Wet tile saw review needed

[jim73]

Looking at the saws available from Harbor Freight- anyone have suggestions?

 

[Ksullivan]

I used the 1.5 Hp 7" bridge tile saw on a 35 s.f. backsplash job that had glass and travertine mosaic tiles, it worked well for that job. The blade would occasionally stop while I was cutting no matter how tight I tried to tighten the blade, I am not sure if that indicated a dull blade or if the arbor is uncapable of tightening down to prevent this. I ended up buying a 7" tile saw that is like a table saw from HD, I believe it was in the $160 neighborhood and it has done well on 3 tile jobs so far it has real nice features for the money.

 

[Rowdie]

Used this http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-2-half-hp-bridge-tile-saw-with-stand-97360.html. to lay 2200 sqaure feet ( kitchen, 2 bathrooms, walk in shower and hall way ) of tile in our new home. Get a good blade. Tile size was 20"x 20" tiles and was very accurate until the very end when the roller bearings rusted ( took 2 months to lay the tile ) and the saw would not roll smoothly. Bought the extended warranty and took it back and got a new one.

The water gets all over. So set it up outside/ in basement. I've used some porfessional saws which are really nice....water does'nt get all over but with a $2500.00 price tag I can clean up a little water mess.

The saw blade stopping problem described by Ksullivan is something I ran into also. The blade has index and can slip. Just make sure the index lines up with the washer retainer and the blade . Tighten and she won't slip.

 

[RCStocker]

If you are doing one job rent one.
HF will work but you get cheap moters
If you buy one make sure if you to a diagonal cut that the saw is large enough to do the job.
If you are going to use it on may jobs buy an MK and run form HF. $600-$850 for a good one but they will last a life time if you take care of them. I have one and it has paid for itself many times over.

 

[Big-Foot]

I bought this one;

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-portable-wet-cutting-tile-saw-40315.html

After I re-aligned the center support for the blade guard / shield it worked fine. Yes a lot of water spray so you need the shield and also a face shield - but no issues whatsoever with its performance. Oh I will add that the fence they provide is not really very good nor the measurements accurate. I ended up using a 1x2 piece of oak molding and a couple of Irwin clamps to use as a guide.
The motor in this saw is really quite quiet and of surprisingly great quality!
I built an entire bathroom including fully tiled (including ceiling) shower with this saw and really did not expect it to last but it's absolutely fine with the exception of a bunch of scratches in the table-top from a few hundred or so tile cuts..
Did not come with a blade - had to buy that seperately. Got that from HF also.
Another tip - change the water frequently and let the blade do the cutting - do not try and force the tile through faster or you will cause the motor to stall and/or wea out the blade faster. Plus you cause hot spots in the tile at the cut line which may result in edge chipping.

 

[shoot summ]

Used this http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-2-half-hp-bridge-tile-saw-with-stand-97360.html. to lay 2200 sqaure feet ( kitchen, 2 bathrooms, walk in shower and hall way ) of tile in our new home. Get a good blade. Tile size was 20"x 20" tiles and was very accurate until the very end when the roller bearings rusted ( took 2 months to lay the tile ) and the saw would not roll smoothly. Bought the extended warranty and took it back and got a new one.

The water gets all over. So set it up outside/ in basement. I've used some porfessional saws which are really nice....water does'nt get all over but with a $2500.00 price tag I can clean up a little water mess.

The saw blade stopping problem described by Ksullivan is something I ran into also. The blade has index and can slip. Just make sure the index lines up with the washer retainer and the blade . Tighten and she won't slip.

I've had two of the same saws, I buy them on sale, use them for a project, then sell them for about $125, much cheaper, and more convenient than renting a saw for $50 a day. A good blade makes a world of difference on these saws, some time needs to be invested to square them up as well.

If you are doing one job rent one.
HF will work but you get cheap moters
If you buy one make sure if you to a diagonal cut that the saw is large enough to do the job.
If you are going to use it on may jobs buy an MK and run form HF. $600-$850 for a good one but they will last a life time if you take care of them. I have one and it has paid for itself many times over.

See my comments above, it's actually cheaper and more convenient to buy the HF, use it, then sell it than renting. I've done several large jobs around the house with them and have had no issues. I do have a large MK saw now because I found a great deal on one on CL, it's a beast, will cut 1" material no problem, but honestly the HF got the job done for less money on typical thin material. I can profile on the MK which wouldn't happen on the HF but I've found I prefer to do the profiling with a hand held setup.

 

[porschedude996TT]

I started a job at my house using the father-in-laws HF tile saw. I couldn't cut a square if I had too. I bought a 7 inch Ridgid Saw from Home Depot, what a difference. It has a rubber mat on the table that cushions the tile being cut, slides nice and true. Only thing that doesn't really work is the wash hose to clean off the table or clean off the your tile.