Review: Rubi TI-66S Tile Cutter - Page 5 - TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums

Derry · 15-08-2008

very helpfull Dave

Patrick

pt44 · 22-09-2008

Right - I have my new Rubi Ti66S. 2 questions.

1/ There are 2 grey plastic parts included, along with some spare ceramic pressure plates. What are the grey plastic things for? Look like grilles. I can find no mention of them in the manual. Although, towards the back of the manual, they are pictured on a parts diagram, with numbers - with no list of what the numbered parts are. Very useful spanish manual.

2/ The cross bar. 90 degree holding arrangement. Does not seem to lock in place very well. I can move it from side to side. Only minimally, but I would have expected it to lock rock solid. It can be adjusted I have seen. But wondered how rigid it should be?

3/ I lied - there is a third question. The cutter comes with a 10mm wheel. Others are available. However, at no point in the manual (not a very useful manual really) does it say why I would want these other cutter wheels? Could someone more experienced please let me know which one I should be using for what purpose. As I cut a lot of 10-11mm thick 600x300 porcelain - is the 10mm wheel sufficient to be getting along with.

Paul

monty · 22-09-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by pt44

Right - I have my new Rubi Ti66S. 2 questions.

1/ There are 2 grey plastic parts included, along with some spare ceramic pressure plates. What are the grey plastic things for? Look like grilles. I can find no mention of them in the manual. Although, towards the back of the manual, they are pictured on a parts diagram, with numbers - with no list of what the numbered parts are. Very useful spanish manual.

2/ The cross bar. 90 degree holding arrangement. Does not seem to lock in place very well. I can move it from side to side. Only minimally, but I would have expected it to lock rock solid. It can be adjusted I have seen. But wondered how rigid it should be?

3/ I lied - there is a third question. The cutter comes with a 10mm wheel. Others are available. However, at no point in the manual (not a very useful manual really) does it say why I would want these other cutter wheels? Could someone more experienced please let me know which one I should be using for what purpose. As I cut a lot of 10-11mm thick 600x300 porcelain - is the 10mm wheel sufficient to be getting along with.

Paul

I recently bought one and only used it a few times and not impressed at the moment but I'm blaming it on my technique at the minute..

I also have the same problem with the cross bar...It's nowhere near as rigid as i would like it to be..

And I've also found that it easily crushes porcelain, again I'm blaming this on my technique.

So any feedback on this to help these problems would be much appreciated..

**Dave** · 22-09-2008

The plastic grids are actually spare runners for the breaker handle...this guide the handle along the straight bar and once worn you can replace them........you get a 10mm wheel and yes others are available for harder tiles etc ....

The lock lever at the back pushes down and this locks the fence in-situ , if there is play then contact rubi direct or your supplier to arrange a rubi rep visit....

As for crushing tiles.. i did mention this in my review but i think it is just technique and the right presssure on the breaker handle to suit the tiles in hand....

pt44 · 23-09-2008

Any further help here. Is the 10mm wheel suitable for the porcelain I mentioned in my post. 10-11mm thick, 600x300 size? Or would a larger wheel be better? Dave, you mention that the larger wheels are for harder tiles - Porcelain being hard, should I therefore not be using the 10mm wheel - or will it suffice for now?

The lose bar I mentioned, as opposed to others experiences, was not the lever handle - which is firm in my case. It was the 90 degree cross bar, that you rest the tile up against. That does not seem to grip in place that well - but maybe it is sufficient. Not having experience of any other cutter - I don't know how firm it should be. I find it strange for example, that the mechanism for making sure it is at 90 degrees - marked 0 - is a push button arrangement, that forces a hexagonal pin into a slot. However, it does not lock down? You have to hold it down - then lock a separate lever - at the back of the machine. This seems to work merely of a compression force. Which works - but once locked I can still move the bar left and right using a slight pressure. That worries me, as I could possibly accidentally move it, when I push the tile up against it. Was wondering whether it needs tightening - or whether its fine a little lose, as in reality it won't move in use. Its strange how the push down button doesn't simply lock into the "0" slot, thereby giving it 2 points of locking.

Paul

P'boro tiler · 27-09-2008

this topics good but i dont see a reason to chose this cutter over say a ts plus other than a bit more power? accuracy is the most important thing to me and i cant imagine its easy to do accurate cuts with a bar in the way!??
ive currently got a husquavana and a kauffman. i love the husky because its twin rails. i hate the kauffman because it creates jagged edges and the single rail blocks my vision/

id love to get the Ti tho as it seems to be quite cheap for what it is, just think itd be silly to get a single rail again?

