PylonWorld

Have you ever struggled to cut fiberglass cloth with scissors? Especially on the bias?

What you need is a cutting pad and a rotary cutter. This is a picture of two brands of rotary cutters, a Fiskars and an Olfa.

I know Wal-Mart carries the Fiskars, and I'm pretty sure they have the Olfa also. WM also carries cutting pads up to 24" x 36" in the Fiskars brand.

I use two of the 24" x 36" taped together on the back. This almost works perfectly, but invariably a few strands of glass don't get cut. So, if you tape cutting pads together, start to slide the cloth a little, and nick that strand in the nick of time, or you'll pull the weave.

You can also use the rotary cutter and your cutting pad to cut Monokote or Ultracoat.

George Truett taught me the joy of the rotary cutter, and I am eternally grateful.

PylonWorld

I forgot to mention where to find this stuff in the Wal-Mart jungle. You'll find it in the sewing and crafts department.

Ed Smith

I have been using these tools for over a year now. They can also be purchased at the big office supply stores, Staples/Office Depot etc. etc.

Ed S

DMyer

My Feedback: (2)

I bought my friskers rotary cutter over 10 years ago from a fabric store. Got two extra blades also which I still have never used because the original still cuts like new! A couple tips I have learned through the years.


1) You can easily cut multiple layers at once when making center section glass or other pieces that are identical.

2) While I also use a mat, I have also used masonite or pressed fibre board as a cutting surface prior to the time I got my mat... they work especially well when cutting multiple layers of glass.


I can't even imagine using anything else to cut glass.. so fast... so clean.

daven

My Feedback: (1)

They do work great, up until you drop them on the concrete and put a flat spot on the blade.

After I cut my pieces out, I lay them on a piece of newspaper and lightly spray with 3m 77 spray adhesive, putting a little extra around the edges. This really helps keep the edges from fraying while adding the resin.

PylonWorld

That would be failure due to pilot error.

I bought the Olfa because my Fiskars got dull, and the Olfa was on sale.

Cutting carbon fiber cloth and tissue is probably what dulled my Fiskars. Or it could have been my attempt to cut Aramid / Kevlar with it. So now I use the Fiskars on CF and the Olfa on fiberglass only.

Don't cut Aramid / Kevlar with a rotary cutter, especially on a mat. It will leave little pieces of fiber in the cut in the mat. Also don't cut breather material on a mat, or you'll be plucking the mat. Don't ask me how I learned these lessons.

DMyer's suggestion of cutting on masonite / fiber board may solve the above problem.

Terryoc

I also have used the roller cutters for years ,for a cutting board I use a sheet of polycarbonate like perspex or lexan as with masonite after a while with all the cuts crossing over the surface starts to break up with the perspex when the surface gets to rough I run over it with my orbital sander and start cutting again.
The only thing I have found to cut peelply and kevlar reliably is scissors not the real expensive kevlar shears I use good quality birch at about 1/8 the price and sharpen them with a rub stone.
Terry