Well, I bought a new riding lawnmower and dont have the space to park it
without crowding me out of my shop. So, I am toying with the idea of a lean
to style add on to my shop with fiberglas panels for the roof and skin on
the walls. Just something to keep the weather off of my new toy. My question
is how does one cut these without them splintering to hell and back? I would
think any recipricating motion or circular saw would splinter like crazy.
All input greatly appreciated.

Grady

"Grady" wrote in message
news:7_Rle.1225$fp.681@fed1read05...
Well, I bought a new riding lawnmower and dont have the space to park it
without crowding me out of my shop. So, I am toying with the idea of a
lean
to style add on to my shop with fiberglas panels for the roof and skin on
the walls. Just something to keep the weather off of my new toy. My
question
is how does one cut these without them splintering to hell and back? I
would
think any recipricating motion or circular saw would splinter like crazy.
All input greatly appreciated.

Grady

I cut the corrugated fiberglass panels for a sandbox cover some years ago
with a fine-toothed blade in a hand jigsaw (reciprocating saw). No
splintering, just a slight fuzz at the cut, which sands off very easily.

--
Ed Huntress

On Fri, 27 May 2005 23:00:12 -0500, "Grady" wrote:

Well, I bought a new riding lawnmower and dont have the space to park it
without crowding me out of my shop. So, I am toying with the idea of a lean
to style add on to my shop with fiberglas panels for the roof and skin on
the walls. Just something to keep the weather off of my new toy. My question
is how does one cut these without them splintering to hell and back? I would
think any recipricating motion or circular saw would splinter like crazy.
All input greatly appreciated.

Grady

I use an automatic washer outer case over the A/C condenser unit all
winter and over the snow blower all summer.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Fri, 27 May 2005 23:00:12 -0500, "Grady" wrote:

Well, I bought a new riding lawnmower and dont have the space to park it
without crowding me out of my shop. So, I am toying with the idea of a lean
to style add on to my shop with fiberglas panels for the roof and skin on
the walls. Just something to keep the weather off of my new toy. My question
is how does one cut these without them splintering to hell and back? I would
think any recipricating motion or circular saw would splinter like crazy.
All input greatly appreciated.

Grady


First why use the fiber glass panels? They don't hold up well to the
sun, they won't protect the mower as well as sheet metal would, and
they're more expensive than sheet metal.

Now on to the question. It might surprise you but the best way I've
found to cut fiberglass panels is with a pair of old fashion tinners
snips. They do need to be fairly sharp but they're go right through
without much fuss.

If you do decide to use a saw be darn sure to use a respirator. The
worst thing I've ever done to my lungs was cutting up some fiberglass
panels with a saw.


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook

If you insist use a circular saw with a new SHARP carbide tipped blade
w/lots of teeth

Wear long sleeve's and a sand blaster's hood if possible. Put on coveralls
and duct tape your gloves on. Make sure you have a respirator.

Be ready to itch like crazy for a few days...

Oh yes, do it outside somewhere or in a neighbor's garage. Choose a
neighbor you don't like or don't want to be friendly with any more.

"Grady" wrote in message
news:7_Rle.1225$fp.681@fed1read05...
Well, I bought a new riding lawnmower and dont have the space to park it
without crowding me out of my shop. So, I am toying with the idea of a
lean
to style add on to my shop with fiberglas panels for the roof and skin on
the walls. Just something to keep the weather off of my new toy. My
question
is how does one cut these without them splintering to hell and back? I
would
think any recipricating motion or circular saw would splinter like crazy.
All input greatly appreciated.

Grady

"Grady"
All input greatly appreciated.

Use polycarbonate panels and skip the misery.

that takes the fun out of it!

"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
"Grady"
All input greatly appreciated.

Use polycarbonate panels and skip the misery.

Went to the local Home Depot, and they did not even have fiberglas panels.
It was either PVC or polycarbonate. and 8 foot long sheet of pvc was like 10
buck, the polycarb was double that. Think I will find a different method for
my madness now.





"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
"Grady"
All input greatly appreciated.

Use polycarbonate panels and skip the misery.

"Blue Skies" wrote in message
...
| If you insist use a circular saw with a new SHARP carbide tipped blade
| w/lots of teeth
|
| Wear long sleeve's and a sand blaster's hood if possible. Put on
coveralls
| and duct tape your gloves on. Make sure you have a respirator.
|
| Be ready to itch like crazy for a few days...
|
| Oh yes, do it outside somewhere or in a neighbor's garage. Choose a
| neighbor you don't like or don't want to be friendly with any more.

If you look at the panel you'll see a smooth side and a rough side,
usually. The rough side is the side where you can see the most fibers.
Tape up the smooth side where your cut will be and turn the panel rough side
down. This way the saw teeth will cut "into" the rough side and the tape
will help keep the fuzz to a minimum. The heavier the tape the better. A
couple-three layers of masking tape ought to do the trick. If you can, get
an old vacuum cleaner with a new bag and connect it to the outlet of your
circular saw. You don't have to make it a perfect seal, but what you can
do. Put the vacuum far away from you. If you can, gather all your
household fans together and blow the extra dust away from you, toward that
annoying neighbor. Dampen the yard just a bit to keep the dust from flying
around and hose it down again when you're done to keep it out of the air the
second time. If you have problems with the panel vibrating like crazy, put
bags of dirt or something here and there to dampen/stop the vibration, which
tends to make the edges even rougher.
Anything you can do to keep the fibers from making contact with your
skin is good. Painters' (tyvek) suits are cheap, and good. Have someone
that loves you tape up _every_ extra opening except what your breathe
through. You can either sweat from the heat, or itch from the fibers. Your
call, unless you can provide some cooling air. Don't even think of using
air from your compressor to breathe from! You might be able to make some
flaps on your back to help air go in and out. Any kind of woven material
will attract and hold the fibers, which are too small to see. Up here in
the Pacific Northwest it's always cool and wet, which is actually a good
condition to create that kind of dust.