Cutting Fiberglass Cloth
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16384
Printed Date: November-18-2024 at 5:24am
Topic: Cutting Fiberglass Cloth
Posted By: Okie Boarder
Subject: Cutting Fiberglass Cloth
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:19pm
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So, before I really get going laying fiberglass and lots of cutting it, I gotta know...
Are there other methods for cutting the fiberglass cloth besides the basic hand scissors / shears? |
Replies:
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:26pm
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Hopefully someone will chime in- I sure couldnt think of anything in the past! All my former jobs involved cutting the sheets of epoxy and mat into tons of strips with shears... what a PITA.
I am very much looking forward to my next builds where I will primarily be taping everything! ------------- |
Posted By: Okie Boarder
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:30pm
| My wife looked around and found two different cutting wheels at Hobby Lobby. One was for paper and the other was for fabric. I would guess these could work but wouldn't last long. There's gotta be something made for fiberglass, I would think. |
Posted By: WakeSlayer
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:37pm
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Greg mentioned something about a cutting wheel and mat from a fabric shop. I have been on my wife to grab me something like that. Scissors are terrible. ------------- Mike N 1968 Mustang |
Posted By: DrCC
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:37pm
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Don't use cloth!!! Mat,Roving Woven or Stitch Mat.
Sharp sissors. Strips? Use as big of pieces as you can. Got a fiberglass roller? Buy one! |
Posted By: 82 Nautique 1
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:39pm
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Guy's
I unroll the mat on a clean sheet of plywood and use say a 1 x 2 for a straight edge and cut with a razor knife. This keeps handleing the mat to a minimum and results in more consistant straight cuts. Hope this helps Dennis ------------- Original Owner " Dennis" http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=4855" rel="nofollow - 1982 Nautique |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:45pm
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I bought this http://www.smallparts.com/Wiss-Compound-Action-All-Purpose-Cutter/dp/B0002JT7NA - Wiss MPX for cutting the carpet when I did the Tique. Found them at Ace and absolutely love them. They will cut almost anything and work great on fiberglass. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 7:46pm
What??? Why??? Whats your background, Dr. CC? I think a few guys here who are well versed in composite construction may disagree with you! ------------- |
DrCC wrote:Posted By: BuffaloBFN
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 8:11pm
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Like Mike said, I used a Fiskar's cutting wheel and a mat. I also used scissors for some things, but the wheel and mat are the ticket. Office depot, wally world... ------------- http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=2331&sort=&pagenum=12&yrstart=1986&yrend=1990" rel="nofollow - 1988 BFN-sold "It's a Livin' Thing...What a Terrible Thing to Lose" ELO |
Posted By: hasbeenskier
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 8:14pm
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Sharp sissors.
bj ------------- hasbeenskier |
Posted By: Waterdog
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 8:34pm
Pizza cutters like this work well but mostly a good pair of sissors. ------------- - waterdog - http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=3896&sort=&pagenum=2&yrstart=1978&yrend=1978" rel="nofollow - 78 Ski Tique |
Posted By: Air206
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 9:05pm
That made me smile.... If you go to the link, the site says Pete got the last ones!!!  ------------- https://tinyurl.com/y6t5e3bu" rel="nofollow - 04 Air206 http://tinyurl.com/9urzgls" rel="nofollow - 91 Barefoot 78 SkiTiq |
Posted By: Fl Inboards
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 9:09pm
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At the factory they used Shears (big Scissors) I also use these types of shears, and have them professionaly sharpened about every other year.
Dr. CC what's wrong with Cloth?? The 100mph, mega HP plus go fast boats we rebuild and re stringer we dont use roving on stringers. Come clean!  ------------- Hobby Boats can be expensive when the hobbyist is limited on their own skill and expertise. 1993 Shamrock "fat" 20. 2008 Nautique 196 5.0 |
Posted By: anthonylizardi
Date Posted: January-27-2010 at 9:25pm
| I saw a trick one time of using a piece of tape. Then you can cut without pulling appart. Also will keep the cut piece for the next piece. |
Posted By: Morfoot
Date Posted: January-28-2010 at 9:39am
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Guys this is what you need for cutting fiberglass cloth. I use them everyday here at work for cutting cloth for repairs on our parts here at DAL. They work FANTASTIC! I have a pair at home too! I'm pretty sure you can get them at Wally world, Micheals, Hobby Lobby or even one of the office supply stores. You can get replacement blades too.
