I have tiled with all kind of tile in the past. When redoing my kitchen I custom ordered hand painted tiles to match the odd color of the granite. So I only had enough tiles for the project without breaking a single one. So I decided to split the two evils and rent a table saw. When everything was said and done I tried to manually cut one of the tiles to see if it could be done without chipping the finish. To my surprise it worked fine.
The question is this. Are there any guide lines for cutting tile without a table saw, and instead using a manual saw with a guide? For years I have cut plain white tile with a hand saw and I get perfect cuts every time, but for something like terracotta I get chips. Also are there any procedural steps that work better for some tiles than others, for instance when cutting a thick tile, I use a hack saw for the first cuts into the finish, then switch over to a true tile hand saw to handle the "meat" of the tile. In this way the finish and features on the tile remain unchipped.
Best Answer
For cutting porcelain or ceramic tile, standard practice is to use:
You can use a diamond blade with a hacksaw to cut holes, but it won't be very efficient.
If you have mostly straight lines, you can get away with a decent manual cutter and perhaps a pair of nippers. A wet saw makes the job go faster, but is not necessary.