Decent wet tile saw for kitchen backsplash

[thool]

Hi, I asked a few questions about the difficulty of installing a kitchen backsplash here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=387041. I believe this is something I can tackle.

As far as wet saws, I see an inexpensive HF model, and this one from Ryobi: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-7-in-4-8-Amp-Tabletop-Tile-Saw-WS722/205049842

I'm leaning toward the Ryobi for parts availability and rating, but am open to other suggestions around this price (up to ~ $120). The primary use will be my kitchen backsplash, but I may do a couple other tile jobs.

Thanks.

 

[Certified Drunk]

How about the Ridgid R4021
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-120-Volt-7-in-Table-Top-Wet-Tile-Saw-R4021/301127383

 

[TRWham]

You can rent a much better wet saw for a day for $50 or less.

 

[cgrutt]

I used to have a great tile saw but sold it. MK Diamond 101. It was about $1,600. Had to do a bathroom recently for customer and bought a small Rigid tabletop saw for under $200. Came with a pretty decent diamond blade. Worked great. I don't think the MK Diamond would have cut any better. Whichever saw you buy make sure it comes with or you get a good blade.

 

[thool]

How about the Ridgid R4021
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-120-Volt-7-in-Table-Top-Wet-Tile-Saw-R4021/301127383

If that goes to the $120 neighborhood, I may get. But for the small job I'm doing, I'd like to stay south of that. Rental is tempting, but I don't want to rush to return it.

 

[Fbmoose48]

The 2.5 hp Harbor Freight saw that regularly goes on sale for $219 may be worth a look.
https://m.harborfreight.com/10-in-25-hp-tilebrick-saw-69275.html?utm_referrer=direct/not provided

They don't make much that's worth recommending, but this is.

 

[PhysicsDude]

I've done some tile work in my house in the past year - 2 bathroom floors and kitchen backsplash. I just bought a $100 QEP tile saw at a yard sale for like $40. It works fine. They're really messy, flings up water and tile debris everywhere, only use it outside. I think you'll find that all the ~$100 saws are basically the same. The fences are just plastic and not that accurate.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/QEP-3-4-HP-Wet-Tile-Saw-with-7-in-Diamond-Blade-22650Q/202615612

The sliding saw type like the $200 HF saw posted above would work better, but its definitely not needed. Especially if you're only going to use it a few times.

I use a freehand 4.5" grinder with a diamond wheel to do more detailed cuts, like going around a toilet. You probably won't have to do anything other than a straight cut for a backsplash. The basic tile saw does a pretty good job at straight cuts.

 

[Rickss96]

Hi, I asked a few questions about the difficulty of installing a kitchen backsplash here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=387041. I believe this is something I can tackle.

As far as wet saws, I see an inexpensive HF model, and this one from Ryobi: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-7-in-4-8-Amp-Tabletop-Tile-Saw-WS722/205049842

I'm leaning toward the Ryobi for parts availability and rating, but am open to other suggestions around this price (up to ~ $120). The primary use will be my kitchen backsplash, but I may do a couple other tile jobs.

Thanks.

You can rent a much better wet saw for a day for $50 or less.

Back in the day I was getting ready to tile my bathroom including bathtub surround and shower. No DIY experience with tile although I had watched someone install tile. Best advice from a friend was to buy one of the cheap wet saws because it will likely take more than 2 days for a newbie to install, and no time pressure about hurrying up to finish to save another $50 rental fee. Bought one of the cheapest saws at Home Depot, less than $90 on sale. It did not have miter or bevel capability but that wasn't needed at the time. It had a very cheap fence that had to be carefully aligned each time to insure cuts were parallel to fence. Ended up measuring fence-to-blade distance at the front and back edge of the blade before a cut to insure alignment was good. So the cheaper saws can be made to work OK, but it takes more care on your part. Get some cheap tiles and practice practice practice before cutting up your good tiles.

And as others have said, buy a good quality blade.

Good luck.

 

[Nodakwalleyer]

I bought the Skil 3540-02 for 80 some bucks off Amazon. 7 inch blade worked very good for our backsplash!

 

[Mikhail]

I bought the Skil 3540-02 for 80 some bucks off Amazon. 7 inch blade worked very good for our backsplash!

I have exactly same model. Got mine refurbished off eBay. Pretty good saw for homeowner or diy.

 

[PNWguy]

I bought one of those cheap "plastic table saw with a 4" wet blade" tiles saws for $50 20 years ago for a bathroom remodel. It was less than a day's rent on a real tile saw.

So far, I've done a kitchen, a bathroom, my parents' kitchen floor with 1" thick Mexican red tile, their kitchen counters and i think a few friends borrowed it.

It's not as fast or powerful as a "real" tile saw, and moving the fence takes a bit more time. But the cut quality is great. I have no regrets about buying it, or any of the work that it's done.

 

[kctyphoon]

You know you can buy self stick backsplash tiles now right? But honestly any tile saw will work depending on tile size.. keep in mind a lot of those wet saws will make a nice mess as you use them.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

I have been using the HF saw for years with no complaints. The diamond blades last a while too.

 

[PugetDude]

I bought the Skil 3540-02 for 80 some bucks off Amazon. 7 inch blade worked very good for our backsplash!

Hard to beat this one for doing backsplash tiles.

I have two tile saws- a 10" sliding table HF that has been a workhorse. I've installed tiles up to 18x18 with it, done tens of thousands of cuts myself, loaned it out to anyone and everyone and it just keeps on working.
Lately I've been using a little 7" diamond wetsaw from HD on smaller tiles- No sense dragging out a saw that is 42" long and weighs a hundred pounds for a few cuts in 6" tiles..It does a good job for what it is, and can make very accurate cuts- just take your time setting it up and plan on getting a little wet... I put a doubled-up strip of blue tape on the leading edge of the blade guard on mine and it helps deflect the spray down instead of forward.

Good luck; we need pics of the backsplash..

 

[cjarvis]

I’ve done two showers with the Ryobi, without complaints. I just had to make sure that the fence was aligned with the same mark front and rear. For a weekend warrior, it’s fine.

 

[kctyphoon]

You're not far away from the HF bridge saw.. looks good, gets good reviews.