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

I love this saw. I use it to cut up plates, tiles, cups and salt and pepper shakers to make mosaics. It’s easy to use and very portable. Dot dill to dull of water or you will get drenched but you’re gonna get wet because it’s a wet saw. The noise level isn’t too bad but you can definitely hear it. It seems to be durable, I’ve had it for years. If it broke, I’d buy it again. It’s nice piece of machinery and does what I need.

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!

I needed a decent tile saw i had a shower and floor job to tile so i looked at slowes and HD and started to get ideas and prices and the Kobalt one was out of my budget I only wanted to spend around 100$ or more and then I saw the Skil tile saw but it was the cheaper one for like 8p $ and honestly aftee seeing seeing some reviews and stuff it just seemed too cheap so I checked Amazon as I often do and came across this tile saw which was a little more expensive but I decided that it was the way to go with the features and overall price for it. When I got it and finally used it I noticed some good and bad things so the bad first since I gave it a 4 star and your possibly wondering why as soon as I cut some basic 13x13 tile it scratched the surface like really easily I didnt think it would so that makes me wonder how long it will hold up over time then the 2nd major thing is the adjustable track it seems really hard to keep square and obviously thats the biggest part of cutting tile I mean I knew this wasnt the top of the line saw but it moved some on me after I tightened it down and you really haft to tighten it down like hard for it not to budge its an annoyance to meI wish it had a rack and pinion like a table saw does but thats wishful thinking so anyway thats about the worst of it the good is that it seems to come with a decent blade and that you can cut up to 18 inch tile I like that and the water reservoir seems good and the adjustable guard is good so all in all besides those 2 flaws I think I got a good tile saw for a reasonable amount and I got the job done thankfully with its help!

Got this for a few tile projects around the house since 2 days of renting a tile saw would cost just as much and I didn't want to be rushed. Very much homeowner DIY. As a complete novice at all of this I can say I'm reasonably pleased with the purchase. It was very easy to set up and mostly straightforward to use. If you've ever used a table saw this is going to feel about the same. The one thing I really wished was in the manual or available as a heads up is that bevel cuts aren't as straightforward as you'd think. Yes, the saw has a plate that tilts up to give you the right angle, that's the good part. The not so good part is that if you slide the tile along in contact with the bottom you can't get a clean cut, it'll be all snaggletooth. The magic trick to making it work is to hold the tile up just a bit from the base (full contact with tilted plate, no contact with the rest of the saw base) so that there is maybe 1 mm of tile body left under the skinny edge. The big downside of this being it becomes really tricky to make a straight cut as your guide is gone. I ended up jerry rigging a sort of guide to keep it the right height that helped, but it's not as good as something built in would be. Also you need some patience while using this. If you try to put the tile through too fast the saw will stall. Not unusual for saws, but good to know. The other catch is the guide gate can be a bit hard to get properly secured. Uses a twist knob that you really have to tighten down to get to not move. Would have been nice if the manufacturer had put something with a bit more leverage than the knob given how tight it needs to be. Can be a bit tricky if you have tendinitis or something similar to contend with. All in all I'd say it's doing a decent job with my 12x24 porcelain tile. If you're like me and a novice coming into this definitely plan on wasting 2 or 3 tiles figuring out the tricks. It's not hard, but like everything in life practice makes a big difference.

I recently moved several states away, so I gave my good tile saw to my son. I don’t remember the brand, but I think I paid about $300 or $350 for it. It had a sliding table, a pump for the reservoir, and a blade that could plunge. I decided to do a backsplash of small stacked subway tiles, each tile an inch wide and 6” long. After reading all of the GOOD reviews for this saw on Amazon with a 4.4 overall rating, I figured it would be adequate for the small tile. Boy was I wrong! Yesterday was the first time I used it, but I bought it over a month ago, so now I can’t send it back. I bought the saw with the hydro lock so I could use it on my kitchen island. It vibrated and danced all over my island - almost to the edge! I tried cutting with it and it was slow going because it kept chipping the tile. Also, the tile had to be pushed through with a lot of effort and kept binding. So I figured it must be the cheap blade it came with. I bought a new diamond blade and tried it today - same things happened! Chips, drag, vibration, binding, and a water shield that moves all over and rattles when trying to cut the tile. There was only one positive - the hydro lock did do it’s job as long as I held it down on the tile while I was trying to cut it. I’ve tiled floors and backsplashes before, not an expert, but not a novice either. Even though my former saw was more expensive, I know that a wet saw shouldn’t vibrate and dance across the table! So I came back here to Amazon this evening to revisit the reviews. This time I pulled up the 1 star reviews. They all reported the same issues as I experienced, except I didn’t see anyone mention their saw moving across the table because of the vibration. Maybe I got a defective one? So I put rubber grippers under each of the feet, but that only improved it slightly. I never even thought to check for negative reviews with the 4.4 rating. I won’t make that mistake again! I have a Skil miter saw and it works fine, but I don’t recommend this wet saw. It doesn’t matter if it’s inexpensive, it’s a waste of money. Wish I could return it.

