DIY
I’m looking to cut a coffee cup or a teacup in half with a wet tile saw. Does anyone half any recommendations?
Attached is an example of what I am essentially trying to do
Discussion
"Does anyone half any recommendations?"
You sly dog, you. :D
Looks like my brain just used autocorrect.
I liked it too
I liked it two
I liked it bifurcated.
I've got have a mind to correct OP...
I halve have a mind personally
Whatever the recommendation OP goes with, let's hope they don't half ass it.
Halve would have been better 😜
I don’t get it am I slow😭
The correct word should be, "Does anyone have any recommendations?" But OP wrote, "Does anyone half any recommendations?" In this case, OP is asking for recommendations to cut a cup in half. Whether or not it was an intentional typo, it's a great pun.
Wow maybe I am slow😭
We all think you're very special.
I half nothing to add
Should work fine, go extremely slow and run lots of water over it
I’ve also placed a piece of painters tape over tile when cutting to be extra careful in avoiding chipping. Might work here.
Also, cut into all the corners first and then go all the way to avoid chipout at the weak spots. That's a good idea for tile but who knows how a cup will react.
Yup. Get a saw with a laser so you can line the cuts up when you spin it.
Came here to suggest this
I remember something about cutting porcelain fully submerged under water keeps it from cracking or breaking at all.
Let me get my diving-saw…
Easier than that, I believe you etch first then crack underwater to minimize shattering.
Dremel’s EZ SpeedClic Diamond Cutting Wheel (SC545) is excellent for cutting ceramic, porcelain, marble, and tile. Wear your PPE!
My mosaic-ing friends use a dremel
you might want to consider using a lapidary blade. They are much thinner kerf and wont put as much force on the porcelain. I would imagine a thin kerf blade would make a perfect cut here.
Why?
How many?
They just want a half caffeinated cup for after dinner.
Such an optimist. I tend toward a half un-caffeinated cup.
Yes OP, why?! I'm invested.
I'm guessing some sort of art project? Or perhaps interior decoration, like the wall of a new coffee shop.
Duh, they wanna half their caffein intake.
I know it's not a tile saw, but a waterjet can handle this type of cut. I've done it-so i know it works.
Sure, but you can't buy one at Harbor Freight for under $100.
Yeah, waterjets are what's typically used for any "cool cutaway prop" type things.
Without that annoying chip at the end that you get with a saw...
For someone who just wants half a cup of tea?
Ive done this before. I mean perfectly. So here’s the way I did it: take an existing mug that you’ve used and abused with an aeropress for two years. Make sure you can see the physical toll on the mug evidenced by small cracks. Ok now what you’re going to want to do, is to use that same aeropress but grind super fine, like espresso sized. then be sure to use the fellow pressimo Cap with an additional paper filter. You’re going to want maximum pressure here. Now make the coffee as normal, but when pressing try to do it as hard and as fast as possible. The cup should split in two perfect halves and the hot coffee just goes wherever on your pants, the counter, the floor what ever.
Soak some kite string in rubbing alcohol. Tie the kite string around the cup where you want the cut. Light kite string on fire. After a few seconds submerge the entire thing into a sink filled with cold water. You will have a perfect cut in less than a minute.
I don’t think this will work on tea cups. They are generally designed to be able to handle temperature changes.
It works on glass bottles because the glass isn’t and will crack. You can crack a glass bottle just by pouring boiling water in, if a mug cracked from that it wouldn’t be a useful mug.
Yeah it's pretty dubious for ceramics, but also OP should expect to sacrifice a dozen mugs to trial and error so maybe it's worth a shot for the hell of it.
And video the whole thing to post for us!
OP PLEASE DO THIS I wanna know if it works!
Go try it for yourself. I have cut countless liquor bottles and super thick champagne bottles to make cheap drinking glasses using this method. Of course you need to sand down the sharp edges and clean before drinking from them.
Glass and ceramic are different. OP wanna cut coffee mugs, which are ceramic. Unlike glass, ceramic can withstand that temperature change.
It works
Works on glass. Does it also work on ceramic?
Yoooo this right here^
Never tried it, but I would fill it with sand, tape it off, turn it upsidedown, and give it a try?
Submerge it completely in water, and cut slowly
Can you please elaborate on how this would be achieved? All I can picture is OP in the bathtub with his wet saw.
Well it mainly reduces the vibrations and focuses the force at the spot of the cut.
OP in the bathtub with a saw is the solution to a completely different problem. /S
BINGO!
+1
This is the way
This is the correct answer OP.
Putting painters tape over your cut line will help with chipping
Switch to decaf instead
*dechalf
*Half caf
If you know any machine show owners or materials engineers, ask if you can use a wet abrasive saw.
It's basically a paper-thick disc that spins ridiculously fast and has water/abrasive mix continuously sprayed on it.
