of it. so went to toolstation accross the road and bought their QEP £30 version, seems about the same overall..
However the build quality of it seems similar to some cheap £4 tesco toaster, pretty nasty.
the case looks a bit to me like some cat litter tray ..."

So let me get this right, you bought a cheap £30 tile cutter which you described as 'similar to a £4 tesco toaster and a cat litter tray' and then after using was suprised at its performance and quality.

Words fail me. I hope Toolstation refuses to take it back.

 

[MikeJhn]

+3 "Not surprising"

Constantly looking for the cheapest tools you can get, is going to get you the cheapest tools you can get and you should not be surprised by the outcome: which-router-bit-set-to-get-around-20-30-t102889.html

Mike