DEWALT · 29-09-2008

Twin rails are excellent for their cut line visibility. If lining up a cut and making the score as quickly as possible is important to you, then it is understandable why you might favour this set-up.

A single rail design is proven to offer more ridgitity, both when scoring and breaking. Increased stability i.e. less movement, improves the accuracy of a cut and increases the liklihood of acheiving a cleaner break, especially on harder materials.

There are clear advantages and disadvantages to both designs. Rubi, more or less, caters for tilers and tilers only. For them to ignore those who favour single rail cutters (Sigma, Montolit, Tomecanic), and with the ever increasing amount of harder tiles requiring increased breaking forces arriving on our shores they would be foolish not to offer both?

If you can't beat em' join em'!

All we need now is for someone to bring to market a cutter that offers excellent cut-line visibility AND best-in-class accuracy (in all materials)!?

oldgit · 29-09-2008

i spoke to diatech (sigma seller) today he tells me sigma are or will shortly going to sell carrying cases these will fit all cutters up to 750mm.
i also urged him to join the forum,as some input from sigma maybe helpful.

bobbin · 02-10-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by pt44

Any further help here. Is the 10mm wheel suitable for the porcelain I mentioned in my post. 10-11mm thick, 600x300 size? Or would a larger wheel be better? Dave, you mention that the larger wheels are for harder tiles - Porcelain being hard, should I therefore not be using the 10mm wheel - or will it suffice for now?

The lose bar I mentioned, as opposed to others experiences, was not the lever handle - which is firm in my case. It was the 90 degree cross bar, that you rest the tile up against. That does not seem to grip in place that well - but maybe it is sufficient. Not having experience of any other cutter - I don't know how firm it should be. I find it strange for example, that the mechanism for making sure it is at 90 degrees - marked 0 - is a push button arrangement, that forces a hexagonal pin into a slot. However, it does not lock down? You have to hold it down - then lock a separate lever - at the back of the machine. This seems to work merely of a compression force. Which works - but once locked I can still move the bar left and right using a slight pressure. That worries me, as I could possibly accidentally move it, when I push the tile up against it. Was wondering whether it needs tightening - or whether its fine a little lose, as in reality it won't move in use. Its strange how the push down button doesn't simply lock into the "0" slot, thereby giving it 2 points of locking.

Paul

Yes mate, the wheel is fine for the porcelain you are needing it for. I have just done 22 square metres in Porcelain with the wheel, no problems at all.
As far as your 90 degree bar. Before you push down the locking bar at the back, ensure you push the 90 degree bar up tight against the guide hole on the cutter and then lock it down.
The one thing that really annoys me about this cutter is that the locking bar at the back of the cutter is loose when not in the lock position, but this is a minor issue.
I still want a case for this though, any further news from Rubi on this anyone????

pt44 · 04-10-2008

Right - I've had my Ti66S for a week now. So here's my own personal review of this cutter. This is not an experienced tiler's review, its my personal review. So please take into account, that this is the first dry cutter I've ever used, so I have nothing to compare it with, apart from wet cutting using a Plasplugs mastertiler.

Cuts are impressive and easy. They are very clean along the cut, this is on soft porcelain, with a very high gloss finish. This is in contrast to the jaggy edge that my wet cutter gives, as it tends to chip the glossy edge a little as the diamond wheel cuts. So from a cutting point of view, I'm pleased.

However, the cutter is far from perfect. First off, its really hard to measure from the edge of a tile to the cut line, to do the scoring. As the 10mm wheel is so tiny, its really hard to get a tape measure under it - and be able to see it. This is not helped by the central bar. While its very sturdy - it gets totally in the way of seeing the scoring wheel.

As I've not used a double bar model, I'm not sure if that's any easier in this respect or not.

My next major grief, is the cross bar. The bar that goes 90 degrees across the base. It is really poorly designed. To get it in a perfect 90 degree position, one must loosen the locking mechanism, which is easy to do. But then, one must manually position the bar, and press a push button down, which forces a hexagonal nut into a slot, this locates the bar in the 90 degree position. Then while still holding the push button down, you have to lock the bar in place. This is a really clunky procedure - and compared with ALL of the Compound Mitre saws that I've ever used - is totally poor. Once locked in place - the next problem is the fact that it doesn't exactly lock securely. As the locking mechanism consists of a simple pressure pad - it does not fully lock. Its still easy to move it. This is not good, as it can be accidentally knocked out of position. Which can cause a millimetre or more of error. Not good - imo. Then, even when it is locked, one still has to be very careful that the tile is pushed flat against this bar. Which is difficult, as pushing too hard causes the bar to move off the perfect 90 degree angle.