Scissors are also used daily but you really need a good pair like Swiss. A cheap pair WON'T DO IT! I've never tried pinking shears but I'd guess they work. Momma might have a fit though if you used her good shears on your boat project. 
 ------------- "Morfoot; He can ski. He can wakeboard.He can cook chicken.He can create his own self-named beverage, & can also apparently fly. A man of many talents."72 Mustang "Kermit",88 SN Miss Scarlett, 99 SN "Sherman" |
Posted By: Waterdog
Date Posted: January-28-2010 at 9:56am
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Morfoot,
Yep, the pizza "style" cutters leave a nice cut. Were did you buy yours? The one I showed swaps out blades fast,it stores box cutter type razor blades in the handle too. ------------- - waterdog - http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=3896&sort=&pagenum=2&yrstart=1978&yrend=1978" rel="nofollow - 78 Ski Tique |
Posted By: Morfoot
Date Posted: January-28-2010 at 10:11am
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I didn't have to buy mine. DAL bought it for us to use as well as the scissors we use. They get allot of the tools we use from Grainger as they just down the road from HQ. I'm sure I've seen em at one of the forementioned stores.
Be aware of knives that store the blades in the handle. We had a safety memo come out stating that we've had a few employees get cut because a blade came loose in the handle and the user got cut. We also are encouraged to use cut resistant gloves. ------------- "Morfoot; He can ski. He can wakeboard.He can cook chicken.He can create his own self-named beverage, & can also apparently fly. A man of many talents."72 Mustang "Kermit",88 SN Miss Scarlett, 99 SN "Sherman" |
Posted By: Okie Boarder
Date Posted: January-29-2010 at 1:54pm
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The Fiskars one Tim posted is what they had at Hobby Lobby. That's what I got...we'll see how it does. I'm setting up a cutting "table" so I can layout my pieces and cut them to size.
Tim, How long do the blades last? |
Posted By: Morfoot
Date Posted: January-29-2010 at 3:47pm
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They'll last quite a long time as long as your cutting on something that won't trash the edge. We have rubber cutting mats here that will absorb the edge but won't marr the edge. There expensive though. ------------- "Morfoot; He can ski. He can wakeboard.He can cook chicken.He can create his own self-named beverage, & can also apparently fly. A man of many talents."72 Mustang "Kermit",88 SN Miss Scarlett, 99 SN "Sherman" |
Posted By: Okie Boarder
Date Posted: January-29-2010 at 4:36pm
| I got a sheet of doug fir plywood I'm cutting in half to set up a "work table" to cut on. It won't be quite as good as your rubber mats, but it should work OK, I would imagine. I'll see how it ultimately lasts. |
Posted By: Morfoot
Date Posted: January-30-2010 at 3:54pm
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Andy and Tim, a helpful tip:
Use a metal yard stick or drywall square as a fence when cutting long straight spans down your cloth. They work great! Just watch your thumbs. We did have a guy lop off his thumb tip once and being the wonderful work-withs we are,we kept it in the freezer for him till he returned to work.  ------------- "Morfoot; He can ski. He can wakeboard.He can cook chicken.He can create his own self-named beverage, & can also apparently fly. A man of many talents."72 Mustang "Kermit",88 SN Miss Scarlett, 99 SN "Sherman" |
Posted By: Okie Boarder
Date Posted: January-30-2010 at 4:28pm
| That was very thoughtful of ya. Thanks for the tip. I'm actually just cutting it freehand following a line drawn on with a straight edge. Seems to be working just fine that way. |
Posted By: Waterdog
Date Posted: February-03-2010 at 9:12pm
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Wally world has 3 types of Fiskar "pizza" cutters in the craft dept. 2 have 45 mm blades the other is 60mm all around 15 bucks. The large one will work great on thicker material. And they have replacement blades for about 5 bucks. ------------- - waterdog - http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=3896&sort=&pagenum=2&yrstart=1978&yrend=1978" rel="nofollow - 78 Ski Tique |