| | |  | Wet Saw | Home » » » Qep Tile Tools 83200 24-Inch Bridge Saw | | | | | | | Description: | | Qep #1 selling Wet Saw. This Laser guide saw gets both small and large jobs done fast.
*for porcelain and hard tiles, we recommend Qep's Black Widow Blade (#Q68008BW)
Includes:
- Fold-out stand with wheel attachments
- Convenient storage shelf
- 8 in. continuous rim wet
diamond blade (#6-8003CR)
- High volume water pump (#60098)
- Laser cutting guide (#63025)
- Angle/rip cutting guide
- Handles | | | Features: | |
• Rips tile 24 inches square and 18 inches diagonal; powerful 1-1/2-horsepower, 18-inch diagonal motor
• Includes water pump, 8-inch continuous rim wet diamond blade, 45 degree angle cutting guide, fold-out stand
• Linear, diagonal, and 45-degree angle cuts; adjustable leg for setup on uneven surfaces; accepts 8-inch blade with standard 5/8-inch arbor
• Motor trolley unit, rides on six ball bearings for improved cutting
• Qep 1 year Limited Warranty
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 37.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 18.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 47.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 85.0 pounds | | Package Length:
| 39.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 20.2 inches | | Package Height:
| 19.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 106.0 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 13 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Not for professionalsFeb 06, 2010
We purchased this saw to make dead accurate rips on 36" tile. It failed. We tried crosscuts on 24" tile and had blade runout of almost a 1/4" This might be a fine tolerance for a DIY'er or a client who is not picky. We have zero joint lines and this machine ruined several hundred dollars in tile before we stopped the operator. I tried several blades, none inexpensive and had the runout problem with all. It seems that the arbor bends the further the saw gets into a cut.
 QEP 83200 -- good value, great customer serviceFeb 04, 2010
Read the reviews, and this seemed the choice for serious amateur needing to do about $4K of 15-inch Italian porcelein tile on the diagonal. I haven't cut tile yet, but thought I'd give my receipt and assembly feedback.
o UPS was terrible. The guy who delivered it--this is a big, heavy box--didn't use a hand truck. I'm sure they dropped it repeatedly because when I opened it, a full width/depth shelf that sits part way down the legs was seriously bent in both axes. It's tough stuff; I couldn't bend it back without making a total mess of it. The shelf sits upright along the back side of the box--fills the whole box height and width, so there was no crush space, which is likely a good thing. The big styrofoam end pieces on either end of the saw were crushed and broken and it took a lot of vacuuming to clean up a million pieces of sticky styrofoam. I think the shelf served as protection for the bridge, so good for QEP and bad on Amazon/UPS.
o I called QEP and explained what happened, and the first thing the customer service person said was, email me the invoice and your mailing address and we'll send you a replacement. Is that cool or what? So mark that down for 6-stars. You just gotta love and trust a vendor that'll absorb the hit, especially since I'll bet Amazon plays hardball on pricing.
o I'm basically impressed with the saw and the fit and finish. It's not a use-it-8-hours-a-day $1500 professional version, but I can imagine happily tiling everything up to and including my casket with it. I got out the straight edge and checked the bridge and table surface for damage from UPS, and all seems ok. I'm impressed how tightly the saw runs in the bridge. No play that I can feel. I need to cut tile (not pavers), so other comments about lack of cutting depth don't matter to me.
o Since I have a lot of repetitive cuts, I'll use my Bosch sliding dual mitre saw to make some jig pieces that I'll clamp in place. The angle and bevel guages on the saw seem fine, nicer than I expected actually. It's obviously not as precise as the Bosch--which can slice a fly's wing--but the settings seem very repeatable and the various knobs for tightening feel smooth and progressive, which is what really counts.
o The laser assembles easily but requires full adjustment in rotation (you can make the laser line perpendicular to the cut line if you want) and sliding horizontally perpendicular to the blade. I'm not sure how much I'll need to trust it since I'd prefer to just clamp an extra piece of ipe or something hard and straight to really lock in the tile piece for repetitive cuts.
o There were some comments about the wheels being rickety. Not sure if QEP read the comments and made a change, but there are some pretty big wheels that you can clamp onto the legs either near the floor (to wheel the table setup around) or up a ways (to wheel the folded up setup off to storage--like one of those rolling carry-ons).
o I liked the built-in leveler in one of the legs. You turn a knob and an insert in the leg goes in an out. Seems good enough to prevent rocking.
o I did turn it on and it was smooth and quiet. I plan to buy a good blade since there's a no-name in the box. They really have no choice at this price point but to put anything in there so Joe User can open the box and start cutting.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
4.5 out of 5 for this one, not sure why others are complaining...Nov 16, 2009
I almost stopped unpacking this and returned it to Lowes (got it for $279 today on sale) from reading the reviews and I was very hesitant, but when I unpacked it, everything was pretty much set up nicely and snapped into place.
