Just about to cut to length some cannibalised battens from older sails in order to effect some repairs to my newer sails.

I was thinking to just tightly tape the cut area (to prevent splintering of the fibreglass battens), then just lop them off with a drop saw.

Is this too simplistic? Are the any tips or tricks to cutting fibreglass battens?

Cheers...Eckas

Eckas

You really ought to talk to your GPSTC team Captain (Glen) he's a guru at this stuff - he repaired a snapped top batten for me down at Lake George with stuff in his trailer (yeah OK ...its a big trailer)- set a PB on the repaired sail the next day.

Cheers

Spot on eckas

Cut it off a bit longer first in case it splinters it. They are only compressed fibres, I forget the name of it, but the fibres run lengthwise, and I would be worried that the coarse teeth on a drop saw might splinter them.

Try it first, or use a hacksaw with a finer blade.

I'd suggest using a fine blade hacksaw too. And don't just cut from the top to the bottom- cut and roll the batten progressively so you've scored it all round first, then do the final cut all the way through. Otherwise you'll risk splitting off the fibres as you finish the cut at the bottom.

Drop-saw is overkill and will spray glass fibres all over the place.
Glad to see you're trying the repair though.

Just cut it with anything normally a hack saw though if it splinters a bit it doesn't really matter

I was assuming by drop saw he means the one that is used for metal or stone, with an abrasive disc, not a wood saw with teeth

Fast cutting surface and minimally sized (or no) teeth is obviously best.


Haveused fine hacksaw, like 32tpi, and masking tape, just fine previously

Select to expand quote

MikeyS said...
I'd suggest using a fine blade hacksaw too. And don't just cut from the top to the bottom- cut and roll the batten progressively so you've scored it all round first, then do the final cut all the way through. Otherwise you'll risk splitting off the fibres as you finish the cut at the bottom.

+1

I've watched someone do it with a drop saw, I was glad to be standing well enough away when he did it. Like Miley said, cut around the batten first, to cut the outer fibres , then cut through. Do it with a hacksaw, not a drop saw

I cut some down a while back, I think with a hacksaw from memory.

A fine tooth hacksaw or diamond blade in an angle grinder would be the best option.

General rule of thumb for drop saw (or any powered saw) is that the gap between the teeth of the blade should be smaller than the dimension of the stock which is being cut. A negative pitch tooth on the drop saw (ie joinery/plastic cutting blade) would help. Otherwise put the batten between two solid blocks of timber to prevent blowout of fibres and grabbing. Overall the dropsaw would be an awful lot of hassle and cost for a few battens when a hacksaw would do the job.

Clarence