working with Kevlar

[Don]

Just bought some 5 oz Kevlar. The company I bought it from said it won't cut with scissors or a knife, maybe tin snips. They have special serrated scissors for $70 but for a one time project, too expensive. I thought maybe clamping it between 2 pieces of wood and use a cut off disc on an angle grinder. Anyone have tips on cutting?

Also should 2 layers be laid up at the same time, or seperately?

any help will be apreciated. thanks, don

[BLS]

IIRC, you can use tin snips or a pair of very good scissors. The kevlar will try to "slip" rather than cut through cheap scissors. I do know it can be done without the special ones.

[smsazzy]

Don't plan on using the scissors much after you're done though.

[jpetillo]

We used my wife's fabric cutting scissors. They're nothing special, just sharp well-made steel scissors (Fiskars). She said "cutting the kevlar took some life from them". But she still uses them for fabrics. She said they were not her primary scissors, which is why she used them on the kevlar in the first place. We did the layers separately, but others may not agree that this is the best way. John

[vreihen]

I had to cut a whole bunch of 5oz Kevlar a few years ago, and bought the special scissors. They weren't anywhere near $70, though. When I got the Kevlar material in my hands, I tried cutting it with a pair of small telephone lineman's scissors that bounce around the top drawer of my toolbox, and I'll be darned if they cut the material fine! Think one step above kindergarten scissors, with no real leverage unlike sewing or Kevlar scissors. Long story short, I did use the Kevlar scissors because I had purchased them, but for a small one-off project I probably could have gotten away without them.

I used to be a member of a DIY composites forum, and there was a lot of buzz at one point for a certain pair of scissors making the rounds at dollar stores at the time that were good for cutting Kevlar. I was searching Google looking to see if anyone else had found similar good/cheap scissors when I ran across these posts in an R/C airplane forum:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost ... ostcount=4

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... ost8847002

I can't quite see how they are grinding their scissors, but I guess that anything resulting in small grooves like teeth that keep the Kevlar fibers from sliding forward as you squeeze them would do the trick. I believe that it is more important to have a solid pivot hinge with no play, which may mean finding scissors with a screw holding the blades together and not a rivet.....

[Ed Womer]

I have Fiskar sisszors that I bought from Sweet Composites that are specially ground and work fine. They are around $15.

http://sweetcomposites.com

Ed