For those of you who have cut cement board which tool and blade have you used.
I used just my makita circular saw and diamond blade…..but what prompts my question is that my dad now wants me to do his house that has many short pieces to cut and he was wondering if i wanted to use his radial arm saw?
Your thoughts?
Built from locally sawn hemlock, this functional outdoor feature uses structural screws and metal connectors for fast, sturdy construction.
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Replies
I score the board with a box knife and a drywall "T" square. I make a couple passes and it snaps right off. I then use a stone rasp to touch up any rough edges. Very little dust to deal with compared to trying to saw or cut it with a rotary tool.
Virginbuild.
shears...
diamond blades for the RAG and side winder..
carbide scribe...
use as apropriate...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I buy mine custom cut to size.
you serious???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Why would I lie with something like this?
;>)
hadn't heard of custom cut orders for FC...
the cut schedual must be difficult to say the least
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Edited 1/7/2008 3:43 pm by IMERC
Invest in a pair of shears. They are fairly quiet, dust free, you can run them against a speed square for nice square cuts. Porter Cable, Dewalt and a few others make them, usually under $200. (I'm assuming your'e talking cement board siding?) If you are doing tile backer they work great on Hardibacker.
Shears if siding.
Another option-- Needed about 80 lin feet of 2" wide backerboard.
I have a number of the cheapo C2 HF 10" carbide baldes with chipped teeth that were used for ripping salvaged oak with a few hidden nails, which is why I bought those.
Anyway, FWIW, an old 10"carbide blade in a table saw, using max pressure, 5 HP motor, can do about 50 feet of linear cutting on 1/4" backer board before the carbide is totally worn away (no carbide left). High feed pressure essential to avoid overheating and warping the blade during a cut (5 ft at a time). Surprisingly, the carbide seemed to self sharpen, but with no back angle, which necessitated high feed pressure. Still needed about 30 sec cool down before the next 5 ft cut.
you bought blades with chipped teeth???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
you bought blades with chipped teeth???
HF HAS sent me a few new of the $4-5 10" 40T blades with small chips (<1/32), poor grinding QC in China apparently. OK for ripping 12 ft 4x4 oak from big pallets.
The bigger chips that relegated those blades to cement board duty were from hitting multiple tempered nails in the 4x4s.
I've used a RotoZip with the tile bit to cut circles for shower valves and plumbing penetrations. Otherwise, score and break seems to work well.
By cement board, I'm assuming you mean tile backer?
I wouldn't waste a diamond blade on it. A circular saw with an inexpensive masonry blade works just fine. Lotsa dust....but just fine.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
I use a 4" diamond wet saw 89.00 with case. I get perfect square edges, has a fence to rip narrow strips. Cuts Hardie board and durock like butter. People may think it is ovet kill but I am save my lung from silica dust and my tools, Ihave ruined too may saws from cement dust getting into the bearings.
Wallyo
Sorry, I meant cement board siding.
FC siding -- shears. Maybe a diamond blade in a grinder for a detail cut or two -- while holding your breath or wearing a mask.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
PS: Sounds like your dad doesn't like his RAS much or he wouldn't be offering it up for destruction by the abrasive dust kicked up by cutting FC with a saw.
Edited 1/7/2008 8:26 am ET by MikeHennessy
Use these, MODEL SS404http://www.pactool.us/snappershear/If one time use, check ebay or buy then sell on ebay
Thanks for the link..... looks like a fine purchase.
I had never thought of using shears.
I have those and the work great. Its best to cut from the backside, it leaves a slightly better edge on the front that way. I usually just take them up on the pump jacks with me and cut them up there. Malco makes a cutter head that mounts on a cordless drill but I have not used them. The pactool cutter head is the one that dewalt uses on their shears, they buy them from pactool. Porter cable use to make the shear but when dewalts parent company bought them, they switch the brand name to dewalt rather than pc. Kett makes some shears too but the blades are not reversable like the pactool heads allow.The number one benefit of the shears is no dust. Everything else will have lots of dust.
I would use power shears or a wet saw still on siding. The saw is still real nice for riping narrow strips.Wallyo