The ONE thing that I can see why people rated it lower was due to the same problem of the vibration of the blade. I put on a brand new Dewalt diamond 8 inch blade and I didn't have it completely clamped into place, because when I turned it on, it was VERY wobly. I stopped, opened up the blade change system, and made sure that I held the blade right up against the black interior blade holder while I squeezed it together with the outer aluminum colored blade holder and screwed on the screw. Instantly different! So, make sure you do this and double/triple check if the blade is not true and rotating in sync with how a normal blade should rotate.
So, on to the good stuff. I had been cutting tile with a cheapo 80 dollar table top tile saw (chippy-mcgee from HD) and then got a Ryobi mitre saw that was the worst thing every to try and cut a straight line. I spent 5 hours trying to get a perfect set up to simply cut a tile, unsuccessfully after 6 attempts, I threw in the towell and told the wife that if I was going to do this 2nd shower perfectly with the travertine tile, I would need better equipment. HD had some nice products, but they were all $500 and $700 respectively. I couldn't justify that. But neither could I justify renting a machine for $50 per day and use it for 24 hours, rushing to get through and probably end up spending $100+ on a rental.
So, off to Sears, and they had NOTHING in stock to see...Disappointed, I ran to Lowes because they had some tile saws online but this one I'm reviewing wasn't on their website. I got there and it was on sale for under $280! AND it could cut over the size of 16" travertine that I needed to use it for. Perfect.
Got home, opened the box, everything was packed nicely, protected well and seemed to be 90% together when I took it out of the box. Needed to put in the blade (again, refer to the above, MAKE SURE you are sandwiching that blade in between the inner and outer blade holding collars before tightening it up snug), the laser guide (which CAN be made exact, you just have to be a bit patient and fine tune it prior to putting it on the saw, and fine tune it a bit more when you put it on the saw...patience pays off) requires 2 AAA batteries, so pick some up if you plan on using it.
The handle and the wheels were the last things to be put on and the wheels ARE useful if you put them about 1/4 to 1/2 inch above the ground toward the end that the motor will stay at. Lean it toward the wheels and it rolls around the shop with ease, and the frame doesn't feel flimsy at all to me, especially when I'm rolling it around, it's pretty heavy duty!
As for the grill looking shelf, it does attach from the inside which is strange, but 4 long zip-ties later, the thing is as snug and secure as you could want. and it seems to be a great idea and very useful when finding a place to put your cut or uncut tile.
So, I started it up and immediately had to cut a tile 5 1/4 inches. Did so in about 45 seconds from set up to the cut being finished. The cut was so smooth, I didn't know which was the original side and which was the cut. Only some slight cut marks on the cut side were visible, so that made me feel MUCH better about my purchase.
I needed to cut another piece at 5 1/4 inches on one end and 5 5/16 on the other. This thing set up, and I squared it initially using a solid one piece square that I had, and then simply adjusted the square about .5 of a degree. Ta-da, 5 1/4 and 5 5/16. Its just about too damn good to be true, but this saw already is a winner in my book.
It also cleans up well and has a well placed plug to help drain the water out. You can basically wipe it down with a mildly damp towell like you're drying your car. I found it not to be messy clean up at all and it looked relatively new after clean up. The pump seems well enclosed and I would trim out the power supply cord holder that is a keyhole fashioned hole to hold the pumps power supply cord. It was way too snug, and if you want to take it apart and make sure there's no water left in the pump and clean it to extend the life of your equipment, I would suggest taking some snippers and opening up that hole to let the cord safely sit and be pulled out without it being an act of congress to get it loose from the plastic box inside the water pan that it sits in.
With a little patience and time spent on set up, I could easily refer this to a friend.
I think I got what I paid for and then some. Don't hesitate to get the $30 warranty at Lowes like I did, just in case you get a lemon, but if you don't, this sucker is pretty useful and mechanically sound for it's price!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 good sawNov 06, 2009
I had the same problem with the water tube, but I cut the end off and put it back together. When I first put on the blade, it wobbled so I took it off and put it on right. It is amazing how well something works when you put it together right. The saw cuts very straight and fast. I haven't used the laser and don't plan to. I have no complaints for now. Make sure the blade is on correctly or it might break the tiles.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Very good for a DIY'r but you MUST have a brain.Oct 30, 2009
I got this saw on sale at Lowe's near where I live. I did a lot of research on saws, and I was afraid to purchase one, but I have about 1000 sq ft plus that I need to tile so I bit the bullet and got this unit despite the mixed reviews on this site. I will attempt to answer questions that I had, that maybe you have.
Setup was very easy BUT the tubing from the pump to the saw was cracked when I bought it. No biggie got some new tubing at the store ($1.16 for 8ft) and plumbed it up on the outside of the pump power cable with zip ties. My suggestion for this part, is to zip tie the main power cord to the pump/tubing cord so it will move nice and not get caught on the table.
Other then that the saw works great. It cuts way faster then I ever thought even with the stock blade. It only sprays a few drops of water off of the table so you may want a platic drop mat or go outside. I set it up in my basement and had no issues just shop vacced at the end of the day. Maybe 1/4 of a gallon after 50 cuts. I didn't use the wheels or the laser. I would recommend using a combination square to set the guide for diagonal cuts. Other than that I really like my results.
| | |
|
