Skil 3550-02 7-Inch Wet Tile Saw with HydroLock Water Containment System

Super impressed with this tile saw. I was worried because the only tile saw I’ve used in the past was a rented professional grade tile saw. This one was just as easy to use. I needed the 45 degree ability for several of my cuts to “miter” small pieces to create edge pieces, and this worked perfect for it. I’ve already recommended to several friends. Super great value for the price, excellent quality, and really easy to setup and use.

As a professional contractor, I really didn't expect much from this saw, as I have tried many saws over the last 30 years to know you need a good motor, blade, and steady plate to cut porcelain and glass without chipping. By the literature, this unit has an undersized motor, non-rubberized plate, plastic ends and body, and no name blade. So, you have to expect that you get what you pay for. However, my goal through the years was to have something portable enough to carry down flights of stairs, big enough to cut 12x12 porcelain and glass tile, strong enough to last more than one job, and absolutely non-dripping! Well, This is the one to buy. There are two models, and this one with water lock is the better model, although twice the cost. So, read the other reviews and you'll see this all confirmed. What I include here is a workaround and suggestions for improvement. 1. The blade guard...Great working device with a rubber seal that keeps water to zero IF you are not cutting a tile. I fixed the screw area problem that attaches it to the table by recessing the screw heads. Next I used duct tape looped over the front air exhaust so water goes back down the table and not up in my face or over the table. It wouldn't be difficult or costly if Skill added these two design fixes in their next revision, especially for the price. 2. The blade...it's a basic blade, so don't bother using it. Get a decent one for your tile job. I used a widow. 3. The motor...it is a bit under amperage as I know it won't last as long as my 12 and 15 amp units, and won't cut as fast. However, I don't know that one that powerful could fit in such a small footprint, or be as light. I do know a 7 amp would be my expectation and would not add a considerable amount of weight, and would be considered a great value for the price point they had this one for ($135), 4. The plastic body is very strong and I had no problems even when stressing it. 5. The top...it is like a teflon coated top, but I don't know for sure. It held up well for the three backsplashes I have done since buying it last month. Time will tell if it starts to rust, but I oil it after every use, so it should be minimized. If Skil were to add a 1mm hard rubber/plastic film, it would be awesome as tiles would still slide,cthe table would be protected, and it wouldn't be tile against metal. 6. The extension arm--yes, it's plastic, but it is sturdy and does the job well! Don't try cutting 36" floor tile as it will bind the saw and give a poor cut--but hey, that's why I put it to the test! 7. The switch..I think it is too difficult to turn on and off each time you make a cut, because of the thick rubber cover it has, but it does the job it's suppoed to do in making it safe! I would either add a bigger switch to use with gloves, or add a more protruding toggle. 8. The unit was easy to clean, but a simple tool storage, aside from drying the unit out and putting it inside the well would be useful. There is room on the tool or the extendion for this to happen. 9. Add an extra brush for the blade. I have not seen where to purchase replacements yet!

It’s just ok. All plastic, easily bogs if you try to cut too fast. Of course the table doesn’t move, you have to push the tile through. Make sure you install the water guard safety on top, or you will get soaked. Would I buy it again. Probably not. I would spend a little more for a higher quality saw.

Killer little tile saw that has gotten me through a shower, a tub surround and 2 floors and a kitchen full backsplash! Next, a kitchen floor. Everything from a thick ceramic plank, marble mosaic, porcelain to subway. The one drawback is the tile size. If you have to rip anything longer than 7 inches, you have to go at it from both ends, and if its 32" plank you will have an -1/8" offset from the blade hood hinge getting in the way and the water reservoir is small. But at this price? As long as you change the blade before a new project, it's been awesome! Next up- the kitchen floor. I like that it's compact, easy to hose off and store on a shelf in the garage.

Does the job! Built and scaled for home use. Though it would be "under featured" for contractors, this is a decent and capable tile saw for homeowners, hobbyists, and casual remodelers looking to save money and cut tile more safely (than strictly by hand using angle grinders).