Kerf goes down to .3mm and no heating/warping issues.
Water jet
Half you tried something smaller, like maybe a dremel or die grinder with a thin abrasive wheel?
Mr. Wonka?
I have no suggestions but wanted you to know I upvoted due to the title lol.
They were so concerned about if they could do it, that they never stopped to consider whether they should
Everyone is saying do this underwater, so this looks like a perfect opportunity to use sharks with laser beams attached to their heads.
The laser beams will give you a nice clean cut.
Probably better to case and fire a clay half cup than cut an existing one
Cast the cup in a solid block of plaster. Cut it, then dissolve the plaster with acid.
Make a coffee cup/tea cup out of porcelain and cut it while it's leather hard.
“Leather Hard” was my gay porn name. I was kicked out of the industry for not paying my union dues. Meh, it’s a story as old as time, I know.
Lots of water.
If you have access to one, a waterjet may do better.
Start with a whole.
Maybe use a hacksaw and do the whole process with cup underwater. For some reason ceramics don't shatter underwater.
You can rent them or buy them . Are you looking for advise on which one or how to ?
Don't use a Sawzall.
This "half" is kinda genius, but also probably an accident lol. made my brain go brrr
Tape inside and outside the cut line with a strong tape. Painters tape won't cut it here, duct tape, or vinyl tape is what you want.
Use a continuous edge diamond cutting disk, not segmented, and have plenty of, water running over it.
Cut one side to the edge of the base, then turn it around and finish the cut from the other side. (You will be less likely to rip the side off, and the base of a cup is usually the thickest, so it makes sense to finish the cut there)
I've never cut a cup, but it may help to fit a piece of ridged insulation to inside the cup to help brace it and dampen vibrations.
Move slowly, particularly at the start and finish.
Wet tiles saws usually have thick blades. If I wanted to do this I would try a dremel with a hand piece with a thin diamond disc.
Maybe try a tile handsaw and do it under water in a big bucket? Works with drilling porcelain
Do you need both halves? You could probably sand one down on a belt sander. They also make diamond blades for bandsaws.
I suggest filling it with something first(Plaster of Paris?). Cutting a "solid" item may help reduce vibration and cracking problems.
Just do it and see what happens
willy wonka, that you?
Cut it just proud of the halfway point. Grind it down to the middle to get rid of the chips.
Depends if you want a perfect cut. Is it for an art show ?
I’m fully aware there is half a cup but the cut is chipped.
If you want a no chip cut then off to your local water jet cutter or you have to buy the tools to cut and polish cermaic tile edges
Cutting it underwater will stop chipping.
take a wet saw and use that to cut it in half. 👍
Step 1: Rent a tile saw from home depot.
Step 2: cut thing in half.
Not sure what else you're looking for?!?
Find a metal fab co. with a water jet
I only half a half of a recommendation.
Find a sheet metal shop with a high pressure water cutter, convince them to run your teacup through.
Also this is definitely r/diwhy material
Just drop it and hope for the best?
Do it underwater.
Slow feed rate. A tile saw is not a table saw. And watch where you stick those fingies... A tile saw will still cut you.
Safety glasses.
Start at the opening so that the edges that are most probable to chip have full support behind them. Cut it so that the blade is moving into the piece rather than pulling out toward the lip of the cup. For example I’d start with the cup basically facing your face, meaning lip facing toward you at a 45 degree angle from the table and starting in on the side of the cup right up near the edge. The goal is to have the stresses you’re applying point toward the uncut bulk of the cup so that you’re not putting force on any edges hanging out. Slow and steady. Be ready to try a couple times. Try it on a goodwill mug first if you have one important one you don’t want to mess up.
A waterjet would probably do a nice job on this.
Do 't use a segmented blade.
Knowing why would probably help.
Most methods have been offered by others for cutting an actual cup.
I'm assuming there's a specific cup you want to cut in half. Do you actually need to cut that cup or would a copy be acceptable?
Basically, mold, cast, cut is my suggestion.
Unless there's a need for an actual cup to be cut.
use painters tape where you are going to cut. I don't know the science behind it, but it helps prevent it from chipping/breaking.
I'm not sure if it works the same for sawing, but if you could keep the entire mug underwater (doing the wet saw works too but may still have risk) that apparently keeps it cool, lubricated, and more space for particles to flow into. It's how you would do it if you wanted to drill a hole in the bottom of a glass or mug.
A waterjet would give better results.
Why not have it waterjetted?
I don't half a clue
If you're cutting back on coffee and only want 1/2 a cup just don't fill it all the way. ;
Get a few cups. You’re gonna break some figuring it out.
I'd fill it with spray foam (or something to help keep it from breaking) and wrap it in tape. Maybe just tape on both sides would be enough.
