Cutting glass wall tiles
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Discussion

ColinM50

Original Poster:

2,687 posts

199 months

Sunday 13th February 2011
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Son is about to start tiling his kitchen walls and d.i.l has chosen a bright red glass wall tile, 30x10, looks very nice.

He's got a sample tile and asked me how to cut them. I tried it on my electric tile cutter and whilst it cut it OK with no breaks, it left the edge very rough and raggedy.

Anyone know how to cut these glass tiles cleanly and smoothly? He'll have about two dozen to cut and the cut edge will show so we want a good result.

And whilst I'm here, anyone recommend a tile supplier? Ideally around cmabridge or Bedfrod area but 45 mins drive is OK. they want a bright sort of Arsenal red. We can get more wishy washy red for c£18 m2 but the really rich red seems to be anything from £45m2 up to £120m2. He needs about 4 m2.


Simpo Two

91,496 posts

289 months

Sunday 13th February 2011
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The 'pro' way to cut glass is to score with a diamond glass cutter and then snap it. Mind you it takes skill and I haven't tried it.

bga

8,134 posts

275 months

Monday 14th February 2011
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Simpo Two said:
The 'pro' way to cut glass is to score with a diamond glass cutter and then snap it. Mind you it takes skill and I haven't tried it.
Scribe & snap isn't too tricky on tiles. I found it easier on tiles than on panes mainly because they are thicker and smaller. The important thing is to only scribe once otherwise you get a bad finish on the edge. I used a set square to make sure the scribe was always straight in relation to the edges and for angled cuts a steel rule was sufficient.

ColinM50

Original Poster:

2,687 posts

199 months

Monday 14th February 2011
quotequote all
Aha, so the same as the old fashioned manual tile cutting technique? Hadn't thought of trying that. Doh

I've got a tile cutting gauge thingamejig somewhere, have to dig it out and give it a try. Thanks for the advice.

Anyone got a supplier of cheap red g]ass tile?

Emsman

7,207 posts

214 months

Monday 14th February 2011
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It depends on the type of glass. If its a flat surface, you may be able to score and snap it in the way you would a normal ceramic.
If it has a bumpy finish to it, you would be better off scoring the surface, then running it through a diamond wheel- you will get a much neater edge if this is done, as the wheel follows the weakness created by scoring, so you end up with a straighter cut and fewer splinters/chips

Emsman

7,207 posts

214 months

Monday 14th February 2011
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Forgot to add- Kettering walls and floors, tile supplies Bedford, marabese ltd in Bedford

Beardy10

25,099 posts

199 months

Monday 14th February 2011
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We've got glass tiles in our kitchen....made by St Gobain.

Here's their product website...it's got installation instructions and I am sure stockists on it too. I can't remember how much they were but they were relatively cheap compared to "normal tiles"

http://www.sggfeeling.com/index.php?id=8&L=2

Simpo Two

91,496 posts

289 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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Or he could skip the tiles and ust get a piece of toughened glass made in the right shape and sprayed red on the back.



Would stop it looking like an Underground station smile