I need a good wetView Image saw. I’ve got about $250 to spend (client’s money), and there have been alot of new entries into the lineup since the last time I was looking for one.
I know what most of you will say,”spend $500 and get the top-of-the-line” but that isn’t an option for me. I saw a Husky and Ryobi briefly today. I’ve got about five small rooms that need floor tile with two of them needing tiled walls. I’ll use the heck out of it for about a week, and then probably not use it again for several months. I was thinking Ryobi , believe it or not, because it might not rust in storage. I’ve used top-of-the-line tile saws so I know what one feels like. What do you guys think?
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get a MK on clearence from a BB...
have both worlds...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
BB? Do you have a link?
Thanks guys. I was at a salvage yard earlier today and saw the green Ryobi on sale for $229. It looks like the blue one with a laser. I don't know why I keep leaning towards HDs wet saws. Like I said, I just need it to work the few times a year I'll actually be needing one.
The HF model looks like a tank. It might just fit the bill. I've had some real good and some not so good experiences with HF tools. Electric tools are one thing that I swore off from them, but if you guys say its good, that's all I need to hear.
The saw I'm most familiar with is my buddies old Felkner. It was blue, I think. The water pump kept going out on it, but you've got to realize that it saw continuous use for over five years. I passed the opportunity to buy it for $200 (with tile setting accessories). I wish I'd bought it.
Edited 10/12/2009 3:41 pm ET by excaliber32
Big Box...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
FWIW, I picked up a Felker TM-75 when I was working on my place. The work was chopped up enough that it made sense over renting. I've managed to cut 16" travertine with it, though that was definitely pushing it.
There is one thing you can do for the pump. Get a long piece of tube and trade out for the stock one. Then drop the pump in a 5-gal bucket of clean water. Keeps it from having to recirculate crud and wearing out. You just let the pan overflow.
I spent about $300 on mine. Thought about re-selling afterward, but they were selling them for a while at about $100 less, so I just kept it.
Well, Husky it is. As a matter of fact, they are on sale right now on the internet. He ordered it for me today!
I can't remember the model number, but it almost looks like a red angle grinder sitting over a tub of water! The original deal was that since I'm doing this remodel for absolutely dirt cheap, he would buy me a Bosch planer as a bonus, the really nice Bosch. Well, he decided that I would be doing the tile the other day as well (yah) and I figured that I'd better get a tile saw instead of trying to borrow one. The same planer was at the pawn shop for $60, anyways.
So, like it or not, I guess its Husky.
HF has some models on sale that are in your price bracket. Yes, they have had positive reviews on here.
I've used cheap $99.00 wet saws for tile work and found them workable.. it was carefullness in cutting rather than the expense of the machine that determined my results..
heres in my opinon the best saw for 200. you will find. usally in a store it runs 229.00,they put them on sale for as low as 179 once in a while. i buy my blades elsewhere ,but i have never tried theirs at 30.00
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95385
heres a coupon for 15 %off pickup a wood mag and it will have 20%
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/common/displayCoupon.do?week=4109&campaign=Retailb&page=4109_retailb.html&r=5015_85611&cust=70000000000&keycode=0000
the older i get ,
the more people tick me off
I'll second the HF tile saw. Just buy a good blade. It may not be the most accurate, in tracking, but you can work around it with no problem.
I've had a couple of those HD tile saws that cost ~$100 and had excellent luck with them. The last one (which I still have) handled diagonal cuts on 12" tiles with no problem.
I have one of those HD Workforce $99 tile saws. The only thing I don't like about it is the fence. It's ####, hard to adjust, and came loose on occasion. The blade is OK for ceramic but the box says not to use it for porcelain. I am currently using my dad's $300 Husky version. It has a sliding table with a stationary overhead blade. Much nicer. Fence is more solid but still a little cumbersome to adjust (I guess I'm comparing it to the normal ease of a wood tablesaw). Most important thing is to have a good blade. The blade on my dad's saw was getting dull and was not tracking straight. I bought a new Husky diamond blade for $24 and it cuts like a charm. I think HD now has Ryobi as the "advanced DIY" brand. Is there anything that Ryobi doesn't make? I'm just glad it's not a 18volt litheum power tile saw. HA HA.
You laugh, but they actually have one! I read the reviews on the Ryobi. Home Depot's own website gave it scathing reviews. I guess I'd better skip it.
You first need to know what size tile you'll be cutting (and whether diagonal) and then you need to decide if you need a blade-down unit with a sliding table or can do OK with a blade-up table saw style unit.
My recollection (from saw shopping last year) is that you have to spend upwards of $200 (and more like $300) to get a sliding table unit (except maybe at HF), but the added expense is probably worth it if you have a lot of precision work to do. (I see there are now also blade-down units without the slide, knocking off $50 or so on the price -- might be worth considering.) Also, I think if you're cutting tile much larger than 9-10 inches you're going to do better with the blade-down unit (and preferably sliding table) (but I've never worked with large tile to know).
(BTW, I just saw the inexpensive Husky THD950L unit with slide, though it looks pretty lightly built -- will the head flex as you cut, causing bad cuts?)
Diagonal cutting requires a good miter fence arrangement (difficult without a sliding table), and a table that can accommodate about 50% larger pieces. On blade-down units be sure to consider the depth of the "throat" (from blade to motor support), as you can't reasonably cut tile that are more than twice that depth across.
pawn shop have lots of them...cheap