That stuff is so danged tough, one of my male friends had trouble cutting it. I've always cut it w/the tool that scores it - sold at Lowes. Last time I tried, though, I didn't have the strength to even make a dent. Started researching the net. I found one site that said a tile wet saw w/cut it. Since it's made of concrete, I thought - well, that makes sense. If your husband has one of those grinders - like a 4-inch grinder, that w/do it too. I gave my tile saw away recently, so never tried it. You can get a little tile saw at Harbor Frieight for about $60. It'll be a wonderful tool for your mosaics too, should you ever want to cut shards that are too tough for your nipper.

Thanks slowmedown. Will look into a tile saw at Harbor Freight. We could use one just in general, anyway. I asked James Hardie, and they said a jig saw with a carbide blade, but I think you'd need one HECK of a jig saw to cut the stuff. Could literally burn out the motor. And, it's a pretty long cut, about 48".

Patty S.

I've cut it with an abrasive disc in a circular saw, or with a carbide tipped hand tool, but for this I think the jigsaw with the following blade would be the easiest.

http://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/carbide-grit-jig-saw-blades.aspx

The grit of the abrasive should be fine enough that there would be little chance of burning out the jigsaw motor, although burning out one or more blades is a definite possibility.

I think maneuvering the piece of hardiebacker on top of a small cheap tile saw would be harder to manage than using a {{!gwi}}jigsaw.

You should probably cut it outside and use a good breathing mask, hardiebacker gives off very fine silica dust when you cut it.

That's what I was thinking, too, Bob. It's a big piece of backer board, and the final piece is about 48" by 27" at the widest part of the arc. Definitely will be cutting it outside, on saw horses, with a re-breatheable mask (I'm an RN). NOT something I want to be breathing into my lungs for sure. Thanks for the suggestion on the blade. I'll buy a few to have on hand, as I plan on making a few more projects on this substrate.

Patty S.