Hi everyone,
I am an Aero E undergrad who has gotten a job managing the composites lab on campus. I started this past fall, and the saw that we have is not working the way we want it to. We currently have a Gemini Apollo Ring Saw. While it meets all the criteria that my boss has laid out, it does not cut a straight line and it makes lots of funky noises. (I think a grad student abused it this past summer and that is what has been causing problems.) So, I have been tasked with finding a new saw.
The criteria that it must meet:
[ul]
[li]Wet-It has to be a wet saw to keep dust and particulate down because we cut a fair amount of carbon fiber, and to keep the lab clean.[/li][li]Cut various materials- It has to be able to cut lots of different materials, fiberglass, carbon fiber, Kevlar, foams, and the occasional piece of wood or metal bonded with composites.[/li][li]Longevity- Unless it is fairly inexpensive, this needs to last us a while and survive frequent use. The Apollo was purchased last spring and we are already trying to replace it and it was not cheap.[/li][li]Safety- Students will be using this. They all will receive basic safety training before they can use it, but you would not believe the amount of college seniors who have no idea how to run a saw.[/li][li]Cut depth- We would like at least a 3" cut depth, if not more. Students frequently lay up thick sandwich panels for testing.[/li][li]Cut material of any size- One nice thing about the Apollo is that since it is set up like a table saw, I can cut pretty much any size material on it. I have frequently chopped down 6’+ carbon rods for projects.[/li][li]CUTS A STRAIGHT LINE!- I have to free hand feed all material through our Apollo because if I try to use the included sliding table, the cut ends up about 6mm off of the line.[/li][/ul]
Sorry my first post was a novel! Thank you for reading!
Any advice or suggestions for a new saw or cutting method would be greatly appreciated!