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.

still runs like new after years of service

I began remodeling a bathroom shower including new floors which required using Hardibacker cement panels in both 1/4 and 1/2 inch thickness. Before I bought this Makita cutting tool I was really not liking the scribe and break method, especially the 1/2 panels. This tool is friggin awesome and makes life much easier and way faster for cutting straight pieces in no time flat! Because it eliminates the dust that jig saws or circular saws create, it can be used inside where the work is being done. Well worth owning for this and future projects!

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.

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.

We resided our house with Hardi-plank siding and chose the Makita for its durability and ease of use. This tool kept the dust and mess to a minimum. I would recommend this to any do it do it yourselfer's. Don't use a skill saw to cut your Hardi-plank or other cement composite siding or board this is the way to go.

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.