Cutting composites material parts with

[PatNV]

Hi everybody,

I need to cut Fiberglass-Epoxy and Carbon fiber-epoxy parts for thickness inspection in inaccessible place of the parts. I was planning doing so using a wet cutting tile saw with either a diamond blade or an abrasive type one. However, I would need to have some suggestions about the type of saw that should be use for this purpose. I found one that looks interesting to me: MK Diamond TX-3 Wet Cutting Tile Saw

The water mist on the blade should keep the part cold while cutting, but I wonder if any brand of wet cutting saw are made specifically for cutting composites. What HP should I have if I want it to run fine through the part? (Thickness are somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch.

So, my questions are:
-Are there any brands that make table saw to specifically cut carbon fiber and fiber glass epoxy parts?
-Is the MKdiamond saw I am actually looking for seems like a good one for my application?

Thank you very much for giving me your inputs and sharing your experience.

Best regards,

Pat
Mechanical Eng.

 

[CoryPad]

You should look into machines used for materials testing, like these from Struers:

http://www.struers.com/default.asp?top_id=3&main_id=8&sub_id=3&doc_id=144

 

[jotunn]

For straight-line cutting of composites, I think tile saws are hard to beat. They give a good cut edge, hold decent tolerances when necessary, and are comparatively economical.

I have used a few different tile saw brands (target and husqvarna), but never MK. That said, the MK Model you identify looks like it'll do the trick....plenty enough there to cut a 1/4" thickness.

A few other thoughts...for reference:
•Make sure the blade is "wet" type (uniform cutting edge around the circumference). Stay away from the wet/dry or dry blades.
•Tile saws will hold quite nice tolerances (easily less than 0.005" variance when using a good fence to cut 1" wide test coupons). On some saws you'll have to improve the tray/slider mechanism to get there though.
•Although the edge quality is nice, secondary operations may have to be performed depending on your goal. For example: I don't know what you mean by "thickness inspection", but if microscopy is part of it, plan on a polishing operation; for end loaded compression testing, I'd use a tile saw for specimen width/length cuts, but then I'd mill the specimen ends to get a nice smooth square edge; etc.

 

[jotunn]

Pat-

Ironically enough, in between my previous post and today, I have found myself in the market for another tile saw to cut composites. Having never used an MK, I was wondering if you ended up purchasing it and whether you had any thoughts in relation to its performance.

Thanks!

 

[rerig]

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