After talking about it for a few days now I finally broke out the dremel tool with the tile cutting bit and tested it on some hardibacker. I have to say it's a pretty amazing tool. I had always stayed away from them as I didn't want to be to quick to fall into the category of "aging craftsman". You know, the old guys you see at county fairs intricately carving totems while riding out their golden years, but I digress...
I made sure to wear plenty of protection. the one thing lacking from the photo is earplugs; highly recommended, it makes quite a squeal. I felt a bit like a dentist. It cuts through quite quickly, however it does generate a lot of heat. I'm wondering how much those tiny bits can take? Compared to the the jig saw bits (that were ground down to nothing after about an 18" cut) this was a marked improvement.
I got as many pieces of the backing up as I could handle solo. The nice part about the dremel tool is if you need to, you can still use it to trim a bit once things are in place. The router like attachment allows for great depth control.
There is also a jigsaw blade that is just carbide bits on the cutting edge that works very well.
Posted by: Ron | 2007.06.09 at 06:33