We are putting 2 layers of carbon fiber on each side of a piece of .75" Baltic Birch plywood and then cutting out some pieces. Any one have a favorite bit they use or could recommend?? 2 flute standard router, 2+ flute upcut?? Want clean cuts in the carbon and minimal sanding of the edges on the ply. Thanks.
Regardless of bit choice, lets first talk about dust suppression. You have it layered with Plywood, so what are you thinking for strategy? Normally with Carbon Fiber you cut it inside a bath of water to prevent any making fibers making it into the air. Remember how we used to use Asbestos in the last century, but now dont? Asbestoses in the lungs? Same thing just worse with CF dust! No jokes! See how Alex_b cuts CF safely, here: TACIT RONIN CNC - Flood Coolant Enabled C-Beam Many other warnings in older threads on the forum, like here Five tips for working with carbon fiber and Acro.... Dewalt 660. Carbon fiber sheets? But with the Plywood stack up, a bath is not going to suffice right? Plywood doesnt like being submersed in a water bath? So cut CF first, then plywood, then laminate?
I would shoot for a compression bit.. I would like to know how carbon fiber got the online rep for being as bad as asbestos? Are there some studies showing lung cancer in composite workers that I am missing? Most studies I find have no conclusion, or are not pier reviewed or anything more than speculation? Seems like there should be 30 years or more of good data on this. Cheers Gary
Peter: Thanks for responding and be assured we share your concerns. As a small cabinet and millwork shop we deal with toxic dust every day, Redwood, cedar, teak, anything rated for exterior use, different Asian hardwoods and MDF, by far the worst. I have a sign on the OSHA bulletin board that states " anything toxic to bugs is toxic to YOU" I like to think our vac system and dust mask requirements are up to the job. Have to disagree with the premise of skinning cut forms, one of the most toxic processes in the shop is running a router trimmer bit around a form with a layer of high pressure laminate. The amount of dust is awesome. I dream of the day I have a CNC large enough to cut out laminated plywood forms . As I'm sure you are aware the majority of risk when dealing with Carbon Fiber is the cloth itself, It constantly sheds small particles until it is encapsulated in resin, one of the reasons we switched to Web-Lock from Composite Envisions. I don't have enough demand to go all the way to PrePreg. Thanks again.
One thing to keep in mind is that the edge will not be a perfect carbon/wood/carbon finish. The dust somewhat stains the edge.
