54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good saw for the money, March 5, 2001
This review is from: Porter-Cable 1500 Wet-Cutting Tile Saw (Tools & Home Improvement)
Readers Digest Version: Good saw for the money, and I have been pleased with its performance (I have cut approximately 75 3" tiles diagonally so far). I bought it for home projects, so if you are a more serious tile-person, or need a saw that can cut miters, you may want to consider higher end saws ($$$). But all in all, it is a good performer and solidly built.
I decided to buy a tile saw instead of renting because of a fairly ambitious backsplash project that I wanted to do (3" tiles mounted diagonally) and I didn't want to be rushed because of tool-rental deadlines, plus now I own a saw. I looked at the more expensive saws, but couldn't justify the added cost and I stayed away from the cheaper saws because of the amount of cutting that I needed to do. The saw assembled easily (no missing pieces and everything fit) even with help from my 6-year old son. The cutting bed slides using wheels that slide inside a track which does not have a very smooth action as compared to other saws that use rails, so at first I was skeptical to its performance. However, once I got the guide set I was able to cut the tiles diagonally in half very repeatably. The mounting arm and motor assembly are fairly low on the left-hand side, so you have to keep your left hand flat as the cutting table slides underneath the motor. After cutting 50 tiles or so, my left hand started getting fatigued from the akward angle. The moter is fixed so you can't rotate the blade to make miter cuts, which I didn't need, but may be important others. And what appeared to be a designers afterthought, the water pump just sits in the back of the water tray held in place by tie-downs that hold the tubing and electrical cord. However, it seemed to work well enough. All in all, I think it is a good saw for the money. To get additional features you almost need to double the price. I have been quite pleased with its performance and am happy (still) that I bought it.
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Just horrible., January 10, 2003
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Porter-Cable 1500 Wet-Cutting Tile Saw (Tools & Home Improvement)
I do tile and stone work for a living. This is the most
gosh-awful thing I've ever had the displeasure to work with.
First, let me say two good things about the saw.. it's
(1) light and (2) easy to clean up; making it great for
indoor work where you can keep this saw right by you
as your doing tile work. The tray holds very little
water (specifically you can fill it with about 3/4
of a spackle bucket.... so you don't have to go through
a whole big routine to empty the saw (i.e. dumping
several buckets of waste water outside)).
First, we at work nicknamed this saw "the screamer."
Albeit, the saw was modestly quiet when I first
bought it... but the bearings rapidly deteriorated
about 5 times faster than my 6 other wet saws!!!
I have to wear headphones. If it was any louder,
I'd probably go deaf. I'm redoing the bearings,
but I don't expect it to last. Junk saw.
Second, although there is very little "play"
[lateral movement) in the tray (a plus), if this
saw vibrated any more... I'd reconfigure it as
a jackhammer!!! I can't even keep a tile held
in one place unless I apply about 20 pounds
of pressure on the tile to keep it from shifting
as I'm cutting.
Target, QEP, SawMaster, Felker..., even MK...
anything but this horrible contraption.
Porter Cable has a good reputation. I've had
(errr.. my father, has had) Porter Cable drills
that still function and probably were made before
I was born... Good stuff.... but this is clear
evidence that just because a company makes
good drills... don't mean they know diddly
about making tile saws.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good home owner saw., June 5, 2001
This review is from: Porter-Cable 1500 Wet-Cutting Tile Saw (Tools & Home Improvement)
I bought this saw because I am doing some remodeling and will be tiling at several different times.
After receiving it, I cut up some tiles into strips, diamonds and triangles to tray out different patterns for an accent strip that my wife wants. No problem in cutting any of them, even nipping triangles off the corners of 2" squares. I did have to make some guides to hold the tiles, but that was expected.
We just used the saw to tile about 65 SF of floor at my son's house setting 12" tiles in a diagonal pattern. This meant we had to cut about 15 or so 12" tiles in half on the diagonal. The saw isn't sized to this, but we were able to do it by removing the stop for the tray and sliding it back with the rear wheels outside the track, aligning the tile and then carefully sliding it forward so that the wheels reengaged. The first tile had a slight chip on the leading corner as we got the feel for it but the rest cut clean. I don't think you could do this with saws that use the tube slides.
I'm quite happy with the saw. It cuts clean and repeats cuts well.
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