Cutting carbon fiber tubing on a lathe?

[TemetumExMachina]

I'm planning on making some 1/2" carbon fiber tubes 3' long, 1/8" wall, and want to cut it down to 6" lengths. I have a mini-lathe, but I'm not sure what would be the best tool for the job.

Suggestions?

 

[MikeHalloran]

A bigger lathe, so you could feed the tube through the spindle to a stop on the tailstock and cut it off with the cross slide.

For which purpose you might look at adapting a small abrasive chop saw to ride on the cross slide.






Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Compositepro]

A table saw with an abrasive blade will be far more efficient.
You will not have to stop the tool and rechuck for every cut. Technique is important to get good results though. Rotate the tube as you cut to avoid brooming the fibers where the blade exits the cut. Support the tube on both sides of the blade with a wood fence that you can cut into. this prevents the tube from moving as you finish the cut.

 

[TemetumExMachina]

Mike: That's what I was thinking. My lathe has a 3/4" hole through the spindle. I considered trying to mount an abrasive blade of some kind (or a piece of one), but I'm not sure how I should do that.

Compositepro: I think I see what you're saying. I've found a small table saw I like that I will probably use once I start production. I'm just prototyping right now.

This is the saw:

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-mighty-mite-table-saw-93211.html

They have a diamond blade for it as well.

 

[Compositepro]

A diamond blade works well. Get a table saw with a full size table, an adjustable fence to control cut length, and a miter fence to keep the tube square while cutting. It's the 3' length of the tube that determines the saw - not the 6" cut piece. With a real table saw you can easily cut thousands of pieces a day with little effort. You will want a dust collector or shop vac also.

 

[TemetumExMachina]

My target production is about 100/week. Buying a full size table saw is not an option at this time, but I may know somebody that has one I could use.

I do definitely know someone who has a chop saw. Not sure how well that would work, though. I would still need to rotate the shaft, of course.

 

[CharlieM80]

We use a common diamond blade tile saw with very good results. You can use it wet if your material will tolerate it without absorbing, eliminates the dust collector. Even rent one from from your local hardware store first, see if it works for your material.

Only problem I see is you need to make a side support for your parent tube.

 

[rerig]

This is an old but a goody