Broken Carbon Fiber Blade

[slipperyrock]

Any advice for a repair?

I was just going to cut it straight across. Best way to smooth the jagged edge?

Thanks United Airlines!

[andrew37]

Originally Posted by slipperyrock

Any advice for a repair?

I was just going to cut it straight across. Best way to smooth the jagged edge?

Thanks United Airlines!

Ouch. Overhead bin or checked?

In any event, I would probably cut it straight across and sand down the edge. I would use regular sandpaper instead of a Dremel to keep it from heating up too much. Sandpaper works wonders on small chips, so I'd imagine it would be the same for this. One thing I'm less sure about is whether it would be better to use shears or a cutting edge like a Dremel disk for that initial cut. If the rest of the edge is fragile, smushing it together in shears might cause more cracks to propagate? And it goes without saying, but for anything more than really minor sanding don't forget a respirator.

I'm sure there's a way to cut a more hydrodynamic tip than a square edge, but with my VERY limited experience with composites I hesitate to recommend making any cuts that aren't 100% necessary.

[Marco]

Sandpaper. You will barely feel the difference. Cut the other one, of course.

[TriggerNJ]

Yeah, cut other one then lightly sand edges off and maybe extremely light coating of epoxy just on edge or something to prevent cracking from choppy cut.

I'm sure Moana would sell you a single blade though.

[slipperyrock]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Any recommendations on what you would use to cut it?

[Marco]

I would use ruler and a cutter. Try with the broken part before to see if it comes out easy and clean. Should work as that part is thin.

[slipperyrock]

A sharp pair of shears did the trick very nicely.

Testing out on the broken part that was being trashed gave piece of mind.

Thanks for the help.

[TriggerNJ]

Wow, fantastic job. Very smooth straight cut.