I’ve got a PC portable table saw that I like, and a few hundred feet of Hardi to rip. Is it advisable to use an el-cheapo table saw for this? Or an old sidewinder with a fence?
Thanks,
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.â€
Replies
The problem is not with the saw ... it's with the blade, fence, and dust collection!
A good, fine tooth hollow ground carbide tip blade is an essential ... not only for clean cuts, but for preventing kickbacks as well.
The saw must have a very secure fence, that has little gap under it. The pressure you will apply to the planks will either push a cheap fence out of square, or work an edge under it. Either case leads to an accident.
Finally, cement dust is very bad for you ... much worse than sawdust. You should rig a vacuum - with a HEPA filter - to the saw, even if working outside.
Finally, pay special attention to your outfeed tables. It really needs support for any rips longer than, say, your arm.
Reno I disagree with you on several points. A carbide blade will last about 2 cuts longer than a steel blade. You nee diamonds to get a useable life. Good news is that you can buy a cheapie diamond blade meant for a tile saw for about $30 and it will cut well and last a long time.
The cement dust is bad for the saw too, cuz it will get into the bearings and the switch. And you're right it is bad for the sawyer too.
But cutting hardie on a table saw is no harder on the saw than hard maple or thick oak."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I've never used a diamond blade, so I will defer to your experience. If you use one of those 'toothless' ones, I can see why you like it- no kickback! Sounds like we're more in agreement than anything else! Thanks for the reply.
I do some board and batten Hardi sometimes, and rip 1-1/2" strips (the distance from the left side of the saw shoe to the blade) freehand in the grass - work fine, dust blows away.
Little outbuilding I just built had ~ 300 feet and took mere minutes to rip. I've got a couple table saws, but this was just easier.
Forrest
I would do it the same way.If it's calm....it might be a good idea to set up a fan. FKA Blue (eyeddevil)
Cool, thanks. I've got an old Makita sidewinder that I don't mind treating badly. I think I've even have a fence for it somewhere. I'll be doing all work outdoors so dust shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
That Makita will stand up to that minor abuse. FKA Blue (eyeddevil)
Cool - I would definitely recommend the 4-tooth (diamond) FC blade - it will last a while.
Forrest
Edited 10/28/2007 9:46 pm by McDesign
Be nice to that old Makita...they don't make them like they used to.
In fact, just send it to NC and I'll make sure it gets a regular workout.
PeaceLive in the solution, not the problem.
>>>In fact, just send it to NC and I'll make sure it gets a regular workout.
Hahahaha. Ya, I know. It has been pretty bomb proof. I've rebuilt it twice now. I figure I could just do it again after all the FC work. It takes less than an hour.
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Forgot the pic
View Image
Forrest
Edited 10/28/2007 1:52 pm by McDesign
how did you nail strips that small? the only success i have had is to pre drill and that is a royal pain. larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
I might have had to pre-drill to nail, but I was going into steel studs. No one here had any good ideas on how to fasten it, so I used self-drilling neoprene-washered metal roofing screws (hex head).
The point went in without splitting, and the neoprene gave me a little "cushion time" to let off the impact driver trigger. I swear, I didn't crack one batten.
The vertical 12" Hardi was pretty much butted together, so I put a bead of Alex up the crack to bed the batten strip in. Screwed it on, and caulked the edges tight.
Of course, the screws show, but here I was going for a mechanical look, and arranged the screws in diagonal rows on the purlins.
Forrest
I try to use an old saw, but if a new one is all there is it won't outright kill it, just shorten it's life by a few days.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Shoot the dust out with a compressor after you finish, which ever saw you use. The dust getting in the motor is the problem, the density of the FC doesn't stress the saw at all.
If you are ripping HP, a carbide blade won't last through three pieces. Spend $70 and get the Hardi blade with the diamond teeth. Set up a fan to blow the dust away and wear a mask.
Thin strips of HP are easy to break, so plan on having an assistant to support the cut ends as they come out of the saw.
we used to use saws.. we even have the Makita FC saw with the vacumn shroud and our Fein Van on auto
but we rip all our FC with the Malco shears now.. no dust..
and a lort of thin strips get caulked into place with the Hardie (GeoCel ) caulk and temporary overnight supports
a board & batten we'd predrill and use nails & caulk
I'm surpised that you rip with the shears; isn't it killer slow? (Not to mention wavy?) I thought I saw a pic of your PC portable tablesaw with heaps of FC shreds around it. Did the saw finally die?
Thanks Mike,
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
no... shears are fast.. and we've never used the TS for FC.. i think you saw some PT starter strips we were ripping
the shears will follow any line you can drawMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
"the shears will follow any line you can draw"Shears are OK for gentle curves and short straight cuts but they tend to delaminate and fuzz the edges on FC. And if you need to rip 1/4" off a long edge, the shear will just make a mess of the piece. A table saw with a Hardi blade is the way to go for straight, smooth-edge, rip cuts.
For those who do fiber cement regularly, Kett makes a dedicated shear: http://www.kett-tool.com/webpages/tools/fiber%20cement%20shears/KD-292.htm
For that kind of stuff i use a saw that I can abuse and not worry about. I've been cutting concrete lately with the cheapest circular saw Home depot had. When it blows up it's done. Thank God for cheap Chinese tools.
very...
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!!!
few hundred feet
HF often has the 10" C2 carbide TS blades on sale for $4.99.
Usually buy 4 or 5 at a time, as I rip a lot of reclaimed oak pallets for furniture and do hit an occasional nail I missed so the cheap baldes work good for that.
So once you have a stack of old chipped 10" carbide blades good for nothing else but cutting 2x scraps into firewood, a few hundred feet of hardie is no problem.
Here is how those blades work on a 10" garage sale craftsmas CI table saw>
This description is for cement backer board (which I dont like to scribe and break, getting too old and weak to do it well) which is a more abrasive than hardi:
1st 5 feet is OK, then the only edge left is the 'self sharpend' edge, and the pressure to push thru goes way up as there is zero rake left.
after 5 ft, the biggest problem is the blade heating and warping the cut, so to cool and keep the heat down a hose dribbles water on the cut. Wear goggles and old clothes <G>
You get about 300 linear ft of cut from one blade on cement board, at which time the entire carbide tooth is worn away, blade changing time.
Should be able to do the whole 200 ft of hardi with one old carbide blade on TS. Coolant and high feed pressure is needed for straight cuts.