I installed stacked stone ledger panels to my brick fireplace. I needed to rent a wet tile saw (which I have done in the past to tile my floors). Since I was concerned about doing the entire fireplace in one or two days (weight of the stones adhering to brick wall), I knew I would need to have access to a tile saw several times. Renting a wet tile saw would cost $40-50 per day. I could spend $200+ renting or buy a wet tile saw. I did not want to buy a full size wet tile saw (for storage reasons, plus I have already tiled six rooms and do not expect to do any more in the future). I spent $100 on this Skil (saw, shipping, tax). It worked great. Cutting the stone panels was no problem. The thickest stone was 1.25" which is, I believe, a bit thicker than recommended. The cuts were perfect. I did not use the guide because the stone panels are too large (24" by 6"). Allowing the blade to do the work is important. The time it took to make each cut is slower than a larger wet tile saw, but the cost savings made that a non-issue. The reservoir for the water is small. I would change the water more often, but (again) the savings made this another non-issue. I am more than pleased with the performance of this wet tile saw. Here's the negative, if you are considering this model: If I were to tile a family room floor and wanted to do it in one or two days, I may rather rent a small or medium size wet tile saw. Those models cut quicker and have larger water reservoirs. I also like having a guide when cutting tile for floors. Not having a guide for cutting the stone panels was not an issue in this project. If you are not in a hurry to complete your project, this is your model.

I recently purchased this saw in order to re-tile a 46 year old bath whose (original!) tiles were falling off the walls. I'd used a small Craftsman wet saw previously (borrowed) for a smaller floor replacement but wasn't thrilled with it and wanted to buy something a little better put together. The saw is well put together for what it is. The only thing needed upon receipt was to unpack and attach the included blade, I was up and cutting practice tiles within minutes. I filled the water reservoir with a funnel, which worked well the duration of the cutting. The one included blade was enough for me to finish my tile job entirely. Cutting speed was reasonably fast, I fed ceramic tile through at about 0.5 in/s or so pushing moderately. It cut as cleanly and as quickly at the end as it did at the beginning and I cut most of the tiles for the entire shower on this saw. The area I tiled was a floor, bench and 3 walls for a standing shower, roughly 80 square feet. The tile was a mix - glazed ceramic tiles (6x12"), marble edge trim, and marble 1 ft mosaic sheets. This saw cut some of this well and others not so well. It was worst with the mosaic sheets (more below). To get a clean edge on those, I had to rent a more capable saw from the Home Depot. General notes: The saw is not very heavy, which was both good and bad. I'm male, 39 yo of medium build. It was easy to move around when I needed to (pro). I did notice was that the saw slightly shifts around over time (especially when cutting the ceramic tile) and needed to be re-seated every so often (con). The legs don't seem to have any way to be anchored to a table or bench, they are just legs with rubber footers. It's loud when actually cutting tile, I recommend ear protection. The saw says it's good for up to 12 inch tile, and I agree with that. I wanted to cut a shower bench out of larger format (12x24") tile and some sort of extension table would be required. I ended up cutting that on the rental saw. I used it (off an on) for probably 6 weeks (I'm a weekend warrior and maybe not even every weekend!), by the end there was some minor surface rust. It buffed out with steel wool. I think this is minor and pretty typical, the Craftsman did the same. PROS: - The saw is very inexpensive relative to a more capable tile saw. Renting a saw for 1 day from Home Depot was $70. That nearly was the cost of purchasing the Skil Saw - The markings are very accurate, I found that the table measurement matched my tape measure post-cut on the ceramic tile within 1/32" easily if I took care setting the table. Once the fence was set and tightened, it never drifted unless intentionally re-set. - It's relatively neat - water doesn't go spewing everywhere if you are careful setting the blade guard - It's small and light and can be put about anywhere, I mounted it ontop of a small table in the garage - It's easy to clean - since it's light, I just dumped the water out. In places where tile gunk had dried, it was easy to scrape off. CONS: - Cut quality is moderate overall, but it strongly varies by what is being cut. For the 6x12 ceramic tile, it was good - I would say the same quality as for the much higher quality / more expensive saw I rented. Just minor chipping of the glazed edge. However, for the marble edging and especially the small pieces of mosaic tile, it left a lot of large chips and gouges. The biggest single issue I had with the saw was that for the mosaic tiles, it was nearly impossible to keep a straight edge. My mosaic was small curved pieces. This saw is designed as to feed forward with you pushing the tile through the blade - and cuts from below. For a mosaic sheet, it was not possible to evenly feed it through the blade. The mosaic sheets just aren't rigid enough to be fed through this way cleanly. I tried several things, pulling vs pushing, pushing it with a board, I even made a small sled to slide it through - nothing really worked. The blade just doesn't cut through those pieces quickly enough. It also lifts the small pieces as they pass through the blade and makes jagged, crooked, sometimes broken edges. I tried loading bricks on top of the mosaic sheet to keep it from lifting, which helped some, but at best I would say the edges waved by almost a blade width (so maybe 1/8" edge-to-edge or a little more). Frequently the edges pieces would pop large chips or even just break. The more expensive saws use a feed table to keep tile sheets straight, and cut from above with a larger radius blade - eliminating this problem. - The miter attachment is mediocre at best. It has a *tiny* setting marked in in 5-degree increments. It is very hard to set to something exactly so trial and error (and wasted time and tile) was required. In addition, it had a small amount of give which made each cut vary slightly. 45 degree mitered edge cuts that were intended to join at a 90 degree angle were difficult to execute. I did eventually get it to work for all my mitered pieces, but they weren't perfect. - The fence is a bit of a pain. You set it by means of two wing-nuts. Tightening those wingnuts to tighten up the fence can frequently slightly shift the fence, so you have to tighten then loosen then shove a bit and re-tighten. It eventually gets there but it takes longer than it should. Also, the thing is marked in 1/8 inch increments between 1 inch major ticks and no large tick at the half or quarter. So to get to something at +7/8" you have to count all 7 small ticks from the last inch tick on BOTH sides of the fence (you can't count down from the other side, because the fence itself covers the ticks). It'd be nice to have larger half and/or quarter-inch tick marks. Also - there is enough play in the fence that is possible to set it such that one side is off the other by accident, especially if the table is covered in murky water when you're setting the fence (see next note). Should you do this, the saw will most likely stall and you will have to throw that tile away or put it in the salvage pile. It happened to me a few times. - The table surface doesn't drain all that well, so murky water mixed with tile crud frequently covered the etched-in length markers. Cleaning frequently is required (I used paper towels) So, in summary - for the money it's not a bad saw, it's even a good saw if you're doing some jobs - like ceramic tile and mostly making straight cuts. And it really is an entry level price, so that's not unreasonable. If you're going to be doing anything a little fancy, the saw starts to really show it's limited utility and I think it'd be time to consider picking up a more capable saw.

