Hi everyone, new to this form. but what great topics. Just my sort of stuff.
Anyway, we use lots and lots fo kevlar in our helmet we make.
got tired of hand cutting serveral hundred peices per day.
purchased a clicker presses.
had dies made of that hardest steel forged. Stright edge, not serated.
got hardest cutting pad avaliable.
We are getting through about 6 to 10 layers, but still having a few threads not being cut.
Any ideas?
I would try the sheared edge if you can get it as Dupont’s video states to use (and we found out the hard way in the classroom…) sheared sissors or cutters as they bunch up small bunches of the threads and chops them together.
On the bandsaw, I think they stated to install the blade upside down!
Maybe try less layers at one time?
What sort of helmet do you make? What is a clicker press exactly ? I use quite a lot of Kevlar too. I took a coupon (a 8" x 8" square laminated piece 3/8" thick) to a local water jet company and it cut it cleanly in about 30 seconds! I was amazed,almost no fuzzies at all We also had a cnc cutting table company cut some fabric for us (one layer)and that worked well. We’re thinking of buying one of those.
check out our website for the helmets.
www.shredready.com click on the composite helmets in products section.
two issue really, we are using the clicker press to cut the fabric before lamination then trimming the parts out with bandsaw.
a clicker press is a small press, ours is 25 tons cutting force. It has a cutting table of about 40 by 20 inches. the head swings so you can position it over the die and material. the head has to handles with buttons that have to be pressed simultaneously and then the head comes down on to a die over the fabric that then cuts it. No problem with many materials including laminated fiberglass and carbon. or fabrics like fiberglass, carbon, foam, and all sorts of plastics.
Kevlar is another issue though, just looking for insights.
I will tell you this though, even though there are some handcutting after we die cut the kevlar it is much easier than cutting Kevlar by hand.
Want to do the cutting of fabric and parts in house and a water jet cutter is out of our price range.
Tom
who is the company, how big is the machine? cost?
Hey Jprottoytpe. doy ou still have the dispensers for pails of resin? I would like to purchase some.
Heat the Die before you cut. cuts like butter!
Perfect!
How do you heat it and to what temp?
We have a powder coating oven, so i just stuck in there at 350 F for about 10 minutes, got it nice and hot.
have to have everything ready to cut before, so you can just keep cutting for die cools.
the edges of the kevlar get “seared” a little bit. Better than any sissors cut edges i have seen.
tom
The machine is used. Name is Gerber. Have you heard of them? They want $45,000 for it.
I have six 5 gallon pail dispensers in stock at the moment.They’re $32 each. I’ll check on S&H for Alabama.
Depending on how big each sheet is, you might want to look into a CO2 laser. The big ones are kind of pricy. It would be slower than a die, but you have more freedom.