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Ready to trim fiberglass top - what tools work?

L

localizer

Active Member
Hello,
I'm ready to trim the top to place it in fuselage. Will you please suggest tools, disks, blades, sanders that work and last?

Thank you!
 
I had pretty good luck with the diamond cutoff wheels for the dremel tool https://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=EZ545. I think I used two of them on about half the fiberglass on the plane.

Before finding the diamond cutoff wheel I used the Harbor Freight metal body saw (which was OK but not great) http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/specialty-air-tools/high-speed-metal-saw-91753.html. I also used the regular fiber cutoff wheels for the dremel. Again worked OK but not great. My compressor would not keep up with the typical cutoff air tools.

I did a lot of cutting short of your mark and sanding up to it with belt sander or drum too.
 
I used the multi-tool from Harbor Freight. You go through blades a little faster than the name brands, like Fein, but it's significantly less expensive.
 
Permagrit tools!

They make a saber saw permagrit blade. It works great...Very easy to be accurate and it makes almost no dust, more like sawdust...coarser. WAAAYYY better than the high speed cutoff wheels. I also did not have much luck with the body saw. The diamond wheel for the dremel works good but there is a lot of cutting. I tried almost every way and the Permagrit blade worked the best for me.

I would also recommend the Permagrit sanding tools and burrs. They make working with fiberglass as easy as working with balsa wood...
 
One more vote for the Multi Tool from HF. Just make sure you get the carbide blade, as the fiberglass eats the HSS blades.

It walked through the canopy easily with little dust
 
I bought the cheapest "wig-wag" tool HF makes and it works great for the operations we do in plumbing, like cutting open plaster walls or the occasional frozen nut. It's the accessories that run the cost up and HF charges enough that it pays to buy better and use the right accessory for the job.

I consider HF tools to be "throw away" tools, that we can equally use for what they are intended, or as a hammer if you need it in a pinch.

The price is right so don't overthink it. ;-)

-Marc
 
Dust

If you decide to go the high speed cutoff way, get yourself a respirator mask and a Tyvek painter's jacket, there will be more dust than you can imagine.

I tried them all and settled on the permagrit saber saw blade. Very accurate, very quick, and easily swept up "sawdust". The dust is much coarser than the fine dust generated with a cutoff wheel...
 
A flap wheel on an angle grinder works really well for finishing off - makes HUGE amounts of dust though........
 
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