Does anyone half any recommendations?
depending on the height of your cup, it's going to be hard to buy something that is relatively inepensive due to the depth of blade you will need for this. You could try an angle grinder, not sure if you would end up shattering it though.
I would do a cut from each side - if it does crack it will be at the end and this way the two aligned cuts can help control where the crack will go.
buy several "test" cups to practice - don't try to cut the one you want on the first try.
Just buy a smaller cup
I'm hoping OP wants to do this to a cup and add a trough in between so the up is a foot wide.
Isn't there a method to do this with thermal cracking? You shape a wire and run a current through it so it's red hot, then plunge the itemand it cracks exactly along the line it was heated?
I know this is a pretty floaty thought but I'm thinking of some shit I saw on YouTube like. . . Years ago.
They make smaller cups you don’t have to go through all this trouble.
You could just fill the cup halfway, instead of physically cutting it in half. The half-cup won't really hold liquid properly anyway.
I've seen videos hammering a nail into a ceramic cup in the air tends to break it; however, nailing into a cup under water makes the hole without breaking the cup. Considering this data point...
If it were me trying to cut a cup under water, I'd try the following:
- Tape a towel into the center of the cup, stuffing enough material in the cup and taping it shut that you have some internal structural pressure while cutting.
- Submerge your cup with towel taped inside into your half-filled kitchen sink.
- Using a Dremel with a Flex Shaft attachment and a ceramic cutting tip, score the line on the outside, where you want to half the cup. Score a line on the inside too. Then continue to deepen the score lines until the cup separates. The Flex shaft is not electric, so the Dremel can be out of the water while the flex shaft will be fine submerged in the water.
- You could even try (after you score the cup) heating the cup up in the microwave, boiling water in it. Then remove the now hot cup, toss out the boiling water, and submerge it in ice water... might split easily at your score lines ... or maybe not and you'll have to score deeper.
Get 2 identical cups and cut both into 2 60% and 40% pieces, making sure that the 60% portion of the second one is the same side of the cup as the 40% portion of the first cup. Then use a belt sander with a really smooth grit, sanding each down to perfect halves
Definitely have a method to retain the cut other than your hand while doing this cut.
We tile saws generally use a diamond abrasive blade, they won't really cut flesh unless you really lean into it.
Dear diary, today I met a tile saw!
Cup
Cutting porcelain is more difficult than regular tile. Make sure you have a brand new high quality blade. Also make sure the cup is secured to the cutting tray so it doesn’t wobble around, because that will cause chipping too. You also need to experiment with the right blade speed. Too fast or too slow can cause chipping.
This might be the only decent comment in the thread.
Don’t forget eyewear, there will be shards flying
Perhaps fill with water and freeze first. Helps keep blade straight and cool, also helps prevent chipping
Basically, cutting the ice "cube" in half, too? I like this idea. I was thinking of some water, but this i feel would work well.
Maybe not, though. A few test runs would have to do
Using fresh clay works well. You cover the whole cup with clay,inside and outside. It prevents chipping on the edge too,like tape helps chipping wood when you cut it.
When they make trumpets they fill the brass tubes with soapy water and then freeze them before bending, so they are filled with a low-density ice, it stops the tubes from kinking when they make the bends. Not relevant to this in the least, but your suggestion reminded me of it.
Most wet saws pump water already…
The water will expand as it freezes and crack the cup.
It’s a cup, not a sealed bottle. Water will expand upwards.
There are circumstances where this is not true. Often the surface of the water will be the first to freeze, and if it has good cohesion to the rim of the cup the rest of the water will essentially be freezing in a sealed container.
Source: put a mug of liquid in the freezer once and it cracked when the liquid froze.
Could use a non water liquid or a mix. Water is the only liquid that expands as it freezes
Not true! OP is going to have a horrible time when they fill the cup with molten bismuth and then it breaks it on freezing.
Bismuth expands too? Google time
Edit:
For anyone interested jt seems to have a pyramid structure and thats why it expands as it solidifies. Similar principles to water scarily enough.
From what I was seeing they can even get it to form square hydrogen bonds of a sort similar to how water likes to make hexagons (6 sides)
It’s pretty much a pointless technicality, since its melting point is 520.6°F.
But Stience!
It would be pointless but I did learn something so theres that
Maybe candle wax. The trouble with the whole concept is that any saw is going to create enough heat to melt whatever liquid is used. Water, with its extremely high heat capacity, would melt least but wax will melt easily, despite a higher freezing temperature.
Wax would probably get everywhere.
Maybe a foam or jell to keep shape and cut easily but not melt 🤷♂️
Unless they’re about to drop a bit more than a couple hundred bucks for a wet saw I highly doubt they’ll have access to a variable speed.
It’s going to chip no matter what. You’ll want a diamond sanding pad, 220 grit will be acceptable, for after making the cut. The sanding pad will make the edge very clean.