Question About Fiberglass

[gregzo]

Sorry for the rookie question:
How & when do you trim the fiberglass overlap on the ends of tubes?? Do you wait until it is fully cured? Or trim it when still pliable?
How do you get the ends square?
How about Kevlar socks? Can these be cut or trimmed? Or do you need to saw the tube?

Thanks

 

[cls]

not at all a rookie question, I am sure you will get many answers on this.

lately (mostly with 6oz fiberglass) I've been using a straight razor blade to rough trim; then spin the tube end on 150 grid sandpaper on a flat surface a couple times.

probably best to wait until the epoxy is cured. but I can't resist fooling with it so I trim the glass' strings and fur-balls in the late "gel" stage. for the edge sanding, definitely gotta wait, but the razor blade works great while the layup is not quite cured.

 

[rstaff3]

I pretty much do the same as cls. For the Kevlar sock, I also trimmed it with a razor before the epoxy fully set. Where I had to sand it and it got 'furry', I applied thin CA and re-sanded when that was dry.