Like I said at the start - perhaps all cutters are built this way - I do not know. But I do know that I would like something a bit better built. Metabo - where's your tile cutter?

As for crushing tiles. Well, as a novice, I've managed to cut 30 or more tiles without any major issues. I have had about 3 cuts, where the edge of the tile has broken on me. But I put this down to perhaps the tile not being perfect - and perhaps my scoring pressure was off. On the whole though, I've had no problems making clean cuts. Even down to 20mm odd. Definitely easier following the manuals advice, of cutting the tile to twice the size of the cut first. i.e. - if you want a 90mm cut. Then cut off a 180mm piece, so that the next cut is cutting the piece in half. I presume that this keeps the pressure more even. Seems to work well.

Another strange thing is the two wings that fold out to support large tiles. These are spring loaded. However, I find them to be totally unsupportive. A 600x300 tile just bends the support right down to its max. Now I can understand that the tile needs to flex some, as under the cutter are two sprung loaded plates - and these aid the breaking mechanism. However, I don't see why these lateral supports give no support at all?

So there you have it - it cuts - but its far from perfect imo. I wonder what is better?

Paul

**grumpygrouter** · 05-10-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by pt44

Right - I've had my Ti66S for a week now. So here's my own personal review of this cutter. This is not an experienced tiler's review, its my personal review. So please take into account, that this is the first dry cutter I've ever used, so I have nothing to compare it with, apart from wet cutting using a Plasplugs mastertiler.

Cuts are impressive and easy. They are very clean along the cut, this is on soft porcelain, with a very high gloss finish. This is in contrast to the jaggy edge that my wet cutter gives, as it tends to chip the glossy edge a little as the diamond wheel cuts. So from a cutting point of view, I'm pleased.

However, the cutter is far from perfect. First off, its really hard to measure from the edge of a tile to the cut line, to do the scoring. As the 10mm wheel is so tiny, its really hard to get a tape measure under it - and be able to see it. This is not helped by the central bar. While its very sturdy - it gets totally in the way of seeing the scoring wheel.

As I've not used a double bar model, I'm not sure if that's any easier in this respect or not.

My next major grief, is the cross bar. The bar that goes 90 degrees across the base. It is really poorly designed. To get it in a perfect 90 degree position, one must loosen the locking mechanism, which is easy to do. But then, one must manually position the bar, and press a push button down, which forces a hexagonal nut into a slot, this locates the bar in the 90 degree position. Then while still holding the push button down, you have to lock the bar in place. This is a really clunky procedure - and compared with ALL of the Compound Mitre saws that I've ever used - is totally poor. Once locked in place - the next problem is the fact that it doesn't exactly lock securely. As the locking mechanism consists of a simple pressure pad - it does not fully lock. Its still easy to move it. This is not good, as it can be accidentally knocked out of position. Which can cause a millimetre or more of error. Not good - imo. Then, even when it is locked, one still has to be very careful that the tile is pushed flat against this bar. Which is difficult, as pushing too hard causes the bar to move off the perfect 90 degree angle.

Like I said at the start - perhaps all cutters are built this way - I do not know. But I do know that I would like something a bit better built. Metabo - where's your tile cutter?

As for crushing tiles. Well, as a novice, I've managed to cut 30 or more tiles without any major issues. I have had about 3 cuts, where the edge of the tile has broken on me. But I put this down to perhaps the tile not being perfect - and perhaps my scoring pressure was off. On the whole though, I've had no problems making clean cuts. Even down to 20mm odd. Definitely easier following the manuals advice, of cutting the tile to twice the size of the cut first. i.e. - if you want a 90mm cut. Then cut off a 180mm piece, so that the next cut is cutting the piece in half. I presume that this keeps the pressure more even. Seems to work well.

Another strange thing is the two wings that fold out to support large tiles. These are spring loaded. However, I find them to be totally unsupportive. A 600x300 tile just bends the support right down to its max. Now I can understand that the tile needs to flex some, as under the cutter are two sprung loaded plates - and these aid the breaking mechanism. However, I don't see why these lateral supports give no support at all?

So there you have it - it cuts - but its far from perfect imo. I wonder what is better?

Paul

Montolit!!

bobbin · 07-10-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by markfromrubi

Dont worry! this is an open and shut case!!! Ha I have been told from RUBI Head office that they are looking at producing a case. I will keep you informed Dave

Hello mate, any updates on this yet? Will it be offered for free to those of us that bought the cutters when they were released?