Dry cutting can be done, but I would be afraid that the ceramic dust would wreck the saw.
Bill

 

Check the rpm's on the saw and the blade. I would worry about the safety aspect of it, the miter saw has a plastic guard meant to prevent wood chips from coming back at you, if a tile splinters or the blade shatters due to stress and/ or higher rpm's it would go right through that guard and into you.

 

I was thinking no, but I looked on Amazon and found where people bought a 12" diamond blade and cut bricks with a miter saw. They said it worked great. The blade was about $50.

 

Go ahead and wreck a $350 saw instead of spending half of that for a cheap wet saw that will do a much better job. Anyway, any tile saw I have ever used had a 4 or 5" diamond blade. I get the catalogs from the place I buy my stone tumbling stuff from (Kingsley North…price of bigger blades is beyond my budget).

 

This is enough input to lead me to abandon, and give this idea no more consideration.

I do no need a tile saw. I do need to figure out wha to do with a 12" compound miter saw, that I no longer have any real use for.

FWIW< teejk, I only WISH it was a $350 saw, but since I may end up giving it to a charity, it isn't worth quite that much to me.

.

 

This is enough input to lead me to abandon, and give this idea no more consideration.

I do no need a tile saw. I do need to figure out wha to do with a 12" compound miter saw, that I no longer have any real use for.

FWIW< teejk, I only WISH it was a $350 saw, but since I may end up giving it to a charity, it isn t worth quite that much to me.

.

- jimintx

Jim…what's wrong with saw? I assume it's the single bevel model 705 and if one of the older ones it has to worth something unless it's missing parts. Mine is probably 15 years old now and has been a true friend. Looked at some of the newer ones and sad to see that they look cheap. But I understand your problem. I can't think of any alternative uses for one other than to do rough cutting so you so save your good blades. Back to the tile saw…years ago I bought a "cheapo" wet saw from HD (was $79 I think) to do a small tiling job. Was thinking it would be a "throw-away" but that saw survived to do the extensive tiling in this house and still lives to help on my MIL's remodel projects!

 

teejk, there isn't anything wrong with it. It hasn't even been used all that much, however it is a "few years old" now, so shows that level of age. I simply have more saws than I need or can use. That's why I keep trying to think of an interesting way to utilize it.

It is a DW705, type 5, compound miter saw. I watched a few on ebay a while back, and it looked like they sold for around 75 to maybe 100 bucks, and then the shipping was 40-50 more. Craigslist is nearly useless in the city of Houston for a number of reasons, so I have not simply popped it on there to see if it would sell.

For now it occupies a shelf, gathering dust and increasing clutter, at a time that I am working really hard to get my whole shop cleaned up and well organized and comfortable to work in.

This is the background that caused me to think, "Well, what useful thing could I do with it?"

;

 

Tile saws are almost always like a table saw, the tile slides past the blade. The chopping action of a miter saw would work poorly, though in a pinch….

Of course you can get diamond blades that are rated for dry cutting. I use one on my 14" metal chop saw to cut pavers, but for tile I have (several) wet saws, much better suited for this work.

If you are looking for a use for the saw, an abrasive metal cutting blade can be very useful if you ever find yourself cutting pipe, etc. I keep my old 10" miter saw (cheap Delta refurbish) around for cutting pallet wood and other 'questionable' items that I'd rather keep away from my new miter saw.
I actually use it more now than before since I'm not worried about trashing it.

 

I have a delta 10 inch I bought almost 20 years ago because it was the cheapest thing going at the time, it has cut very little wood, I use it with an abrasive blade to cut metal with, I used it weekend before last to cut some home made joist hangers out of angle. I wouldn't want a picture frame made using it but it has made a pretty good chop saw for me and has made many tree climbers and lock on's for me my family and friends and while it is limping slightly it just keeps on keepin on.

creek

 

I have a delta 10 inch I bought almost 20 years ago because it was the cheapest thing going at the time, it has cut very little wood, I use it with an abrasive blade to cut metal with, I used it weekend before last to cut some home made joist hangers out of angle. I wouldn t want a picture frame made using it but it has made a pretty good chop saw for me and has made many tree climbers and lock on s for me my family and friends and while it is limping slightly it just keeps on keepin on.

creek

- smithcreek

Guess I would take a chance on metal…but not tile! Wet-saw is the way to go there (keeps the blade cool and minimizes that bad dust). OP doesn't think it is worth much…new it probably sold for $350 or more…I'd guess in "little used" condition it should still command $200 or more. I looked at mine today and see that also is "type 5"...solid machine that apart from brushes should last a long time.

 

Granite/Tile shops use diamond blades on that saw and others all the time. You WILL NOT ruin the saw. A good quality continuous rim diamond blade works. Just have to let the diamond work and not use elbow grease to get through it. On those saws, granite guys use segmented diamond blades.

 

I appreciate all these thoughts. Here is where you have helped me settle on this topic:

It is totally correct that my old 12" - DW705 compound is a very solid saw, although that model is no longer offered. I often feel bad about spending the money I did to get a different one. As many woodworkers are prone to do, I convinced myself I had to have one with more crosscut capacity. So, ... Hi Ho!

I like the plan off having a spare, easily moved, possibly rough-duty, saw on hand. The 705 isn't even very heavy to cart around by hand. For now I will just be creative about where to store it. I suspect it will go on the shelf under the right wing extension on my unisaw. I think I will put a note in my iPhone calendar to remind me to reconsider it all in 6 months. If it is still unused and dusty, I will figure out a way to sell it for at least something.

 

I bought a cheapo Harbor Freight miter saw just for the purpose of cutting other-than-wood materials…I have metal cutoff blades and diamond blades that I use with it.
I would not want to use my good miter saw for any other purpose than making sawdust.

 

I bought a cheapo Harbor Freight miter saw just for the purpose of cutting other-than-wood materials…I have metal cutoff blades and diamond blades that I use with it.
I would not want to use my good miter saw for any other purpose than making sawdust.

- theSoutherner

I bought a "cheapy" 10" saw as well…works ok (not great) for smaller stuff like baseboard and casings and if push came to shove I would use that for anything that didn't require the precision of that DW705. If the OP was closer I would gladly take that saw off his hands for more than what he thinks it's worth. Btw, recently picked up a new DeWalt 12" 80T blade for that DW705…$60 but worth every dime!