Flooring Tile - Cutting Hardibacker

I was wondering what is the easiest and most efficient way of cutting cement backerboard. Possibly a circular saw with a masonry blade, or a jigsaw? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

What I do not know is how a carbide blade would hold up if you had to make a lot of cuts. I have used the jigsaw as well as the scoring and bending. Of the three circular saw worked best.

I've used a Rotozip with a carbide bit. The bit lives a fairly short life in this application, so you should make all the simple straight cuts you can by scoring with a carbide knife and snapping. I prefer to score both sides a half-dozen times each.

Make the Rotozip bit last longer by saving it for the more complicated cuts. Do your cutting outside to avoid a big cleanup job. If you have much to do, buy a few bits to save yourself some trips to the store. Try not to let the bit overheat.

Hi folks,

The carbide blade holds up pretty well. I use about a six-dollar one, and you can cut a lot of backer board with a single blade. You won't be cutting any wood with it, though. ;)

John, what kind of saw is your carbide blade in?

You can use a black concrete cutting abrasive blade in a circular saw, or a carbide tipped metal blade or a carbide Remgrit blade in a jig saw or score and snap with a carbide scoring tool or a dry cut diamond blade in a "skill" saw (circular saw) or a dry cut diamond blade in a 4 or 4 1/2 inch hand grinder. The choices are many.

The cheap black concrete cutting blade makes the smoothest cut.
They cost ?? $ 4.oo ??