Let me guess - you bought those dishes from Walmart - or some other place that sells stoneware. Believe me - I know how tough that stuff can be. No possible way I could cut it w/my nippers, so was forced to put it on the tile saw. It even taxes the saw. I don't use my Ring Saw for it - I use the regular tile saw I bought from Harbor Freight. I was forced to buy this kind of tess cuz beautiful china plates don't show up here in thrift stores. Buy yourself some ear muffs and get out the saw. I cut through the rim all around in small increments, then you CAN use the nippers to snip off the rims, and to cut the pieces you've cut. The pieces just pop of w/a gentle tap. Then use the saw or hammer on the inside of the plate - depending on the shapes you want.

Thanks slowmedown. So you recommended door number 3 - a tile saw! I don't have one :(. Maybe I should look into that. And no, these plates are actually not from Walmart, we do have decent thrift stores around here, but that doesn't make cutting any easier!