Tiler’s Tips for cutting very small glass mosaic pieces with a snap tile cutter

With a good manual snap tile cutter it’s possible to cut many types of glass mosaic, even mosaic composed by very small glass abaculi.
It is important to have the right equipment and follow some simple steps:

1. Purchase a manual tile cutter with a nylon or plastic split system. This type of product does not damage glass or ceramics surfaces and since it is slightly flexible, it reduces the possibilities of cracking the glass mosaic during the splitting process.

2. Before placing the mosaic on the tile cutter, make sure that the painted part of the mosaic is not in direct contact with the metal part of the cutter. Very often when you press to open the incision, if the mosaic is in direct contact with the cutter, the paint on the glass tile may be damaged, with a poor final aesthetic result during laying. It is therefore recommended the use of a special accessory, a rubber mosaic pad, that added to the cutter helps keeping the paint on the back of the mosaic intact.

3. Place the sheet of glass mosaic in the desired position making sure that the surface on which you will make the incision is dry and as clean as possible. Use a damp cloth to remove water and dirt from the surface. Do not apply too much strength when making the incision.

4. Place the scoring wheel at the beginning of the mosaic, on the first small glass tile, hold the mosaic in place with one hand and incise all tiles with a constant but moderate pressure. If you press too much the surface finishing cut will not be optimal.

5. Now gently use the split system in nylon or plastic to open each individual glass tile by applying the required strength, depending on the type of glass, its thickness, as well as type finishing desired.

Back view of glass mosaic cut with manual tile cutter – no chipping on the paint

It is important to keep in mind that the size of the splitting system is not directly connected to the possibility of splitting small or very small mosaic tiles. Even when the splitting system is large (like the one shown in the pictures above), if the tile cutter you use has a springy framework, the splitting system can cut extremely small mosaic tiles or remove just a few millimeters from the outer sides of the glass mosaic tile in case of need. The photos below show how it is possible and very easy to cut small pieces of glass mosaic with a Montolit snap tile cutter using a powerful but flexible splitting system and a springy framework.

Some notes:

Not all types of mosaic can be cut properly with a manual snap tile cutter. Much depends on the type of glass and the geometry of each individual tile. If the surface of the mosaic has a very strong texture you will not succeed in making a good incision and as a consequence the glass mosaic may break. In this case there will be the need to use a water cooled electric cutter with a special diamond blade for cutting glass as for example the CPV by Montolit.