I was planning to rip Hardie planks down to size for the top of my walls by taking off my fiber cement blade from the miter saw and putting it only my table saw. I am thinking this would work easier than a using a circle saw (losing sight of my cut line) or scheers (can’t hold a straight line over 12 feet). Anyone have experience using the table saw? Does it rip okay? Thoughts?
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I think it would work fine, but the saw may suffer from the dust. I find that if you need a super nice edge it is possible by using a guide and a circular saw. You can use a second plank as a guide for the saw. Just make sure the shoe doesn't get under the guide plank, which can happen.
A regular rip blade would work too, but plan on going through alot more of them and buy a nice respirator. What shears do you have that can't cut straight? I put the inside edge of the top cutter onto the chalkline and slow down a bit and I can get a pretty darn straight rip. Good side down and leave 1/8" for caulk and you're good to go. Sure the tablesaw would be straight, but your cutting a 12' board on the flat. Without some sort of support, be it a helper or extension, you're destined to break quite a few of those boards. Not to mention the dust, and it is some nasty stuff!
If the frieze board isn't already up and you're that worried about a dead-straight edge maybe you could rabbet the bottom edge of the frieze and tuck the top course into it. Or you could clamp a shooting board onto the siding as a guide for your shears. A sinus infection is in your future if you use your tablesaw!
I wouldn't. The dust will
I wouldn't.
The dust will be nasty for you and is also very hard on the saw. I've pretty much ruined my Bosch jigsaw with FC work. If I were to do it again I'd buy a $50 beater and dedicate it to FC.
When I rip I always use shears (mine are by Malco) and put the cut edge up under the next course, or cover it with a trim board.
If you're ultra worried about keeping a straight cut over 12' then clamp a piece of extruded aluminum on the plank as a fence for the shears to follow. The Malco shears have straight sides that will follow a fence nicely.
(No, I don't work for Malco or have any association with them, but their shears have been discussed many times here over the years. Good shears.)
Awesome advice people! It's me that can't cut straight with shears :~), but knowing that the Malco (and I assume others) shears have straight edges to run along a guide makes sense. Great tips. Thanks.
ripping Hardi plank
I hope that this reply isn't to late to do you any good. Several years ago I did a room addition on a 100+ year old house that had 21/2" lap siding, and we were to match it with Hardi plank. We ended up using an old table saw, with a fiber cement blade in it. Built an infeed table, and out feed table 12' long out of 2x12 material, and a fence on the infeed table to match the saw. It was dusty to be sure, but we did it on a windy Kansas day, and it worked quite well. We cut two strips out of each piece of Harde. The new profile wont' work however as there is a top and bottom to each plank, and one piece would be inside out for the profile to work.
I had the Makita fiber cement circular saw but didn't really like it for cut-offs, so I ended up mounting it upside down on a sheet of plywood for rips and it works quite well. I spent way too much time inlaying the baseplate into the plywood so the surfaces would be flush, and made a pretty accurate fence. Finally I even added one of those aluminum slots for a mitre guage.
If I were to do it again, I'd just get a cheapo table saw and not worry about ruining it.
Ripping with table saw
We used a 10" segmented dimond blade. It is messy but cut quick and straight. I had an old table saw.