Wooden drift boat builders have been using kevlar for a few years in
the construction of stitch and glue boats. The current technique is to
put the kevlar on the inside of the hull attacting as a reinforcement
for the floor as these boats are prone to bashing rocks.

I cut the kevlar for my boat using an angle grinder with a cut off
disk. Put masking tape over the area to be cut, draw you cut lines on
with a marker, lay the kevlar on a sacrificial piece of ply or other
cheap board and cut it with the cut off disk.

My layup schedule has a layer of Kevlar on the inside waterline to waterline
from the bow to the fin keel. It is intended to give some impact
protection. Don't use it on the outside because if you sand into it while
fairing you are SOL. There is no way to bury the fuz without putting more
glass on top of it.

I tried all sorts of expensive specialty Kevlar shears with no luck. Found
that what works best is a $12 Fiskars searated blade shop shear from Home
Despot. The secret to cutting Kevlar is to keep it stretched tight. I have
two pieces of 2x2 covered with duct tape about 5' long. I lay the Kevlar
out flat on the table and lay one 2x2 across it in front of the roll and
clamp it down. Then clamp the other just past the cut line while pulling
the Kevlar tight. As you cut with the Fiskars, pull back slightly as the
blades close. You can cut a intricately and cleanly as you want between the
2x2s.

BTW, for cutting regular glass of all weaves and weights nothing, and I
really mean nothing, does the job as well as an Olfa Rotary cutter.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"SouthForkSam" wrote in message
ups.com...
Wooden drift boat builders have been using kevlar for a few years in
the construction of stitch and glue boats. The current technique is to
put the kevlar on the inside of the hull attacting as a reinforcement
for the floor as these boats are prone to bashing rocks.

I cut the kevlar for my boat using an angle grinder with a cut off
disk. Put masking tape over the area to be cut, draw you cut lines on
with a marker, lay the kevlar on a sacrificial piece of ply or other
cheap board and cut it with the cut off disk.

Glenn Ashmore wrote:

BTW, for cutting regular glass of all weaves and weights nothing, and I
really mean nothing, does the job as well as an Olfa Rotary cutter.

Yeah, they're quite a revelation, aren't they. I use one on glass and
Dynel, but haven't tried it on Kevlar. How well does it work?


--
Regards

Brian

The Ofla will work on Kevlar IF the fabric is held tight but the Fiskars
searated blade shears work better.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
news:FQ2he.2$E05.0@trndny09...
Glenn Ashmore wrote:

BTW, for cutting regular glass of all weaves and weights nothing, and I
really mean nothing, does the job as well as an Olfa Rotary cutter.

Yeah, they're quite a revelation, aren't they. I use one on glass and
Dynel, but haven't tried it on Kevlar. How well does it work?


--
Regards

Brian

Glenn Ashmore wrote:
The Ofla will work on Kevlar IF the fabric is held tight but the Fiskars
searated blade shears work better.

Thanks Glenn.


--
Regards

Brian

Thank you.


On Sat, 14 May 2005 04:15:51 +0000, Brian Nystrom wrote:

Glenn Ashmore wrote:
The Ofla will work on Kevlar IF the fabric is held tight but the Fiskars
searated blade shears work better.

Thanks Glenn.

Glenn Ashmore wrote:

BTW, for cutting regular glass of all weaves and weights nothing, and I
really mean nothing, does the job as well as an Olfa Rotary cutter.

I can second that in spades. It makes a super clean cut and
is so easy. Never am I going to have sore hands from
cutting glass again (and never again will my wife complain
when all the scissors magically become dull)

Evan Gatehouse

Damn
Another tool to buy ....
I bought a Fein Multitool after reading one of Glen's posts a while back,
it's let me do things I didn't think were possible. Like cutting through
two layers of 3 mm ( 1/8" for you feet and inches folk) ply, removing the
off-cuts and having a clean virtually zero-gap joint ....

The Olfa is a lot cheaper - it's less than any blade for the Fein!

David


"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
...
Glenn Ashmore wrote:

BTW, for cutting regular glass of all weaves and weights nothing, and I
really mean nothing, does the job as well as an Olfa Rotary cutter.

I can second that in spades. It makes a super clean cut and is so easy.
Never am I going to have sore hands from cutting glass again (and never
again will my wife complain when all the scissors magically become dull)

Evan Gatehouse