Need help to cut Honeycomb Ceramic Tile

[ozsteamdemon]

Hi all , having bought commercial ceramic gas burners to fire my boilers in the past , i now want to make my own ceramic burners in custom sizes .
I have just obtained 2 Honeycomb ceramic tiles measuring 136mm x 96 x 12
How can i
A) Cut straight lines
B) Cut circles

Is there a simple quick and easy way to accurately cut the stuff ?

 

[Penguingeoff]

If it was me I would use my glass/tile saw. Warrior have them for between 100 and 150 $. Another one to try would be Stone disc in an angle grinder. I used this method to cut ceramic tiles for my wifes mosaics. The glass/tile saw makes it SO much easier. The one I have is a GMC LSTSAW. cost me 150 from Mitre10. Comes with a rip fence, can be set to cut angles. I have cut reasonably accurate circles in 20mm thick glass with it (water fed and you get drowned using it). Hope this helps. Geoff

 

[Penguingeoff]

Forgot to ask, where did you get the tiles from. I have found something similar in the Peppertown catalog.

 

[ozsteamdemon]

Here

http://www.ajsonline.com.au/index-Tools Catalogue 2008.html

I went there to buy it over the counter to save on postage costs .

 

[Blogwitch]

Is the honeycomb you have just bought very light in weight with a close grained texture, very similar to rigid building foam sheeting, and soft enough to scrape some away with your fingernail?

If it doesn't have both those properties, I am sorry to say that you have got hold of the wrong stuff for making steam boiler burners out of.

If it does have those properties, then you can easily cut it with a razor saw with a craft knife for final dressing or even gently file it away with a file.. If care is taken in how you hold it, it can be machined very easily.

The hard, heavy and dense ceramic stuff is just no use for the radiant burners as we know them.

The correct burner material is used in mobile, butane bottle fed, gas heaters.

The picture below shows a couple of burnt out ceramic burners. They need replacing when the tops of the pyramid shape wear away, as it is that which glows red hot and gives off the high radiant heat required.

Bogs

 

[ozsteamdemon]

Thanks P/G for trying , but i dont have a tile saw , and i should have said that i need to do this on the cheap .

Thanks Bogs , it seems i got the wrong stuff , its the hard stuff , i couldn`t even scratch it with the corner of a 6" rule , and it doesn`t have the pointy bits either .
But all is not lost , i`m thinking it might still be ok for running the Wilesco toy steamers on low heat , and provide some practice at cutting the stuff .

Searching the web , i found that Poly Engineering U.K. has some , but i`m not sure of which type . I gotta say , i need to get this right because i need to fire my newly made water tube boiler to its full potensial , and after that , i have plans for some more ambitious boiler making projects .

So , unfortunatly , this sets me back a few weeks , but i have other jobs that can be done while i`m waiting .

 

[kf2qd]

I know you have already been warned that this may be teh wrong stuff... Know anyone with a waterjet machine? can cut the hardest stuff with minimal damage to the part you want, just costs a bit...

Pete

 

[Blogwitch]

Oz,

Even though the plates from Polly seem expensive, if care is taken, you can get a few burners out of each one. IIRC I used to get about four 2" diameter ones like those shown plus a few small oblong ones out of one piece. You will most probably need spares anyway, because even water getting onto them gradually dissolves the pyramids away, and so loses efficiency. I changed mine about every six months when I used to steam my model boats regularly.

You can buy cheap hand use tile cutting saws from most DIY stores for only a few readies. They are like a largish bent metal 6" hacksaw but with a tungsten coated round blade in them (2 to 3mm diameter), and well worth having in your arsenal, as they will cut a lot of other hard things as well.

Fifth tool down on here.

http://www.diydata.com/tool/tiling_tools/tiling_tools.php


Bogs

 

[tmuir]

OZ,

The type you have may not be the optimum material, but this is the material Mamod uses to make the gas burners for their models.
I've got one of their burners fitted with the stuff you have.
I have not used it yet as the fuel tank needs new gaskets as it leaks around the regulator on it though so can't tell you how good it is.