Let’s just say it’s a very large mill. 
Working surface is 10’ x 20’.
The parts are not flat at all, but complex contours with pockets and varying thickness. 20,000 rpm spindle.
I know enough about the setup and operation, but that’s why there are engineers for the programing and running of the machine.
But still a lot of hand tools.
I was always wondering if the big boys ,like yourself…still had to do what we small time boys had to do within the use of a lot of hand finishing on some parts ?
I always figured it would remain the norm…obviously more so on finesse type projects…and less so with bulk use composites.
I was in your neck of the woods again last week and kept wishing I could swing by for some eye candy ( pants)lol.
Cheers,Vinny
Yup…found that out too. It’s all about the duty cycle! Can’t have a 60/40 running 100% of the time. It goes plop.
I like using a carbide grit blade for a jig saw. The kind used for cutting tiles etc. Never dulls. Cuts like butter.
http://www.toolstation.com/images/library/stock/webbig/67688.jpg
What do you recommend for cutting this parts? I have a dremel now with tungsten carbide cutting disc and rotaries. Is there better way? Like reciprocating saw with carbide blade? Dremel make carbon dust everywhere around. I also wonder if reciprocating saw can be used only with thicker laminates (0,07" or 2+ mm). I still imagine how the saw cracks thin laminate.
Interesting blade… i’ve never seen those before.
Those carbide cutting discs are ok… but the fiber wheel cutting discs work better for cutting composites.
do you have a picture of such a disk? does dremel have one in their lineup?
I use carbide disc which are specialy suitable for composites. Look at Permagrid tools. Lot of Formula1 teams use their stuff…
Ok, I was just recalling my experience with Dremel brand carbide disc.
Hrmmm… so you’re saying that the fibre wheel’s are better then? Do you mean just in terms of actually cutting the cure composite or just for wear? I know this sounds like a silly question… but I’m going to make my first attempt at trimming a part tonight (or tomorrow)… so… the easier the better for me
Its a CP air hacksaw for me.I cut the blades in to a point for doing tight corners.Works fine
The carbide cutting wheel made by Dremel will wear out the motor in the dremel before long. I prefer the 1" fiber cutting wheels. Plus the fiber wheels seem to cut smoother.
I want to eventually buy a Foredom rotary tool… it has a seperate large motor that hangs from a hook, 4ft long flex shaft that attaches to the handle tool. They work great and don’t burn out the motor like Dremels do. Problem is the Foredom’s run about $300-$450.
How about the diamond cutting wheel for a dremel ?
they do a normal mandrel version and also a speedclic version of it, also on the speedclic side they do super thin cutting discs, just .75mm wide, i quite fancy trying one of these to see how it cuts CF parts
Matt
I sometimes use the diamond coated wheels. the ones i have are .50mm thick. They tend to warp if overheated.
I’m liking the carbide coated jigsaw blade idea. I think if you cranked the speed up high there wouldn’t be any problem using it.
This is my first post but couldn’t resist chiming in on this one. Dremels are horrible for cutting composites. I went through countless abrasive disks cutting FRP. The reinforced disks aren’t much better than the standard. They normally break off at the mounting hole because there isn’t enough surface area with the way the disk is mounted. I also went through a few dremel motors as well. As somebody stated earlier, the electric motor fills up with dust and failure happens fairly early in it’s life.
More recently I’ve been using an air saw. Some would call it an air hack saw. Many blades that work well can be found easily enough and it’s not difficult to cut down larger blades intended for other cutting tools for use in this saw. I’ve found the air saw to cut through most composites like butter.
I cut close to my final trim line and then use an air sander to finish the edges.
I’ve also used a bandsaw to rough trim parts that would fit. Inflatable drum sanders work nicely as well. They make quick work of getting parts to final dimension. I’ve also used a large table belt/disk sander with success in the past. One of the tricks to making the large stationary electric tools last is having a LARGE vacuum system running to collect the majority of the dust while the tool is in use. The shop where I used these large electric tools was a prostetics shop. Each tool had custom vacuum intake to collect dust connected to a 6" hose. There was a butterfly to close the intake at each station not in use. The vac system was large but probably not difficult to purchase or build something similar. I know the electric tools in this shop had been in use for years and are still in use today. A nice additional perk to the vacuum system was VERY LITTLE itch from cutting and fine tuning the edges of parts. Back when I got the chance to make a few parts in this shop I still itched when trimming FRP.
For a few parts that I make repeatedly I’ve been thinking about making a jig with metal bearing guides for a router bit to trim these parts. Then using the router bit in a air grinder or similar. Should make quick work of trimming parts but would be a lot of effort for low number parts. I thought it might be easier to use hardened steel and let the bit ride directly on the guide. I should be able to use the original plugs to build the jig.
i have been using the diamond wheels in a dremel.when cutting carbon.i need to blow out the motor every 5 minutes.it starts cutting out from the carbon dust.so im thinking about getting a small strait shaft air grinder that uses the 1/8 shank dremel tools.harbor freight has them.or the flexable shaft electric motor.
What he says! 
Diamond blades in an angle grinder works fine for bigger parts.
Carbon dust kills electric tools quite fast though, in my experience… (does the conductive property of CF has something to do with it?)
On polyester industry it is all diamond discs on angle grinders.
There are also very nifty router bits, for almost every purpose, I know there used to be a booth on IBEX which had them on display.
100% like Dremel but I think will buy something like that in the next days: http://www.dynamitetoolco.com/v/Rotozip_Tools/Rotozip_RZ25.html
We also have a 3" air cut off wheel tool… not so great with 1/16" thick fiber cut off wheels… takes way too much air to power it… someone told me you can get a 3" diamond cut off wheel that works much faster than the fiber wheels