The Big Cut!

Well i made the big cut !

I used a Dremel Multi Max as my poor old compressor could not keep up with the air required.

I would caution anyone using this tool though to advance about four inches at a time and shallow then go back deeper then go back to cut through the plexi. This keep the plexi cooler and worked well.

Really cool to be this far!

My windscreen portion does not meet the tab of the side rail, in fact the lower edge of my canopy extends beyond the forward tab of the side rail about four inches where it curves up and around the front.

Does anyone see any problem with this?

Dave, can you post a picture or two? I'm sure you'll get lots of help if you'll help us see the situation more clearly.

Congrats on making the big cut!

I trimmed my canopy on Monday so the big but is next. I agree, the Demel and 545 diamond wheel works way better than the HF die grinder and cutting wheel supplied by Vans. It would have taken all day with the die grinder but only took 20 minutes or so with the Dremel.

I cut with one single pass and it seemed to work quite well.

I wonder why people don't use a detail sander with a diamond cutting disc to make the canopy cut. I know that it would take more time but the tradeoff in accuracy and much less heat would be worth it. I have used a Fein detail tool to cut a lot of fiberglas and even score tile with great success. I guess I will have to experiment with some plexi. Just wondering if anyone has used this tool for making the big cut.

Hello woodman

The Dremel tool i described is basicially a vibratory sander with a drywall blade on it.

i will try to post a picture when i get home. Seems hard to do though, not successful so far.

I used the die grinder and fiber wheel to cut my canopy. Was like a hot knife through butter, no issues. There have been a number of threads over the years about using a vibratory cutter. Many have had great success, but not all. Could be tool or technique, no way to know for sure. Either way, not an area you want to mess up $$$.

I used a dremel tool and the gold colored metal wheel with the holes in it and covered with little flakes of something. It is about $17.00 at Home Depot.
It cuts like butter on the canopy and fiberglass and doesn't melt it.

The Big Cut

I used a Multi Max as well. I cut half way through for about 6 inches and then went back and finished the cut. I found that rotating the tool on the blade shaft axis kept the blade clear and the material cool. Also, cutting as close as possible to the tangent is best rather that cutting like a circular saw through plywood. This helped reduce vibration in the canopy which could cause a crack.