I bought this saw because it was the same price as renting, and therefore more convenient to own and have available when I needed it. I'm tiling a breezeway floor with 4x8 travertine stone, 3/8" thick. I have to say, I can't believe the things people are reporting who give it a 1-star rating. This saw works GREAT. For those who say the blade guard jams, it appears that they didn't read the instructions, which clearly tell how to adjust its height higher than your work piece, so that it glides under the guard without binding, while offering safety and shielding from splashing. To the person who said the mounting screw holes were too big and he had to use longer screws and nuts, he didn't know how to assemble the guard. You remove the screws, slide the bracket UNDER the table top and put the screws back in, as it's the bracket that has the screw threads. I think people who don't read directions or don't have the skills to use tools are panning a good product. Yes, the fence is cheap, but if you take care lining it up and tighten the hold-down screws securely, the fence is straight and works well. The water tray should be filled often, as the blade doesn't really pick up water if the tray is less than half full, and then the blade gets hot and cuts a lot slower. Add water to the tray about every 3-4 tiles and it's just fine. I've cut 20 tiles so far and had no issues at all. Doesn't chip or bog down, blade guard minimizes splashing on you. I braced the saw against the railing of my deck so that as I push the tile, I'm holding the saw in place against the railing, and it doesn't move. No chips, no failures. Very happy with this purchase.

The Saw Works. Wouldn't use for big jobs (obviously). The slide and fence are a little sticky, not super reliable for guidance on tiles that are not square, but you get the hang of it. Start on easy cuts. It comes with a blade, which is awesome at this price. The blade is quality for a small job Read the instructions, there are a few things in there that are helpful.

I received the item as described works very well nice & smooth not lowed at all very pleased with the results 100% Cheers

En ocasiones esta cortadora esta a un super precio, yo compre una y me duro unos 3 o 4 años de trabajo muy intenso en la remodelación de mi casa. Recientemente dejo de funcionar el motor y adquirí la 2da, confirmo que la calidad, relación costo-beneficio y el desempeño continuan siendo muy buenos. Provee cortes muy precisos contra los cortadores tradicionales, el disco que incluye dura un buen tiempo antes de tener que ser reemplazado, lo único que no me agrada es que si salpica mucha agua al utilizarlo aunque la mayoría de estos cortadores lo hacen. Al momento de mi compra encontré este equipo era el de mejor precio contra los ofertados en otras tiendas y sitios web. Lo recomiendo.

Este modelo salió muy bueno para cortar el azulejo y par los diferentes ángulos

C’est une excellente scie à céramique. Je recommande juste de changer la lame qui est trop épaisse. Sinon un des meilleurs outils j’ai acheté pour la céramique.