Fiberglass

[AHG]

Hi All,
    I am finally getting to work on my bonneville project, and I am ready to work on the fiberglass (air-tech Can-Am). Could Kent or anyone tell me the best way to trim and cut fiberglass without badly butchering the finished edges.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, and I will gladly repay you in beer
come BUB time.

Drew Gatewood
Your humble technical steward
& fiberglass rookie 

[donpearsall]

Hey Drew, good to see you posting on here! You inspected my bike for record cert at BUB 2007. You did a great job, because you passed it!

I have had to heavily modify the Air Tech fairings that I bought. I tried various methods (shears, jig saw, haw saw blade) that made a mess. But the best and cleanest is using a electric or air driven cut off saw with the smallest and thinest fiber blade you can get. The smaller blade makes curving the cut easier. Mark the lines where you want to cut, then make a few passes along the lines (don't plunge all the way through the material.) You can easily avoid burning the resin and glass by making several shallow cuts on the line. That way it is easy to make curved cuts.

But there is a new tool out that I want to try. It is the dual saw with counter rotating blades. It claimes the cut is neat in all material, even steel. http://www.dualsaw.com

Good luck. See you at BUB.
Don

[bak189]

Drew, whatever way that you plan to cut the Can-Am fairing......keep it to a minimum....the fairing,
like Kent made it, is the way it tested in the tunnel...........and it works..........Gustafson still has a wind screen for it.

PS. The basis of the fairing was a Ossa roadrace fairing with mods.

PS..PS. Dremel has a small saw blade that work great on fibreglass......and with care on wind screens

[55chevr]

Long sleeves and duct tape the cuffs and around the neck line ... avoid the itchies is easy then curing them. I guess Kent must have alligator skin by now.
JD

[1212FBGS]

yep and i keep my aligator skin streached out with a protective layer of fat.!.... Drew we use a fiber cut off wheel around here.... oh and dont forget your particle mask
Kent

[John Noonan]

yep and i keep my aligator skin streached out with a protective layer of fat.!.... Drew we use a fiber cut off wheel around here.... oh and dont forget your particle mask
Kent

One time about 10 years ago Kent was getting ready to "Hang a set of his bodywork" on my street bike that was later a race bike and I then traded it for a first model 1999 Hayabusa, I bring the bike to Kent and he proceeds to set the bodywork on the bike and then starts screwing it together with drywall screws and then start cutting with his cut off wheel..I am fearing the bodywork is about to be not usable and a few minutes later the body is mounted and the bodywork is perfect and sits lined up better than I could have imagined, the bike went on to be custom painted by a friend of Kent's and to this day I still get compliments about how good that bike looked..I raced it one time at a Pro Star race in Indy and it was the best looking shoot out bike there..I lost in round two to Phil Stoll and won the first round against some Kawi rider..Rickey Gadson..

I don't recall a mask for Kent however..

J

[1212FBGS]

i don't use masks i rely on nose hairs
Kent

[John Noonan]

i don't use masks i rely on nose hairs
Kent

Then I can state you are SAFE ! ! !

[saltwheels262]

Hi All,
    I am finally getting to work on my bonneville project, and I am ready to work on the fiberglass (air-tech Can-Am). Could Kent or anyone tell me the best way to trim and cut fiberglass without badly butchering the finished edges.
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, and I will gladly repay you in beer
come BUB time.

Drew Gatewood
Your humble technical steward
& fiberglass rookie 




  good question, you took the words off of my keyboard.

franey

[AHG]

Thanks Guys.
I appreciate the quick responses.

I guess I'll forget about PLAN "A"
(see below)

Thanks again
Drew Gatewood

[Cole222]

Drew, Glad to see that you are putting together a chassis for that special Jawa engine you have. Should make for some fast and fun runs at BUB this year.

After talking with you about it in September I was in my local shop and one of the bikes they have on loan to show off is from Trey Batey and is a Jawa speedway bike. I thought how nice it would be to convince him to put it into an LSR frame. Maybe after you set a new record he can be convinced to try it himself. 
Tod

[Milwaukee Midget]

Long sleeves and duct tape the cuffs and around the neck line ... avoid the itchies is easy then curing them.

I used to unload boxcar loads of fiberglass insulation at a rail head for Menards.  After 8 hours in 90 degree heat, there was no way around the itch, regardless of what you were wearing. 

An insulation contractor told me the cure.  Menthol shave cream.  Lather up, shower down - works like a charm.

[55chevr]

MM,
I thought you were going to write that you lathered up and shaved your body ... Joe