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cutting glass fibre
A1 - 23/9/08 at 03:13 PM

whats the best way?
would you cut from the good surface to the inside?

edspurrier - 23/9/08 at 03:18 PM

I found a Dremel type tool with a cutting bdisc by far the easiest and neatest way. Use a dustmask, goggles (you'll get through a few discs and it won't cut curves) and put the hoover pn with a nozzle nearby.

tegwin - 23/9/08 at 03:38 PM

I have used a diamond coated tile cutting disk in an angry grinder to good effect.....gives a nice clean finish especially if you are cutting through gelcoat

Guinness - 23/9/08 at 03:45 PM

I've used a normal hacksaw in the past, then a file to finish the edge.

Use plenty of masking tape too!

I also chain drilled and then the file for my exhaust hole.

Mike

stevec - 23/9/08 at 04:24 PM

Tile cutting saw works good aswell.
Steve.

Triton - 23/9/08 at 04:49 PM

Drill bits best left blunt too, the ideal one is a spot weld drill as it has a centre "pip" to pick up your centre then cuts like a milling cutting....nice clean hole.

silverline do diamond blades for grinders at about £2.50 and work just as well as the £25 ones, mine has lasted 2 years of abuse so £2.50 well spent methinks!

Mark

mr henderson - 23/9/08 at 04:54 PM

Depends a bit on what you are shape/size you are cutting

I cut some recently with an Eclipse coping saw, from the gel coat side, just a little outside the line required, and finished to the line with some sanding belt (made for belt sanders, just tear it ti the sizes required) over various shaped sanding blocks.

It worked very well, and I would recommend the technique if you were in a situation where an angle grinder would be too difficult to control, or where a slip would be expensive

John

[Edited on 23/9/08 by mr henderson]

twybrow - 23/9/08 at 06:33 PM

Masking tape on the gel coat side, then a normal hacksaw blade.

David Jenkins - 23/9/08 at 07:02 PM

I saw a bloke on TV cutting GRP with a vibrating blade similar to the ones used for cutting off plaster casts - are they available to us non-medical mortals?

mr henderson - 23/9/08 at 07:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
I saw a bloke on TV cutting GRP with a vibrating blade similar to the ones used for cutting off plaster casts - are they available to us non-medical mortals?


Yes, it's called the Fein MultiMaster. Apparently there's a cheaper Bosch version too. The blades are pretty expensive though, so I only use mine when I have too. I used to fit kitchens, and every now and then a situation would crop up and that tool was the only way to deal with it

John

LBMEFM - 23/9/08 at 07:36 PM

Wear rubber gloves too, the fibres will drive you crazy.
Barry

BenB - 23/9/08 at 09:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
I saw a bloke on TV cutting GRP with a vibrating blade similar to the ones used for cutting off plaster casts - are they available to us non-medical mortals?


They're pretty mad. I used one to chop up my cadaver @ med school. You could hold it right up against your (gloved) skin and it would just rub it gently but hold it against bone and it would chop through it like a knife through butter!!!! Spooky....

Chippy - 23/9/08 at 10:09 PM

I have always found that a jig saw with a grit edged blade works fine. Put a good layer of masking tape around the area to be cut, so that the base plate doesn't bugger the gel coat. Good for cutting curves as well. HTH Ray

David Jenkins - 24/9/08 at 07:49 AM

quote:
Originally posted by BenB
They're pretty mad. I used one to chop up my cadaver @ med school. You could hold it right up against your (gloved) skin and it would just rub it gently but hold it against bone and it would chop through it like a knife through butter!!!! Spooky....


Too much information... much, much too much...