Customer Reviews

MK Diamond 157222 MK-170 1/3-Horsepower 7-Inch Bench Wet Tile Saw

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I purchased this tool from Amazon and received it within a week. Wow. My son and I have completed the floor tile job for the Kitchen and washroom area that includes about 300 square feet of ceramic floor tile. We probably cut over 200 linear feet of tile. Since the cutting was to take place over several days a purchase made more sence than a rental This saw was adequately powered and the blade is still usable. Cutting is a little slower than commercial saws, but I don't have a lot of experience with comparisons. I thought the motor and blade assembly was of good quality. I placed the water pump into a three gallon bucket and kept it supplied with fresh water. Of course, this meant setting up outside for water (sludge) run-off. I believe the pump should last a long time using this approach. The real problem with this saw is the design of the fence. The table top a has a lot of little bumps designed on its surface. You have to push the tile across this surface which does not present a problem, but it does creat a problem with the fence placement. The fence is a straight piece of material that hooks onto the table on the back side and attaches to the front in a groove that is perpendicular to the blade. Supposedly, you can loosen the front and back and slide the fence. Good Luck! While the little bumps on the table help you to align the fence square to the blade, I had to measure every time I adjusted the fence. This took a lot of time. I would gladly pay an extra $100 to get a sliding table instead of this fence design.

I have been using this saw to cut granite floor tile for a DIY project. I bought a blade labelled for stone (at Lowes for 20 clams) and it works beautifully. It cuts very well, with no effort, and no chipping if you are light on the feed towards the end. I followed the advice in the manual to put the little pump into a buck of water and let it feed fresh water all the time, which worked well. This meant I had to work outdoors, as it makes a big mess. The dimpled table is a nuisance when the tile has some texture.

I worried a lot about whether a saw at this price would be useful, and can easily say it is worth it now.

I've been using this saw for about 2 weeks now doing a bathroom remodel and I've easily found it's weak spots. First off the saw cuts my tile fine but the dimpled table does make some cuts more difficult and jerky. The big downfall is that there is no way to make angled cuts unless you make your own jig to run along the guide, and forget a miter cut. I realize this saw was only $129 BUT you should be able to cut a 45 without too much trouble, heck even the cheapy saws at HD have a provision to do this. The build quality of the saw itself is top notch as expected from MK, it just needs a couple more features.

This saw will definitely replace the cheaper Plass I have used in the past. It is much more powerful. And very well built. And the price is very reasonable. I still prefer the extremely fine MK-101! On the minus side: the saw (motor)is very noisy - although it does pack alot of torque. The bottom could use some rubber feet - I have to clamp the saw down to keep it from sliding around. Also, the motor support is too close to the blade and interferes with some cuts. I found it nessesary to cut backwards (from the rear) to make some cuts. (not safe - dont do what I did!) As noted by other reviewers, the raised bumps can interfere with some cuts. For the price, its a nice saw - but a definite compromise - especially if you will use it alot.

When my remodling plans called for some granite tile work, I looked into renting a tile saw from a local outlet. Daily rental charges were $50.00. This was my first tile project and I did not want to feel rushed in any way to get the job done just to save a few bucks. Buying a tile saw was a perfect solution for me.

The MK-170 turned out to be a great choice. The saw is solid and well built. I like the sliding platform which allows you to move your work into the blade with a smooth and controlled motion. Your cuts will be square and accurate everytime. 12" square tiles are the largest you will be able to cut on this unit. You'll find that the water reservoir quickly fills with ground tile particles which begin to clog the water pump and slow the flow of water to the blade. This is not a fault with the saw, just the nature of the job. The particles are like a fine sand which sink to the bottom of the reservoir tray. Eventually I placed the water pump inside an old, large size tuna can I had placed in the reservoir. The can acted like a particle dam and prevented the sand from reaching the little pump's intake, as only cleaner water filled in from the top while the sand had settled out. I didn't have to stop as often to clean and rinse out the unit. You'd better wear earplugs though. When you turn this saw on and begin cutting, your neighbors will know that you haven't finished that tile project yet...

I am a residential contractor that purchased this saw for a small tile job (about 300 sf). Because we usually sub out our tile work, we didn't want to invest in a higher priced saw. As a professional contractor, I depend on my tools to perform well. I would have to say that I was disappointed in this tool. While I realize that this is a low price tile saw, I thought that MK only made good tools. There are a few reasons I didn't like this unit:

1. The fence system is terrible
2. It is difficult to get a straight cut.
3. Slow.........

Having said all this, I give the unit 2 stars because it might be a good option for DIY'ers that are doing a small remodeling project and don't want to invest in a higher priced saw. I also think that compared to the other units in this price range, this saw gives you more for your money. As for myself, I am in the market for more professional tool. Hope this helps...

Do not BUY this saw. Yes, it does cut tile but there are serious problems with its design:
1. The Rip Fence is sooooo cheesy and in combo with the dimpled table surface becomes problematic for setting it straight.
2. The dimpled table is not only annoying but can be difficult when trying to move tiles smoothly while cutting.
3. There's NO 45 degree jig for such cuts that are frequently needed in most tile jobs.

No wonder MK Diamond stopped making this saw!

Saw cuts 3/8" floor gres fully vitrified tile, a tile which laughs at carbide blades. The table is dimpled, I'm not sure why, and that makes smooth cuts a bit more difficult for tiles with an adhesion pattern on back. If your cuts are going to be highly visible, like matching a 45 degree to wood, this saw might not be the best. Otherwise, it works very well. Can "machine" semicircle cuts into the floor gres tiles. Really, quite adequate for most homeowner uses in my opinion. Saw is well built, but fence is a flimsy plastic item, works OK but marginal.

This saw is a great weekend warrior saw. It's well built for the price, but I do agree with the other reviews in that the fence needs to be re-engineered and the saw tends to migrate if not held in place. I also agree that using the saw is best done outside because cutting tile is messy. Compared to the low priced saws in those other home improvement stores this is definitely worth the value.

Swanson Tool SO107 12-Inch Speed Square I recently purchased the MK-170 and used to cut tiles for a kitchen backsplash.As stated in some of the previous reviews,I also found adjusting and setting the fence between cuts time consuming.As an alternative,I removed the fence and replaced it with a Swanson 12 inch speedsquare.The lip on the base of the square fits nicely on the MK-170 base.With the tile firmly positioned against the side of the square with the right hand,the left hand can quickly slide the square to position the tile for cutting.This method worked great for 6x6 tiles and should work good for most cuts on 12x12 tiles. For me the price and the above method make the MK-170 a solid 5 star buy.