Cutting Homosote

[rodger.]

I am making a bulletin board, and bought a piece of 1/2" homosote to place in a mitered frame. Has anyone ever cut this stuff with the table saw? Or should I stick with a razor knife?

[RichardA]

As  I recall that stuff.  Cutting on the table saw would create a explosion of dust, filled with chemicals, regardless how well your DC system collects.  It's only 1/2", just use the razor knife, and feel better about the air you breath.

[Keggers]

I agree with Richard. I've read it can be cut with a circular saw. jig saw or hand saw but I'd think dust would be a major concern not to mention the damage done to the saw blade. I'd also use a razor knife.

[Tpt life]

I milled it just fine on a table saw. That said, job site saw and gentle breeze, with a dust mask to boot. 

[drzaius]

I don't think it would hurt the blade at all, but the dust from that stuff seems even worse than MDF dust for getting everywhere & sticking to everything.

[VizslaDad]

It cuts fine on a table saw but is messy as folks have mentioned. I used a sheet of it to make some bench beams and found that cutting it with a utility knife and a straight edge was preferable, though. It's pretty bendy.

[Coop]

You can cross cut Hardee siding boards the same way in a pinch with a utility knife. A couple of scribes and it pops clean.

[rodger.]

Thanks for all the advice. I went with a razor knife and it cut well, with no dust.

[Wimayo]

Where does one find homosote these days? I haven't see it for sale anywhere for many years.

Oh. I see that the OP is in Canada. I'm assuming it is available there. Don't think so in the US.

[rodger.]

2 hours ago, Wimayo said:

Where does one find homosote these days? I haven't see it for sale anywhere for many years.

Oh. I see that the OP is in Canada. I'm assuming it is available there. Don't think so in the US.

I bought it at my local lumberyard/hardwood dealer. Its normally sold in 4x8 sheets, but they had a 1/4 sheet off cut that I bought for like 4 bucks CDN (insert USD vs CDND joke here).

[Tpt life]

We milled homosote to random width style vertical “boards” for bedroom and hall walls in a prominent pharmaceutical family home. We also used it as “panels” in a common room coffered ceiling. Those were crazy quiet rooms. They ended up painting the homosote to look like painted wood, but it retained that soft lessening of sound reflection. That job was messy, but seriously impressed me. 

[Byrdie]

Many model railroaders use homosote as an underlayment on their layouts because of its sound deadening qualities.  Many of them are not woodworkers and don't put much thought into how they cut it.  From what I gather (haven't done it *yet myself) the most common tool ends up being a jigsaw with a straight edge or a utility knife.