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Tile Saw Shootout
Date: 12/16/2005
The winner in a shootout is the one who can shoot the straightest, has great timing and is steady as a rock, no matter what the circumstances. Chances are, they’re also the toughest and strongest.
Those strengths are also the right stuff for a heavy-duty tile saw. To get the job done right, it must be tough and powerful, dependable and fast, and cut dead-straight time after time. It also helps if the rig handles easily, so it can get in and out of tight spots. If it can save time and money, and enable you to handle more projects, that saw is indeed the winner.
Many tile saws lay claim to being the big dog. But when Bill Vincent, a master of stone and ceramic tile, started his own business, he decided to find out for himself which tile saw could best meet his commercial and residential installation requirements.
“I couldn’t afford to work with a tile saw that wasn’t dependable, accurate and powerful,” Vincent says. “I typically cut hard material, so I wanted the best saw for that kind of work -- even though I was reluctant to spend the money when I was just getting started.”
Vincent grew up in the family tile business, having set his first tile at age 10 when his father built the family home in Southern Connecticut. In the mid-1980s, when the first MK-101s came out, they bought several, and Vincent kept one when the family business retired. “It was a dinosaur, but it did what I wanted it to do,” he says.
In the late 1990s, Vincent went to work for a Portland, Maine contractor who used Target tile saws exclusively. “That really opened my eyes to what I’d been missing,” he says. “The accuracy of the saw and power of the motor, especially. When you’re using materials such as porcelains and granites, like Absolute Black and Blue Pearl, some of those tough stones will bog down a lot of saws. The Target [saws] went straight through them like a hot knife through butter.”
Vincent founded his own business, Creative Ceramic and Marble, in 2002, which successfully installs high-end custom design and completes general work on projects throughout New England.
A frequent contributor to online forums such as www.floorstransformed.com, www.johnbridge.com and www.gardenweb.com, Vincent frequently plays the role of ombudsman or mentor as well as a hands-on judge of the tools of the trade. He is quick to share information he has gained from professional experience and on a number of occasions has shared his insights and research with tool manufacturers.
When he landed a major project at a T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant in Millbury, MA (subbed from Mainely Tile in Portland, ME), Vincent decided to make the investment and buy a Target Super Tilematic to ensure that the job would go smoothly. As with other large projects, Vincent partnered with a former apprentice who had worked along with him at his previous job.
Since his partner used a competitor’s saw with an oversized conveyor cart, Vincent figured the T.G.I. Friday’s project would be an excellent occasion see how a new Super Tilematic stood up against the competitor’s saw on a tough project.
“This was a good size job, about 4,000 sq. ft. of 18 x 18 in. Absolute Black granite and seternia on an exterior that was 30 ft. high,” he explains. “I knew this would put both saws through their paces for at least three weeks. Both saws were new, so I figured this job was the perfect head-to-head comparison of two saws that were considered the equivalent of each other by their manufacturers.”
Duel #1: Cutting Power
Cutting the hard stone proved to be a problem for the competitor’s saw,” Vincent says. “Although my partner used a high performance blade, when he started cutting the Absolute Black, it would bog down. Pushing the tile through, it didn’t take much pressure to slow down the motor, and then the blade would bind. My partner would have to release pressure to allow the blade to rev up again before the GFI breaker blew.”
Vincent says he used the standard, all-purpose Target blade that came with his Super Tilematic, and had no problems slicing straight through the hard granite all day long.
“I think the difference is in the [Super] Tilematic’s Baldor motor,” Vincent says. It’s only 1-1/2 horses versus the 2 horsepower motor on the competitor’s saw. But that saw’s extra horsepower and special blade didn’t make enough difference. It didn’t get it done.”
In one of his online forum messages, Vincent cautions professionals about horsepower ratings. “On tile saw motors, you may see ratings listed as Saw Duty or Intermittent with a number after it, such as Int 30 [intermittent use up to 30 minutes]. In order for a saw to be rated Continuous Duty, it must be able to pull the rated horsepower all day, every day, without overheating or shutting down.” Vincent adds that although you will not cut tile all day everyday, you could do so with the Super Tilematic, “and you won’t put your saw through anything it cannot handle.”
Duel #2: Cutting Accuracy
“A good installer is going to give you accuracy,” Vincent says, “but not all tile saws will. When it came to the Absolute Black, there was no comparison between the two saws. My partner’s saw could not cut that stuff straight to save his life, even with the high-performance blade, no matter how much adjusting he did on the tray track. What that meant was a lot of extra work. He had to scribe the length of the tile, rather than simply putting a tick mark at the top and then running it straight through on the track. He lost a lot of time drawing those lines correctly, then having to trace the line with the blade. You don’t lose much in the way of materials doing it that way, but you do lose a lot of time – and that is expensive.”
“My Target zipped right through the granite and marble, using the standard blade. So, I was able to just make a tick mark on the tiles, set the gauge, and then make a bunch of cuts. For accuracy, I’ll swear by the Tilematic.”
Duel #3: Overall Design
Vincent says that with the competitor’s saw, when you need to make a cut past eight inches on the left hand side, you end up running the tile into the frame. “For example, if you have an L-cut to make, you have no choice but to have the majority of the tile on the left side of the blade. With cuts of over eight inches, you’re going to have a problem with the upright of the competitor’s saw.”
Vincent says there is no upright problem with the Super Tilematic, and even the smaller Target models, which to many installers is an important design feature of the saw.
“Another design feature I really like is that the Tilematic breaks down easily to a few different pieces to carry from the truck to the job so you don’t have to wrestle with the weight of the whole saw,” says Vincent. “That can be especially important when you’re working inside million dollar homes where you’ve got to worry about the finishes around you. You can’t be dinging up walls and doorways and so on. With other saws, you’re lugging everything but the stand.”
Vincent also says water spray is easier to contain on his Super Tilematic. “With many saws, just putting a piece of tile in the back of the tray can send a spray all over the place. With the Target, there’s a much more localized spray. I just put a piece of plastic on the floor and I’m good to go.”
Duel #4: Cost-saving Performance
“I would say the Super Tilematic wins hands down when it comes to reliable performance, not only because it will save time, but mainly because I can depend on it. It’s not going to give me problems on the job. If you want to estimate a percentage of time saved, I would guess that over the course of the average job you might save a couple of hours. On the average commercial project you might save a day-and-a-half.”
Because of the need for the operator to scribe and visually guide the cutting with the competitor’s saw as well as added periodic saw bog down, Vincent estimates his partner added around two days to the T.G.I. Friday’s job. “Of course, over time that adds up to thousands and thousands of dollars that you’re losing by using a saw that you can’t really depend on.” He said that in some cases costly delays also might require you to reschedule projects and lose added revenues.
“In the end, it was only fair to say that the competitor’s saw will do the job, but you have to fool with it to do the job the right way. With the Target, I can depend on the features and accuracy I need to get performance that will take me through the job smoothly.”
Target was founded in 1952 and is owned and operated by Husqvarna Construction Products North America. With sales and manufacturing facilities throughout the world, Target is the industry's most trusted manufacturer of cutting and grinding products for the masonry, concrete, asphalt and tile industries. For more information, contact Target at 17400 West 119th Street, Olathe, KS 66061; phone (800) 288-5040 or (913) 928-1000; fax (800) 825-0028; e-mail sales@targetblue.com; or visit the website at www.targetblue.com.
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By: Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan is a technology writer based in Hermosa Beach, California.
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