Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
(OP)
I have to cut many bars of a 10mm thick carbon fibre sheet, each 1m long. The sheet is made by unidirectional fabric and high temp epoxy resin, cured in the oven.
I have tried with the band saw but the saw, (which is probably one of the best for hard metals) was ruined after just one cut.
Coolant is not an option.
Is there another way or machine i should use to do the job with high accuracy?
I have tried with the band saw but the saw, (which is probably one of the best for hard metals) was ruined after just one cut.
Coolant is not an option.
Is there another way or machine i should use to do the job with high accuracy?





RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
Can you not use pure water for coolant? If not, a compressed air jet will help, or even air from a Vortec cooler. There are grit edge band saw blades available. They will work as long as the cut is kept cool enough. If the blade gums-up once it may not be useable anymore.
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
Anyway, i will try water jet (as QuentinNZ recommended - thanks) or laser cutting. Which solution do you believe is the best for this case? Anything to worry/take care with laser cutting?
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
Most tools for cutting carbon need to be diamond grit or polycrystalline diamond (PCD) coated. Water jets typically have a garnet or other hard cutting powder in the jet.
Cannot speak much for laser/EB cutting. For metals, laser typically leaves a small HAZ which often needs removing.
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
I don't think it is proprietary as it was used in a Vendors' Training Class.
If someone feels otherwise please feel free to flag and remove it.
Rerig
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
RE: Cutting thick carbon fibre sheet
The saws use large quantities of coolant water so materials stay cool. When you keep the matrix cool, composites act pretty much like ceramics. The water on a stone saw is normally recycled, so it normally somewhat alkaline from stone dust. Waterjets require clean water, so their water source isn't normally recycled. It normally comes from the municipal water supply so it is quite clean.
A saw will leave a finish that is very smooth (quite often when they are fabricating a granite counterop they can simply polish the sawn edge). If the saw is set up and operated properly it will give you cuts that are dead on. I don't recall the feedrates they use on a saw, but I would be surprised if they were less than 300mm per minute. They move right along. Kerf is normally about 1/8".
Waterjet feedrates vary big time depending on the operating pressure, but will be much slower than a saw. The edges are fairly straight and smooth, but it depends on various factors. The edge won't be even comparable to the smoothness of a saw cut, however. Kerf is typically around 0.006".
Because of the housing slump, many stone shops are hurting for work, so they would likely to be anxious to talk to you. Larger shops are more likely to have the CNC equipment, so you might call Home Depot of Lowes and see who makes their custom granite countertops. Or if you don't need huge quantities keep your local stone or glass shop in business.