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How to cut porcelain vanity tops?

I am renovating two bathrooms and have all the bits ready bar one - the ceramic vanity tops. I've been watching many Youtube clips on getting a clean cut, put them into practice and some have achieved some pretty good results but....

Has anyone on this forum used a diamond glass cutter to score the surfaces of of the vanity top before cutting and achieved cleaner still cut? At present I am getting approx than 1-2 mm of chipping

The aim - I wondered if I scored the surface first, before cutting with a diamond disc, would I get less of the inevitable chipping on the shiny surface.

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MitchellMc

Hi @Ask_Itee,

Could you tell us what diamond blade you are using? A segmented blade will leave larger chips than a continuous blade.

Typically, porcelain is cut in a factory using industrial-grade automated machines. These typically leave much crisper edges than handheld machines. I haven't heard of using a glass cutter to score the surface first, though it could work. You might also find that doing a very shallow first cut to break the surface before going lower to complete the cut could produce better results.

Just for your information, engineered stone products have been recently banned in Australia due to the risks associated with working with them. Porcelain is still OK. As a rule, you should always wear PPE when cutting/drilling stone/cement products. It's always a good idea if you are drilling it to wet it down and keep it wet when working to minimise the dust.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Ask_Itee

Hi Mitchell.

Using a non segmented blade. And we avoided the engineered stone but thanks for the heads up

MitchellMc

If you have a test piece, I would try making a cut a few millimetres deep and then making the full cut @Ask_Itee. That uses a far larger blade surface area for cutting the surface than a full-depth cut.

Mitchell

Ask_Itee

Top idea. I'm doing some more tests tomorrow so will report back.

Sadly I have a spare vanity top. Picked them up and when unpacking the car bumped one against the archway coming in the front door... broke a corner off about 30cm x 30cm. Could not speak to anyone for about an hour at the time but can see the upside of having it now 🙂

EricL

Hello @Ask_Itee

My best advice would be to allow the cutting head to cool off while cutting the ceramic top. Intense heat from the blade might be the cause of cracking and chipping.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your vanity top ready for use.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

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