I'm ready to make the dash out of 2.5mm thick carbon fibre look alike ABS sheet. Before hacking it about I thought iit miight be prudent to ask the best way to cut it. Also is it easy to get a roll on the bottom by heating over a tube???

I cut mine by scoring both sides with a stanley knife and bending it. Starting at one end, it broke along the score. I kept bending further and further along propagating the break.

Then I scraped the end to smooth. You can sand it smoother still.

I used metal sheet shears (tin snips), it was the sheet from Europa or something like that.



The shears cut it very well and the sheet didn't shatter or splinter at all.

I would try a corner on yours though!

Cheers

Rich

[Edited on 5/12/09 by RichardK]

Not sure whether it will have the same properties as polycarb if so you can cut it with a jigsaw I would advise using an air line to keep the blade cool though as it may try to weld itself back together

We use bandsaw / jigsaw, you need to keep protective film in place to prevent marks.
It won't shatter or chip as it contains rubber, it can melt back together again if there's any great heat about.

If rolling over a tube best to have a mate handy and use a couple of hot air guns on low setting, progressively warm up and bend and hold in position, we use a strip of wood and some ratchet type clamps, warm from both sides along the line you want to bend, don't get it too hot in any particular spot as it will buble and blister - if you get the smell of rubber it is getting too hot. Go and make a cupof tea before you cock it all up , come back when it has cooled a bit

We use it a lot with kids in the workshops as it is a very forgiving material , you can file and draw file and polish edges with wet and dry. We have used it d for bumper over riders dash boards, mud flap type spats, arch extensions, battery boxes and covers (vac formed) door liners etc very useful stuff
hth
good luck
Mike

I cut mine with my jig saw. It runs so slow you can count the strokes and is ideal for the job

Tin snips and hole cutter on a drill. No issues at all.

be warned it does expand a bit when out in the sun
i had to alter mine a bit where it was fixed, as it buldged a bit between fixings
you can bend it, the hardest part is getting even heat if it wont fit in the oven... i bent a bit of mine on a piece of steel that i was heating from underneath
took 4 attempts to get 2 usable peices 18" long

quote:

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Originally posted by dave r
be warned it does expand a bit when out in the sun...........

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