Cutting Thick! Phenolic Laminate

Status
Not open for further replies.
I have some 1.5" thick brown phenolic/cloth laminate I want to use as the end pieces for an amp I'm building. When polished to bring out the embedded cloth, the material has a sort of snake skin look to it which is pretty striking. I'm looking for the proper 10" circular blade to make a smooth cut. Any ideas?
 
I'm getting a very good (Freud) 80-tooth blade with carbide inserts, so it may do the trick. I was thinking of backing off to a 60-tooth blade, though. The phenolic is fairly hard, but it's not gummy, and has no abrasive filler that I know of, unlike glass epoxy. It also doesn't melt under frictional load like plexiglas, though it will soften a bit. Fortunately, I only need to make two cuts, then I can do the rest of the shaping with a router and belt sander
 
Nope- we're talking linen or cotton canvas, depending on the laminate grade. You get the glass cloth usually with epoxy (and sometimes silicone laminates). I scored some silicone-glass laminate rod (high temperature to machine some tube caps.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.