HelpMe: Cutting Fibreglass/Carbon Tubing

A Radial arm saw or an electric miter saw. Band saws do nicley IF the throat is deep enough. 8-) They don't cut a right angle as well as the other two.

Alos, I th>I have decided to build only fibreglass/carbon from now on. It doesn't burn as

We use diamond circular saw blades for our production carbon and glass windings. You can find consumer versions that are used for cutting ceramic tiles etc. Abrasive cutoff saws can be used but the grade selection is important. Wet cutting will give you more flexibility in that regard and prevent burning of the matrix and delamination. You can rent ceramic saw setups if you only plan on a few cuts. A band saw will make a mess unless you use a blade with a carbide edge designed for composites. Many industrial supply houses carry them.

Anthony J. Cesaroni President/CEO Cesaroni Technology/Cesaroni Aerospace

887-2370 x222 Toronto (410) 571-8292 Annapolis

Put a pipe clamp around the tube, making sure that it is on squarely. Use a hobby saw, guided by the clamp. When you get to the screw, loosen the clamp and rotate making sure you keep it square.

This method usually requires a bit extra work to square up the cut, but it is very fast and easy.

Murray Lampert wrote:

I'm using a 12" slide miter saw. However using a smaller miter saw is possible by eyeballing and making two or three cuts. The cut with the

12" is incredible and does up to 5" tubing perfectly square. Don't make the cut too slow as to melt the glas, nor too quickly which can make it chip.

Chuck

I'd look at a wet saw with a diamond blade. The water will keep the dust out of the air and out of your lungs. Either material will eat conventional blades for lunch.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

I've done quite all right with a hacksaw and a good fresh sharp blade on Hawk Mountain 6" x .074" fiberglass tubing. The trick is to mark a clean line on the tubing (wrap a strip of paper around it for a marking guide) and make several passes with the saw - start with a light, carefully aligned "scratch cut" and go all the way around like that until you have a continuous groove that will guide the saw for deeper cutting. It seems best to get the whole groove most of the way through the material before cutting all the way in any spot, and when you start breaking through, try to leave a few evenly spaced small points of connection as long as possible: you don't want the cut section to try to flop loose while there's still a thick spot that will tear the surrounding material.

(I've tried the round abrasive grit blades sold for cutting ceramic tile; they work, but not really any better than ordinary steel blades, and the regular blades give a narrower cut.)

The above method doesn't leave an _absolutely_ clean edge, but it's close enough to clean up nicely with a few strokes of a file.

-dave w

Ditto. I cut tubes the same method, whether they are cardboard, phenolic, or glass. I also use the tube clamp after making the true line with a peice of paper.

David described the cutting method very well.

steve

Forgot one little item......an 80 tooth carbide blade. Though it's not one of it's intended uses I've made a lot of money on people betting me I can't cut structural steel metal box tube with a carbide blade. Kills the blade but makes a beautiful cut in the 3/4 inch thick steel. A cheap quick fix. 8

Mr. Lampert, I learned this method from Mssrs. Bloom and Weinshenker some time back. I use this method as well. Works great, taking into account that I'm not the handyman these gentlemen (and others here) are.