Makita JS8000 Fiber Cement Shear

This is a specialty tool for working the Hardie board or other fiber cen Kent materials. It it great for ripping boards along their length or for notching or making cut outs. If you are working with Hardie planks, you will still need a sliding miter saw with the proper blade.The max material thickness is 5/8 inch. Take some scrap and get the feel for the tool before making your money cuts. You have to watch you don't crush the good side of the cut and will see you gauge your cut line by the inside edga of one of the outer cutting blades.This tool has a flat edge on the bottom of the cutting assembly which makes using it on your set p area pretty simple. This tool generates virtually zero dust which is way different than what sawing this stuff yields.Overall, a necessity for working wth fiber cement proucts 5/8 inch thick or less.

I completed my whole house siding replacement with this tool used for cross-cuts. Reliable and efficient.

I started to side my forest cabin with cement siding using a sliding compound miter saw and thought that I was going to die from the dust. Additionally, the dust crept into every crook and crack in my saw making the saw difficult to use, while ruining the blade in fewer than 50 cuts.The Makita JS8000 is a godsend! No more dust and it cuts as fast as my miter saw. This is a nibbler so it does cut out a 3/8" piece of waste. It allows the user to cut curves when necessary. To augment this tool I use my jigsaw equipped with Hitachi 725397 4-Inch 6 TPI Jig Saw Blades For Fiber Cement Siding. These blades last a very long time and produce very little dust.Between the 2 tools I am VERY satisfied.

I bought this several months ago in anticipation of an upcoming hardiboard siding project that was further delayed for a while. The day I needed it, I took it out the case, plugged it in, squeezed the trigger and it worked great. I squeezed the trigger a second time immediately after. It ran for a few seconds and died. I literally had my first materials marked and ready to go. No time to debate a return/repair/replacement so I ran to the store and bought a blade capable of cutting the material with my circular saw. That's a really messy process compared to what this tool should have done - if it worked. I was pretty disappointed. It's an expensive boat anchor now.

Cuts great but I can not say anything about the longevity of the blades.The on big issue I see so far is that power cord should have been routed more towards the back because this way it is in the way a lot of timeswhen you make long cuts.Besides that it feels good and it works well.

Spent first day siding house with Hardiepanel using cement siding blade waiting for this tool to arrive, have not pick up saw again since, using jigsaw with hard blades or angle grinder for details. The zero dust generated by this tool and the ability to follow lines drawn accurately and not have them obscured by clouds fabulous! The Makita tool so far has performed excellent and after cuts in fifty plus sheets showing no signs of wear and having the ability to reverse cutters when they do is a major bonus. I have have always been satisfied with the workmanship of Makita tools that I have in my collection and this is no exception.

The Makita cement shear worked great to install Hardiplank siding on my house and I will use it on other jobs as well. I am a contractor and have been using circular saws for years to cut siding. The blades always dull quickly and create a lot of dust. The shear creates very little dust and is easy to use while on scaffolding. It takes a little finessing to cut a piece without loosing a small chunk at the end of the cut, but once you get the hang of it, this tool cuts great. Can't wait to try it on Backerboard on my next tile job.

I have cut cement siding with a saw and I have cut it by scoring with a knife, this type of shear is much better than either of those two methods. Very little dust, clean cuts if held correctly on board, and the cutter blades can be switched 4 times as they dull. This tool does not work on things like Wonderboard that have grit in them, it is made for the 1/4 inch thick board that looks a bit like cardboard. The cutter head is the same on a couple other brands but I just prefered the Makita motor.