Artisan Power Nipper for Ceramic and Marble

Mosaic Art Supply is proud to be one of the first online retailers to carry the new Artisan Power Nipper, model 32016. This is a sophisticated and ergonomic hand tool for cutting hard materials such as ceramic, marble, and porcelain. The Artisan Power Nipper is a compression nipper just like our regular mosaic tile cutter, but it has improvements to appeal to professional mosaic artists who are cutting lots of hard tiles all the time. Weighs less than the traditional mosaic tile nipper (8 oz instead of 11.4 oz) Has thicker, more comfortable handle grips Precision titanium carbide blades make cleaner cuts Rubber bump stops reduce impact shock when the cut is made QEP Model # 32016 This tool cuts hard materials that are between 4mm (about 5/32″) and 12mm (about 3/8″) thick with minimal crushing and splintering. This tool is great at cutting our marble cutting strips into small pieces with clean edges. (Please note the softer marble types will still have crumbly edges unless you file them.) It doesn’t have a force multiplier like the compound nipper, but the lighter weight, bump stops, and thicker rubber grips help reduce hand fatigue. And unlike our other hard tile nippers, the artisan power nipper is able to make clean cuts on recycled glass tiles. Not for use on vitreous glass mosaic tile or stained glass! Use a wheeled glass cutter for those. To cut thin ceramics and porcelain (less than 4mm), such as fine china for pique assiette mosaic, please consider the Offset Tile Nipper. Safety and Cutting Tile Always wear safety glasses with side shields when using the cutters. Make sure that you don’t cut mosaic tile around people who are not wearing safety glasses. Flying chips could potentially hit their eyes as easily as yours. Never use a chisel-bladed tile nipper to cut stained glass or vitreous glass. Those types of glass can crush and splinter when cut with this type of hand tool. Never sweep off a work surface with your bare hand. Use a vacuum or counter brush. Product Specifications for Artisan Power Nipper aluminum hand plier with cushion grip 8 oz titanium carbide cutting blades cuts hard material between 4mm and 12mm thick can be adjusted depending on tile thickness and preferred cut depth QEP model number 32016 How To Cut Hard Ceramic and Marble Tile Hold the cutter over a cardboard box or plastic dishpan to catch broken pieces and tiny slivers. Place the material inside the jaws where you want to make the cut, then squeeze the handles until the tile is cut and catch the pieces in the tray. Efficient Cutting It is much easier to cut up four or five pieces of tile and choose the one that fits best than it is to try to trim one piece to a certain shape or size. It is quicker too. Keep your rejects in a small pile and pay attention to the shapes that are in it. If you don’t use a certain size or shape as often, try to cut fewer pieces like that. This is much more effective than trimming a piece down to what you need, and it is a lot less tedious. Replacement Springs Replacement Springs are available, but your cutters are not defective or useless if the springs fall off. The springs tend to fall of all hand tools eventually, even the most expensive brands. Keep your pinky fingers inside the handle instead of outside with the rest of your fingers and use that to open the tool. This is basic shop/studio practice for using any type of plier tool, most of which do not come with springs in the first place. How To Make Mosaics For more advice on designing your mosaic project or mounting, cutting, and grouting tile, please see our page of Mosaic Frequently Asked Questions or our Mosaic Information Guide, which lists instructional pages described by topic. We also post new articles about making mosaics at our How to Mosaic Blog.