Malco TSF2 TurboShear Fiber Cement Backer Board Shear

I am a pretty good DIYer, and bought this for a major renovation. I specifically bought this tool because I was doing fiber cement siding on a 2000 sq ft colonial (panels and planks) and expected to need it for bathroom renovation cement board. I've so far only used it for my siding project and am quite happy so far. Backer board needs far less accurate cuts so I don't expect any issue whatsoever when I get to that part.FOR FIBER CEMENT SIDING:When cutting outdoors, this cuts for me about the same speed as a hardie blade in a circular saw. An experienced sider/carpenter who throws around a saw like it is another limb can probably push a sharp blade a little faster. Though blades wear down and are pretty expensive, so they do push a dull blade slowly for a while to get their money's worth. This thing is pretty quick and steady.I used it with my Dewalt cordless hammer drill (18v max nicad) and basically never needed a battery change in a days work. Batteries charge in an hour, so that wouldn't have been an issue. I guess a faster drill would probably move this thing faster, but at my drill's fastest speed, that was plenty fast for me to feel comfortable maintaining an accurate cut.So the tool did take a couple cuts to get used to it. I also have to say, some of the reviews that stated that corners break are actually pretty accurate. With practice holding the blade at the correct angle with the right support, you can probably minimize this issue, but you are probably going to get some 1/2" corner chops and the edge can get a little blown out. The key thing is to cut with the back of the plank facing up because that is the direction the fibers sometimes get a little rough. Also make sure to cut toward the TOP of the plank. If a corner is going to break it is going to be at the end of your cut. You want that to be on the part of the plank that is covered by the next plank. A little rasp or quick quick work with a knife can clean up the cut edge. Also if you are working with stacks of product on a pick/scaffold, it's much easier to use one of these than a blade in a confined space.Manufacturer specs to call for factory to factory edges in the field. If you are looking to conserve product and go with cut edges against each other, I feel like this tool will not create clean enough cuts if you wanted to butt 2 of them together. The cuts that were made with the Hardie blade could be clean enough that you had to look real close sometimes to even see which edge had the factory cut. Also as others have stated, this thing sucks at cutting curves. If you have a very slow arc you might be able to do something. Cutting any type of circle is basically out of the question. I don't know why there were so many complaints about angles, it seemed to cut them just fine. I mean an angle is still a straight line, and it is not like fiber cement has a grain. Another note, this isn't particularly good at trimmer. Say you were like 1/8th heavy on a cut, you could knock it down with a saw blade, with this not so much. I felt comfortable taking maybe 1/4-3/8 in off a board I made a little too long. That worked for me. If a board was too long to place, that amount trimmed would drop me perfectly into the range I need to leave for caulk/expansion. If you have an angle cut that needs cleaning up, this tool does not do a good job.Pros:-Easier to use than a blade or score and snap-Ultra portable-Not sure the lifetime of this, but compared to the price of Hardie blades, exponentially cheaper. This drill adapter is also cheaper than the stand alone tools.-Construction of the tool seems quite durable.-Virtually no dangerous dust, safe to use indoors.Cons:-Not good at anything but straight lines-Not quite as clean of a cut as you would get from a saw blade.-Not great for cutting small pieces of material or making fine cutsOverall, still well worth it for me. I can handle a saw just fine, but still enjoy the safety of being able to use something like this. Also not having to spend 100s on saw blades to get through a single job or deal with large amounts of dust.

I am not a professional but I have worked with a fair bit of hardie backer installation and hardie siding. The score and snap method doesn't work well for me unless I'm using the 1/4" stuff. My go to was the Hitachi Hardi saw blade but it creates sooo much dust, which of course is hazardous. When using the saw blade wore a respirator and goggles.Pros* These shears are great, because for the cost of two hardie blades and half the cost of a dedicated set of shears you can convert a drill into shears.* They cut fast and allow for directional cutting and shaping.* You can cut fairly straight by simply popping a chalk line.* Dust is minimal. I wear a NIOSH particle mask and safety glasses (as opposed to a respirator and goggles when using the saw blade).* Using a HEPA filtration vacuum while cutting, I'll even cut IN the work area instead of outside and carry in.* Like many Malco products you can order replacement parts for the bits that wear out.CONS* The end of the drill becomes a bit heavy so if you're doing this for a living a "dedicated" pair of shears may be better for you.* It took a few minutes to get this adjusted for my drill. So it's not something I would take on and off. Have another drill for actual drilling while you're working on a job.

Not quite as clean as a circular blade but very little dust production. I found with light sanding after a cut the edges were very close to a blade cut. For me, the low dust production was a huge factor. You also lose a bit more material in the cut. You can get a slight curve (more than a circular blade) but don't expect a tight curve. Also it takes a bit more attention to keep a straight cut over long distances compared to a circular blade.Workmanship of this tool seems very high. The shear and mechanism seem rock solid and are holding up well so far through one full project.The left/right angle adjustment is also very useful and simple to change. Even if you have a circular blade, this is a great tool well worth having for cement fiber projects.

This doesn't cut nearly as cleanly as I expected, but it still works. You're supposed to cut the rockboard with the finish side down, but that's not really practical. Here's why: I put the rockboard face up on the floor and then mark where to cut it. That means I have to cut it face up so I for sure cut it in the right place. The cut is pretty clean on the underside of the board, but chewed to smithereens on top (please excuse the technical jargon). It's no big deal, really, because the thinset is going to flood into the chewed-up region; I just point it out because the YouTube video shows a nice, clean cut, and that's not at all what you're going to get.Still a very effective tool, and a heck of a lot better than scoring and snapping, or, god forbid, cutting it with a regular saw or table saw.

I have worked with cement board on many projects. Cutting it was always a matter of using special blades, if I used a saw, or using a score and break method on thinner materials. If one saws cement boards products, clouds of dust are created. This causes safety (breathing) and cleanup issues. The TurboShear works extremely well. I use an 18 volt Makita drill to drive this attachment. It cuts through 1/4 inch cement board like butter and slices across cement board siding easily as well. It takes a little practice, but one should be able to cut accurate lines after a short learning curve. I have also used this to cut circles with reasonable accuracy. It cuts with a nibbling action and consumes about 1/4" in its kerf. You can guide it along a drawn line using the slot in which the two crossing blades operate. This tool has saved me much time and makes working with cement board much easier. I have not cut 1/2 cement board with this, so I don't know how well it would work with that material.