Tile and Masonry Saws Reviews

This is a great saw for the serious do-it-yourselfer. I like its portability and fast cutting time. I dislike the amount of dust it puts out compared to a wet saw. At 65 pounds you can throw it in the trunk and take it anywhere. We have been using it on cast concrete retaining wall block. The original idea was to use it on the decorative caps, which had a 3" by 12" cross-section. However, it will get about 90% of the way through a block with a 6" by 12" cross-section if you want to split the big block. Cutting time through the 6" by 12" block was around a minute, answering my concern about the motor, which looked small. The surface finish is very smooth, to get rough faced cuts you will still need to split using a hammer and chisel or block splitter. Don't try to rig your own water system to the saw, the motor has an external filter and does not appear to be sealed. Dust may be a long term issue. You certainly want face protection, a dust mask, and hearing protection.

the new mk saw is awsome its light weight ;you can bring it up on the scaffold . it makes cutting in arches fun.it has all the powr you need . i cut soaps with ease.key stones and sills cut like a dream.i used to have to use the machine to unload the old target of the truck not any more. i can one hand it off the truck.i use it every day .i dont even make hammer cuts any more.any one thinking about buying one . should just go out and get one.

DeWalt DW861W Wet/Dry Masonry Saw

This tool appeared on Amazon.com in September 2005, but DeWalt first made it available in February 2006, which is when I bought one. It was worth the wait...

Pros:

- Unusually powerful motor for a small saw (12.5 amps)
- Blade spins at 11,500 RPMs for efficient cutting
- 4.5" blade included with saw is excellent. Described as extended performance (XP) "450x longer life than abrasive blades", suitable for "tile, porcelain, and other masonry products", part number 626708-00. Retail price is about $30.
- Two-pronged rubber electric cord has a built-in GFCI, is 13' long, and is soft/pliable rubber.
- 1/4" clear water line has built-in 5-PSI regulator (at house pressure, water line would burst or pop off the water "manifold"), is 13' long, and is clear & pliable. Water regulator has female threads to receive male end of a garden hose.
- Manifold has valve to control water-volume spray onto both sides of blade, and is blued brass. Setup keeps the blade very wet.
- Cuts 0 to 45 degrees, just like a wood-working circular saw
- Comfortable handle with no sharp spots; fits my large hand
- Tool is easy to control
- Push-button option to lock switch to the ON position for long cuts
- Steel sole-plate has thick nickle-plating
- Suitable for production use at a stone/granite/slate fabrication shop; with the proper blade, can cut the hardest stone-like materials: concrete, concrete-stucco, patio-pavers, brick, porcelain, marble, granite, or any tile.

Cons:

- Does not include a carrying case, probably to keep the price lower. Unfortunately, if you transport or store this tool, it really needs one. Portable wet saws have no blade guard, as it would obstruct the water manifold. Even with the blade fully raised, it still extends past the sole-plate by about 1/8", so you have to be careful setting the tool down so as to not damage the blade. Also, 13' water & electric lines, with a bulky GFCI and regulator on their ends, make the tool a bit unwieldy to carry. I made a carrying case out of wood.

Other:

- My saw has no serial number. The spot on the tool after the words "serial number", is blank?
- The saw is loud; no doubt due to the very high RPMs.

Summary:

The Makita 4101RH is also a professional-brand portable wet saw, but it:

- costs $100 more
- has a cheap-looking plastic water "manifold", vs. brass on the DeWalt
- has less powerful motor (7.9 amps vs. 12.5 amps for the DeWalt)
- comes with a cheaper blade than the DeWalt

The DeWalt DW861W is a fine choice for the professional tile-setter, or the serious Do-It-Yourselfer.

This product work great on my new mable floor, I needed it for to clean up the grout haze that the lousy tile installer did not clean up good after he grout the floor, since its mable there is not much other product that will clean haze up without damage the surface of the mable. This coating stripper was easy to use just follow the instruction, now my mable looks great!!!

The bullnose guide is very good tool for cuting tiles

My husband is working on finishing our basement. Instead of renting a tile saw for a bunch of weekends we decided to purchase one. This saw has worked really well so far. There was no problem cutting any of the tiles. The only thing is that it does make a mess from all of the tile dust collecting in the water so make sure that you use it in an area that can be easily cleaned. Overall we are really happy with this purchase!

I am overall pleased with the saw, except that the safety guard would not stay connected and I had to jury-rig it to be able to use it. The plastic support for the table top that covers the water well was broken, but the saw works well without it so I don't understand why it was there in the first place. I just completed my first job with it, a 400 ft2 breakfast nook, kitchen and laundry room with 16" tile laid diagonally. It made the job much easier.

I agree with one of the prior posts in that one could buy a powerful dedicated tool for less rather than deal with the poorly designed Zip Mate attachment. I just broke my Zip Mate yesterday, probably due to the gear being misaligned.

I can't see paying $$ to replace the Zip Mate when I only paid $$ for the entire Roto Zip / Zip Mate kit on sale last January. I'll probably just use the Roto Zip for as long as it will last for drywall cutout jobs and such.

The Roto Zip was designed for drywall cutout work and I think that this is all that it does well.

This attachment is not worth the plastic it's made out of. I'm ready to throw mine away. There's no efficient way of removing the arbor to change out cutting wheels if the arbor is on too tight. The gear system is not adequate to take the elbow grease required to break the tight seal and you can't get vise grips on it, without damage, to hold it. Good luck!

As with other reviews, the Zip Mate works, and I've used it primarily as a cutoff (everything from steel pipe to ductwork to wire shelving). It is great as an all purpose tool, but does not feel as solid as a dedicated grinder/etc. There is some play in the gear that sounds clunky, but this play doesn't seem to affect performance.

My biggest gripe is that recently the flange nut (which holds the disk on) could not be removed from the disk - it appeared bound (and I don't believe that I ran it too fast!) My only solution was to use another rotating tool (Dremel) to cut the flange nut off and buy another one.

Still, if you want a single all purpose rotating disk attachment for the Rotozip, I recommend it.