Patent ID: 8178018

Claim:
A method of fabricating a fiber-cement soffit, comprising: providing a cured fiber-cement panel having a length, a width and a thickness; placing the fiber-cement panel between a punch assembly and a support assembly, the punch assembly having a punch plate and a plurality of punches coupled to the punch plate, and the support assembly having a support plate with a plurality of holes; driving the punches into and through at least a portion of the thickness of the fiber-cement panel to form a plurality of apertures in the fiber-cement panel by ejecting plugs from the fiber-cement panel through the holes in the support plate; and wherein the fiber-cement panel has a thickness of approximately 0.25-0.31625 inch, and wherein driving the punches comprises penetrating the punches into the panel to a depth of approximately 0.0625-0.1875 inch without passing the punches completely through the panel and thereby producing a ventilated fiber-cement soffit.