Comparison Makita 4101RH vs Diam ML-920/1.5

— Manual. Tile cutters powered by the user's manual power. Usually, such a device is a base, on which a guide rail with a cutting roller and a lever is installed, which presses this roller against the tile being cut. At the same time, hand tools differ from electric ones also in terms of the principle of operation: the cutter does not cut through the material to the full thickness, but only makes a groove on the surface, along which the tile is then broken. Manual tile cutters are simple, inexpensive, safe, and well suited for frequent moving from place to place — both due to their compact size and because they do not require an electrical connection. At the same time, the capabilities of such a tool are quite sufficient to work with most types of household tiles — problems can only arise with thicker and larger-format materials. But the shape of the cut, usually, can only be straight, and the quality of work is somewhat inferior to electric tile cutters.

— Electric portable. Tile cutters with electric motors, designed to be held in the hands during operation — similarly, for example, to "grinders". The electric motor drive provides good performance and cuts through the tile for a cleaner cut than with hand tools. In addition, most of these tile cutters generally have no restrictions on the length of the cut. Also, many portable units are equipped with a soleplate with a tilt mechanism, which allows...you to make cuts at an angle of up to 45 °. At the same time, such a tile cutter will require a power source to operate (see below), and the work itself is not as convenient as in the case of stationary devices — in particular, a certain skill is required for a neat cut without deviations from the markup. On the other hand, an experienced craftsman can make not only straight cuts, but also curly cuts with such a tool.

— Electric stationary. Tile cutters in which a disc driven by an electric motor is mounted on a fixed base. The design of such units may vary (see "Disc/cutter feed"). However, anyway, they, in accordance with the name, are designed for permanent work in one place and are not suitable for frequent movements. However, stationary tools have an important advantage: they can be much more powerful than portable ones, and it is much easier to provide an even cut with their help.

Rated motor power of the electric tile cutter. The more powerful the engine — the more force it can give to the cutting tool, the higher the rotation speed and disc diameter can be. Accordingly, a more powerful tool is better suited for larger jobs and hard and/or thick materials. On the other hand, high power significantly affects the price, dimensions and weight of the tool, despite the fact that there is not always a real need for it.

In light of all this, it is necessary to choose a tile cutter in terms of power, taking into account the specifics of the intended use. So, in the case of a hand tool for simple household work, a power of 700 – 800 W is enough, more solid indicators may be required mainly for professional use. But in stationary units, where compactness does not really matter, you can not save on power — especially since such devices are usually used where performance is important.

The maximum disc rotation speed provided by the motor of the electric tile cutter. Higher speeds are good for productivity, clean cuts and the ability to handle difficult materials, but they also require the right amount of power.

In general, if a tile cutter is bought for simple work with ordinary facing tiles (for example, repairs in an apartment), you can not pay much attention to this indicator: even the “slowest” models provide enough speed to cope with such tasks. But for cutting specific materials (for example, some types of stone), higher speeds may be required; detailed recommendations on this issue can be found in special sources.

The nominal diameter of the cutting disc for which the electric tile cutter is designed. A disk of a larger diameter will simply not fit into the seat; but the use of smaller nozzles in some cases is allowed (but not recommended).

The depth of cut depends primarily on the diameter of the disc (see below). So, with ordinary tiles, having a thickness of up to 1.5 cm, almost any disc, even the smallest one, will cope; but for thicker materials (for example, paving slabs) and the appropriate tool will be needed. However it is worth noting that with the same diameter of the disc, the thickness of the cut may be different.

Also, the size of the cutting tool allows you to generally evaluate the class of the tool: the larger the disc, the more powerful and performant the tile cutter, usually.

The diameter of the mounting hole on the cutting disc that the tile cutter is compatible with. This parameter is important when searching for and purchasing interchangeable working nozzles: the diameters of the mounting hole on the tile cutter and on the disk must match.

The longest cut that can be made with a tile cutter.

This parameter is relevant primarily for manual tile cutters, as well as for electric stationary units with a top disc feed. In such tools, the cutting element moves along the guide rail and has limited space for movement, and the length of the cut is, in fact, the length of the stroke of the cutting tool from one extreme point to the other. In fact, this is the maximum width of the material that can be cut with a tile cutter.

The greatest depth to which the tool can cut through the material being processed, in other words, the maximum thickness of the tile that the tile cutter is guaranteed to be able to cut.

It is worth choosing a tool for this parameter taking into account the thickness of the material with which to work, plus some margin “just in case”. But this margin should not be too large: for a deep cut, large discs and high power are required, which accordingly affects the price, weight and dimensions of the tool.

The presence of folding legs at the table on which the electric stationary tile cutter is installed (see "Type"). This feature allows you to significantly reduce the dimensions of the structure for ease of storage or transportation.

The presence of an angular stop in the design of the tile cutter.

The miter fence is designed to make it easier to cut diagonals and other oblique lines. Do not confuse this function with angular cutting: in this case, we are talking about turning the material horizontally, and the cut itself can be normal, vertical. The corner stop is convenient because you can set it to the desired angle in advance, and then fix the tile in it and not worry about it moving during cutting. This is easier than holding the material by hand and controlling the angle in other ways.