Scroll Saw?

General Composites Discussions Equipment Talk
#1

Hello,

Im thinking of buying a table scroll saw to trim flat fiberglass and carbon fiber laminates up to 4mm in thickness. Will it do the job?

Thank you!

#2

Sorry - I can’t answer that directly :rolleyes:
I have a scroll saw - but was concerned with the “loose carbon” I might generate. Sure you can mask up, pants suit the whole safety garb - but then you gotta deal with the dry mess.
SO, I bought a Harbor Freight 4 inch wet saw - think it was less than 60 bucks - WOW what value. It uses the blades from my 4 inch angle grinder - which doubles its utility. So far I have been precision cutting G-10 into 3 inch wide strips and its been worth every penny.
Hope thats helpful inf for your purchase!
Cheers - Jim

#3

Thanks for advice, i have a 7 inch wet tile saw, but it wont give me the precision I need, nor can I find thin blades to fit it.
It looks like this http://www.mytoolstore.com/mk/mk170.jpg.

Do you have a model number or picture of the saw you are using? I could definately use an inexpensive 4" saw in the shop. What type of blades are you using?

I think in the end though, I may need a scroll saw because I need to cut tight angles in the laminates.

#4

If you do use a band saw, invert the blade to point upwards. It works best that way.

#5

Ok so a band saw will work? How about the scroll saw, should I invert the blade as well?

#6

Yes. The idea is to slow the cutting down and not ‘bit off more than you can chew’, which happens easily with the teeth pointing the normal way.

#7

Here’s the wet saw:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3733
Its “cute” and does a nice job. Its not a scroll or band saw so forget “fancy curved work” but because you can flood the tray it keeps the CF dust, bits, etc down! Safety gear still required :cool:
You can mount any standard 5/8 arbor blade/sander/etc from your angle grinder too. I’m using the HF wet/dry diamond blades and they work fine.
Here is an idea for flooding a scroll saw or band saw to keep the dust and junk down:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=38942

Cheers - Jim