Seems like there’s been a lot of discussion around engraving ceramic tiles, but I’m not clear on whether it can be cut. Is there a way to cut through a ceramic tile to make custom shapes? Before experimenting, I figured I’d ask.
I’m a big fan of seeing experiments here. My guess is that it’s going to take a lot of passes and probably not close to the speed of other tools.
Might be cheaper, and possibly quicker, to contact your nearest potter to make the shapes !
John
Not really. You could engrave/score a custom shape and then use a combination of wet saw and nibbler tool to make a custom shape. Presumably this would work. It’s how my sister manipulated glass tiles for mosaics. A good nibbler isn’t cheap - I bought her one for Christmas several years ago.
Note: the wet saw and nibbler part, not the laser. My sister does not have a laser and she’s into weaving. I haven’t seen her weaving, but her mosaics were amazing.
Maybe. You’d need to experiment though - I haven’t seen a post by anyone who has done it. Based on the depth of engraves, I’d expect it to take between 30-50 passes and altering the focal point a few times in the pass process.
I’d second the scoring/nibbling approach. You might wear out your tube trying to cut through it, and I imagine the dust thrown up would make cleaning afterwards a real chore.
For cutting thick pieces like glass and ceramic tile, you can use a ring saw. I have the Taurus 3 and it is awesome for glass.
If you have beaucoup bucks, you could get your own personal waterjet cutter.
Wet tile saws also work well, but for straight cuts.
Whoa!
We had some discussions on the wazer a few years back. It’s a neat tool, but the volume of cutting media you need puts it out of most folks scope. A 55lb bag of garnet media won’t last long, and they don’t recommend to reuse it…
Got my attention, but not going down that road yet.