How can I safely break tiles?

Question

Hello. I have a quite unique art project in mind but I want to be safe in doing so. I’d like to break tiles into tiny little pieces and then glue them to a bare globe to make the shape of the world’s continents… how can I do this safely, from breaking the tiles into bits and shards to applying them to the globe. I’d encase the globe after or keep it in a high place so no one tries to spin it and cut themselves. Maybe it’s just a year and a half of this pandemic, has driven me to boredom haha, I am retired so I’m trying to find new hobbies. Anyway, I won't use up any more of your time. Kind Regards.

James · Accepted Answer

Great question, there’s a number of ways in which you can do this, the tools you will need will include a tile cutter, steel rule, tipped scribe, tile marker and some painters tape. 

Practice! Find some old tiles and practice scoring the tiles and breaking them with the cutter and also using the wheel on the cutter. Use the painter's tape to help you be more accurate and don’t forget to use the crayon to mark your tiles using an alphanumeric system. 

This is if you’re going for accuracy? If you’re looking to actually smash them why not wrap them in Clingfilm or tape and sandwich between something thing like 2mm and go at with a hammer? 

You can also buy specialist tile files to help minimise the risk of the shards cutting also.

Arjan · Answer

You can break them easily, the way you want to break them is to make sure no one is around, yeah you cover them with cotton  sheet end hit them with a hammer

Ikbal · Answer

Use eye safety glasses and and use tiny tool to remove tiles by a soft hand

Nigel · Answer

I would put towels over tiles before tapping with a hammer then use nibbler pliers to get the required size.

How can I safely break tiles?

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