I went to habitat for humanity today and bought a ton of white 12x12 white floor ceramic tile for 3 bucks.
I was wondering if cnc will cut? No definite info in search forum.
Wondering if I need a wet surface and what bits,speeds would I even use and also don’t wanna destroy bits trying before discussing? Figured I can make some easy stuff like logos
Just looking at the picture. it looks like glazed ceramic tile. Having spent many years laying tile in order to pay the bills, I can tell you that ceramic tile is tough enough to cut with tools designed to cut it. Your stuff is glazed and that makes the surface even tougher. It’s engineered to be shiny and tough and scratch/abrasion resistant. Blades and bits designed to cut ceramic tile are diamond coated and usually water cooled. (not sure if you’ve ever seen a tile saw, but while the blade is spinning there is usually a stream of water running across the blade and tile keeping everything cool.) trying to cut that stuff with an X-carve would require some very expensive diamond tipped mills, a lot of time and a lot of patience… any cutting action on that tile is going to create a ton of heat, so be aware that you’ll burn through bits like a kid through candy.
that being said, if you do give it a go, please share your methods and results .
I’ve cut slate with a Kyocera 1/16" 2 flute upcut bit with no issues. Also used the same but 1/32" bit to cut the same slate although I broke 4 of those before I found the one out of the batch that has been a BOSS. This was also cut dry without any coolant except the air from the Dewalt spindle. You should be perfectly fine cutting ceramic tile with the X-CARVE in my opinion; just pay attention to how the bits are cutting.
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Brandon
Thanks guys for your input. I think I’ll give it a shot. Can’t hurt. I’m gonna try simple design. If it doesn’t work oh well. I think I will add some water just to lube it up. I’ll try this tmw/ next week
post pictures of your progress
By the way make sure the waste board is completely flat as I broke few bits trying to etch on mirror glass.
Yeah I def will post my progress. Any ideas of feedrate and depth? Like slow like 10ipm and .01 doc?
I performed a simple cut today with 6x6 tile
.12in 2F upcut from inventable pack(only upcut I had
5ipm
2 plunge
.03 doc
Have to figure out how to edge better
Might be best to treat this as if it were carbon fiber - cut at high speed in water bath.
Cool idea 
Go by your local discount flooring store and get the leftover marble floor tiles, they are very cheap and are easy to cut/engrave with HSS tools.
Diamond coated has bits of diamond embedded on the bit. Diamond pattern is just the shape the bit is cut to resemble the diamond pattern.
Rotozip is the only company that I know of that makes a bit that will cut ceramic and fit in a router. All the other bits made for this purpose are way too big and water cooled. Here is a link to the Rotozip bits;
https://www.rotozip.com/en_US/tool-detail/-/rotozip-show-product/tc1-tilecut-bit-1-pc
https://www.rotozip.com/en_US/tool-detail/-/rotozip-show-product/xb-gr125-1-8-grout-removal-bit-1-pc
The TC1 (and TC4) are made specifically for cutting and engraving in porcelain, granite, and ceramic. HomeDepot has the TC1 for around 7 bucks. Also check out Dremel bits, which is their parent company. You can also contact Drillman1 on eBay, he has a lot of inexpensive router bits for sale.
I’ve had good luck working soap stone with carbide bits, but boy does it make dust!!
Hi,
I, not the best used to give an opinion since I don’t have a CNC yet and don’t know what type of machine you have, BUT based on the experiences on ceramic cutting, I really don’t think that using CNC is a good idea. Ceramic is very hard to cut, but the worst is the dust it makes, very thin and abrasive… may ruin some moving parts of your CNC… Wet cutting is always better. Also, you can get qualified information from professionals who know a lot about ceramics - Granite Countertop Cost Expectations To Consider in 2023? | Marble.com
Just my opinion.
As mentioned above, from experience installing Porcelain & Glazed Ceramic, you need to use diamond tools to cut and shape them cleanly. In addition, these bits have a relative short life as the diamond coating rubs off the surface of the bit. For the most part they are not made for the speed of a router or spindle (maybe except for the Rotozip) and that may also further impact their longevity.
A bit late to the show but I have successfully cut holes in ceramic floor tiles. I used diamond coated 1/8" bits from amazon. Make slow and shallow cuts and keep cut cool with water. The cheap bits work fine IF they are kept cool.
Hope you covered your furniture before starting to lay tile? If not, then I advise you to buy furniture covers at Alco furniture patio covers 'cause when I was having my apartment renovated I forgot about it and all the furniture got dusty and dirty. It was pretty difficult to clean it.
