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The center of the tip bay be turning 30,000 RPMs, but it's not traveling in a way that will cut anything. My first impression when trying out the bit on a scrap of travertine was that it cut very slowly. Rotozip also recommends moving the tip up and down as you are cutting. I've used this bit to cut outlet holes in a travertine on Wonder-Board floor. However - it did make quick work of a series of 2 1/4" holes that would have been very difficult to cut without it. If it were a new floor installation, I could have cut the tiles from the back side, but for a retro-cut, the XB-FT1 was the ticket. The conflicting directions of a spinning, round tip will also make it want to dart off in one direction or the other, potentially damaging things that you might prefer to not damage.2. This makes sense, to spread the work around to reduce heat build-up, and to clear material from the teeth.
Travertine is soft, and easy to cut, and Wonder-Board is not hard either, so I have only tested the bit at the kindergarten level. But if you consider that a wet diamond blade on a high powered saw is only removing a 1/16" of material, and this bit is removing 4 times that, dry, and pushed by a tool that you can nearly hide in your hand (Rotozip R20), it's really not that slow.There are a couple of tips that Rotozip publishes regarding use of this bit that are worth noting, as can be witnessed in the other reviews here:1. I'll add that it makes sense to tip the tool, fore and aft, to ease the cut ahead with progressive undercuts that aren't taking out the full contact surface of the bit, all of the time.I have to wonder if the reviewer who gave it 1 star actually bought the XB-TC1, and/or what kind of tool they were using it in. You really should not try to start a hole by using the tip of the bit; extend the bit as far as is safe, and angle the tool so that the side of the bit touches the material rather than the tip.
It was the first time at using a RotoZip an this Bit. I was replacing tile in the shower and had to cut a path on all 4 wall to remove the lower section. The price was $10 dollars less than Home Depot and Lowes, which was a great savings. I had to use 3 of the Bits to complete the job and that because I was cutting 1 1/2" deep to get back to the stud wall. Even with this bit being a little high in price, if used correctly will last for sometime. You should drill a pilot hole first with a hammer bit and not with the Z-Bit to make it last longer. I do recommend this product. It's one of the things I did learn after burning the tip on the first Z-bit.
What it really can do is grind edges smooth but definitely not cut a floor tile. The truth is that it can't. Ultimately, I reverted back to using my 6 inch diamond blade and gave up cutting curves. What appears to be cutting crystals embedded in the bit are not diamond or silicon-carbide but some other softer material. I bought this cutter from HomeDepot priced $32.00 because its label said it can cut floor tiles. After forcing it to cut a one inch curve on a floor tile, the bit glowed very hot and after several more attempts the cutting bit wore-out. This is a poor product labeling a misleading capability. Whatever the metallurgy used in this bit it is definitely not harder than the floor tile.
This is the best zip bit that you need to have if you are planning to cut hole in to your bathroom remodelling project. Highly recommend. I use it on the hardest tile which the original Dewalt tile saw blade had difficult to make cut. This zip bit cut through the materials like butter.
Using a drill, you drift all over the tile. I won't totally bash this product, because it is what it says it is. However, you are not going to easily attach this to a drill and drill holes in tile. Maybe there is a better technique, but I am a little dissappointed. You almost need a drill press and clampsc to use this correctly, and even then.the bit won't last long.
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