We used this saw to cut 12 x 24 porcelain tiles for our bathroom which has no parallel walls, offset hip and knee walls, a curved bathtub base, and an oval toilet flange. We laid the tiles lengthwise so we had many 24" cuts. The good: very little water escapes when cutting, built-in scales front and back are accurate, blade cuts true when correctly installed, view windows in the blade guard make it easy to line up blade with any lines especially when freehand cutting, easy to move from one place to another. The not so good: rip fence doesn't hold without additional clamping, supplied blade not the best for smooth cuts, unusual shape of overflow port makes it difficult to attach any sort of hose. Overall: After the first couple of cuts we spent $50 on a better blade which dramatically improved the quality. We had to use clamps on each end of the rip fence to obtain straight cuts because it would shift no matter how much we tightened it. Once we added the clamps we got true cuts each time by lining up the fence with the built-in markings front and back. You must precisely adjust the riving knife dead center with the blade. Keeping the water clean makes a big difference in the smoothness of the cuts. Take your time, measure twice, cut slowly. We're very happy with the results.

I wanted to wait until after our flooring project was done before writing a review, so here I am. Overall, it served its purpose, and I only went through 2 blades for the entire project. I picked up a replacement blade at a local big-box store. The unit itself did okay, but I will tell you that guide doesn't work well. My tile will sometimes grab it and not glide very smoothly, and it was VERY difficult to get both ends to line up square. You couldn't really go by the measurements (ruler) provided, because the black plastic end caps was slightly not flush with the aluminum piece. So most times, I had to eye ball it. Having said that, you do get what you pay for. We were able to complete the master bath and water closet, the 2nd bathroom, the laundry room, the dining room, and kitchen. AND, the unit still works. So, yes, we got our money out of it. If you only need it for a small project like ours, it should do fine. If you need more complex cuts where exact measurements matter, then spend the extra money for a better one. As the instructions say, be sure to put a coat of auto wax on the surface every few hours of use. It helps the tile glide better. Also, change out the water every hour or so.

I have never used a wet saw before, so I can't compare this to another product. What I can say is that for me, a complete and utter beginner with using a wet saw, this wet saw works great. The set up of the product was easy, taking only a few minutes. The hardest part was getting the circular blade properly mounted; that took a couple of minutes. After that, it was simply a matter of adding water into the reservoir and using the saw. I cut 3/8" granite tiles, 18" x 18". As others advised, I took my time, but the blade had no problem cutting the granite. The dual ruler markings make it easy to align and make straight cuts. The guard over the blade works great--it keeps the saw from spitting water everywhere. The top of the saw has channels which capture water and direct it back into the reservoir. Nice. There's a side extension, which was somewhat useful. The guide locks well and the engraved rulers are accurate and extremely useful. I made about 50 different cuts of all my granite tiles and they were all perfect. Yes, this saw is slightly more pricey than the other saw that's really popular here. But for me, the extra price of this Skil saw was worth it for the power and relative lack of water spitting. I feel pretty confident that I could tackle some more tile jobs around the house, saving me a lot of money. If a complete beginner/amateur like me can use this saw and feel good about it, then this must be a five-star product. Highly recommended.

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

Es silencioso, de buena potencia, aunque me hubiera gustado que el tamaño del equipo fuera mas grande, ello, es decir su tamaño lo limita en no poder cortar piezas grandes.

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.

Used to cut my 24in x 24in ceramic (porcelain) in my bathroom. The support which is holding the protective case of the blade is hard to adjust properly to be aligned it with the blade to make sure the tile is not hitting it. Also the guide bar is hard to install on the plastic sliding bar extension. However, the project has been done with a very good success.