mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

I am trying to make some CF pushrods and no matter how I cut the tube, the end splits. Any advice?

I have used my dremel with a cutoff wheel and tried my bandsaw cutting very slowly. Is it possible I am using the wrong wheel in my dremel? The wheel I am using is the Fiberglass Reinforced Cut-off Wheel.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I wrap the rod with tape and cut with the regular cutting wheel.

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

What kind of tape? Do you leave it on? What is its purpose?

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

Masking tape is fine. Yes, you leave it on when cutting, you can cut thru the tape. It's purpose is to prevent the ends from splitting.

Another tip, don’t try to cut clean thru the tube in one go. Cut around the circumference, slowly working your way thru in multiple passes. This will help prevent splitting. Cutoff wheels can sometimes cause delimitation if too much heat is produced, so work slowly. Fine tooth razor saws also work well.

redfox435cat

use masking tape and a fine toothed razor saw. the dremel is just going the beat the pucky out of it. ALso cut around the tube and not straight through it. some minor peeling I wouldn't worry about since they would be glued back down when you epoxy the ends on

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

Also, when finished, and you have your steel wire attached to the CF tube, then you can slide some heat shrink tubing over the end of the CF tube (where you cut, and it is attached to the steel wire), and shrink it down. This will help preven future splitting.