Thread: Cutting into painted fiberglass, need a few suggestions

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Well I bought the bits today at Lowes for the dremel tool, I bought a diamond cutting wheel and a carbide burr bit. Expensive little suckers, it all totaled 30 bucks...but its still much cheaper than paying to have it done. I'm excited to get cutting! The lights came with a nice template to lay down so I can trace it out as well, so ill use plenty of tape and have at it. Maybe i'll post some pictures, though once I get working I have a hard time stopping to take a picture.

I cut a lot of fiberglass but rarely a painted part. I use a pneumatic air saw. You can get one from Harbor Freight for about $20 and an extra package of blades is about $7. I would tape off the area where you are going to cut. Make the layout on the tape and cut though it. It should help to keep the paint from breaking and peeling back. Make some test cuts in the scrap to see how it does. I use a uni bit to make the start hole, if you need one. Be carful and do not hurry. You do not want the blade to catch and jump out of the kerf. If you go slow and do not bind the blade, you wil not have a problem. If you want to go further, just to be safe, cut inside your line and carefully file the fiberglass to your line. File only on the push stroke so that it will not catch the paint and peel it.

John