Well worth the money. This made cutting concrete fiber boards so easy. I had a scoring tool before that I was using to cut fiber cement, but I would wear myself out and just within an hour or two. Using this I can cut fiber cement board all day long. And you can make custom cuts with it . Highly recommend this tool.

If you're cutting Hardi board You need this tool. I went through a hand full of jig saw bits trying to cut some strips. This thing is far more accurate and way faster. No dust either.

The shears worked very well for cutting HardiPlank cement board siding. I used it to crosscut for lengths, as well as ripping lengthwise for width of starter and top course. It is much faster than a jig saw with diamond grit blade. The jigsaw cut super smooth edge but was very slow. These shears cut a slightly rough edge but totally acceptable for the hidden areas. Remember to paint with primer all cut edges.

The shears cut about a 1/4" wide strip. Each edge of the cut is 1.5" from the edge of the corresponding sole plate edge guide. I clamped a 7" rafting Square 1.5" shy of the cut line and ran the edge of the shear's sole plate/shoe along that. It is a bit awkward to try to cut freehand but could be done for all except butted ends For butting to another plank I would try to have both be factory ends, and have the cut on the end by the trim.

For cutting lengthwise I placed another plank alongside it, and then stacked four planks on a guideline 1.5" from the cut line. The factory edges have tiny rough spots so be careful as the guide shoe will hang up a bit. Just be patient and smoothly push the shear head along the guide planks. Next time I will use a 2x4 or similar smooth wood cutting guide rather than another plank.

It is much easier to handle the planks and set up cutting guides with two people but could be done by a lone worker.

I used an older Milwaukee M18 1/2" drill/driver and it had no problem driving the shears. Use the highest drill speed possible. The shears produce virtually no air borne dust. You get some dust on the floor with 1/4" wide curled strips as waste products. Clean up periodically before the curly strips get stepped on and create much more cement dust. The jigsaw created more dust but it was very localized near the saw, unlike how a circular saw throws dust across the entire room. Jigsaw cuts ultra smooth but is very slow, like two minutes to trim length on a 6.26" plank. The shears take about 15 seconds.

Bottom line, the shears are the only reasonable way time-wise and with minimal dust to cut HardiPlank. You get acceptable edges in fairly good time and almost no dust in the air. The main downside is they are awkward to control and you should use a firm guide to ensure straight cuts.

This shear head is way cheaper than the full tool shears. Plus you get the benefit of working with any corded or cordless drill of 18/20 volts. Be sure to really crank the chuck closed on the head stem as it likes to work itself free. I will always have a jigsaw handy as a backup but these shears are what I will be using for all the siding I am doing in the coming months. Totally worth it!

By the way, HardiPlank looks very nice on the house. When we cut ends or edges we just generously coated them with primer and put them up immediately, no waiting for it to fully dry. We even went ahead and primed over every nail head, just in case (I used the pre-primed planks which I think is the easiest version to work with).

I used this on 1/2" Hardie board. It did cut the board well. However, whenever the shear goes to cut the drill loads up and torque twists. It works but is slightly annoying to try and counteract the torque rotation. Also every time I tried using this with a keyless chuck drill it always loosened the chuck. Definitely recommend using a keyed chuck drill. If I were to use this often I would probably make some sort of bracket to link the drill and shear together to counteract the torque. I'm sure on the powered version this is probably not a problem. Also I purchased this as a used item, that claimed to be in very good condition (returned item in original packaging) "¦ it was, however it was well used, my assumption would be that someone bought it for a small project and returned it after the project was over.

This is a great tool for cutting cement board for keeping down the dust. There is almost zero dust that is created with this cutter. It's easy to use on a cordless drill but you really need to use both hands to keep it going straight. That's why I only gave it 4 stars on accuracy. When I take one hand off the drill to try and hold the material, it is harder to keep it going straight. You have to hold your drill to the side if it has a large battery that gets in the way. It's pretty fast at cutting and a lot cleaner for clean-up as it just leaves curled up material behind.