Porcelain is an incredible product choice for your outdoor project. Patios, walkways, and even driveways are excellent applications for porcelain in an outdoor application. It provides numerous benefits over alternative products such as pavers or natural stone including being stain-resistant, UV-resistant, and scratch-resistant. None of which are provided by alternative products unless they are sealed.
The downside to it as a product is mostly in the cost comparison especially in the installation process of porcelain that adds to the labor, though porcelain has become more cost-effective and is in comparison to more expensive pavers or most natural stone on the market. The other downside is in how difficult it can be to cut.
Cutting Porcelain Tile Without Chipping
Porcelain has the tendency to chip or flake off around the cutting edges. It is a hard material, but is brittle. This is most notable when significant pressure is placed on an area of the porcelain that has been structurally compromised. An example of this is when cutting if you cut the full depth of the porcelain in one pass, by the end you could see the porcelain break irregularly where there has been no score made initially especially if that porcelain is not on a solid level surface. The other way the brittle nature of porcelain is displayed is in the cutting process when small flakes or chips appear when cutting the porcelain along the cut edge.
There are ways to minimize these chips and flakes along the cut edge with proper equipment, blades, and technique. Especially when cutting outdoor porcelain where it is thicker than most indoor tile.
Saws for Cutting Porcelain
- Manual Cutter
- Table Saws and Rail Saws
- Cut-Off / Demo Saws or Angle Grinders
Manual cutters are cost-effective solutions for porcelain that is thinner than the 2cm or 3/4″ porcelain and above that is suitable for outdoor use. They come in a variety of qualities and sizes for large slabs. They are light, quicker, and versatile compared to a larger table saw for cutting porcelain. Their ease of use makes them safer than saws and easier to transport along with not needing a power source. Their ability to be dust-free also adds to their safety along with being silent and clean. They are low in maintenance and do not require a power source.
When thinking about using a manual cutter, you do need to consider the height of the porcelain as mentioned above but also for choosing the right manual cutter for the project as they have differing maximum heights. In addition to that, you need to consider the maximum cutting length. Each manual cutter on the market will have a maximum cutting length. Porcelain is a hard material that requires a breaking power of 1,764 pounds, so you should ensure that the breaking power of the manual cutter is suitable for this.
When cutting porcelain for outdoor use, it is recommended to invest into a saw. A quality table saw is a good option as it provides a platform for the porcelain and can cut them with ease. They do require a power source which in most cases will be electric and likely a water-source to keep dust down. A minimum of 1.5 HP is required for cutting porcelain. They also provide versatility in cuts compared to the manual cutter.
Table saws will restrict the length of the cut, so consider this when purchasing the correct size table saw. This makes them more difficult to transport and store. Height is also a consideration to make sure you have a table saw that will cut the height of porcelain you plan to cut, typically they can cut anywhere from 1/2″ to 9″. Though the porcelain tile can be flipped over after the first cut to be cut on the backside to meet that first cut.
In addition to the saw, you will want to use a quality porcelain blade. These are continuous diamond blades with no segments. You will need to use a blade that is rated for the saw’s RPM, the correct size saw, and the correct arbor size to fit the saw. These do eventually wear down and need to be replaced.
Handheld saws provide the most versatility in your cutting especially when installing porcelain outdoors or making more challenging or curved cuts. They require an experienced operator as they present the most potential for accidents when operating. They also require a power source which is either gas, electric, or battery-powered.
Their cut height depends on the size of saw you have and can range from 2″ to 6″. Their cut length is unlimited due to them being handheld and not fixed to a table. This also makes them easy to transport. They do require more ongoing maintenance including for gas-powered saws changing air filters, sparkplugs, cords, etc.
Our favorite are the 9″ battery powered cut-off saws because they are lightweight and provide a lot of control when cutting porcelain. The downside is having to keep up with charging or overheating batteries.
Best Way to Cut Porcelain
Our favorite way to cut porcelain for outdoor use is a handheld saw because we are typically doing more than just linear cuts. Sometimes we have some challenging cuts around steps, foundations, and curved cuts. These saws give us the most versatility and are already in our equipment, we just need to get the right saw blade for it.
The best way we have found to cut porcelain with this handheld saw is to make our mark on the porcelain and cut a score through that mark. This score serves two purposes. It helps keep dust or slurry off of our mark hiding it while we cut and making more difficult to follow the mark. It also helps to guide any breaks that occur during the cut. If you do not score the porcelain and it is on a slightly unlevel surface, it could split off your mark because there is too much pressure on one side of the piece.
Followed by scoring the porcelain, the second pass cuts right through the entire depth of the porcelain. This helps ensure your blade is not slightly angling to one side or the other. This angling is what causes chips to appear on the surface of the porcelain when the side of the blade hits the cut edge. If you were to do several passes through the porcelain to get to the full depth of the cut, you are increasing the number of chances for that blade to put pressure on the cut edges of the porcelain. Doing one continuous cut ensure that there is just one chance for that blade to cause a chip and is easier to control.