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what are your thoughts on fitting & cutting 3M Carbon?
Just had an Email from 3M for the wrap carbon. The video link shows someone fitting this to a Mini roof, When finished he just cuts straight into it with a knife. I Don’t care how good he is, with water sitting in the chanel this is going to rust.
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17 Replies
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i took a part wrap off a van the other day at best the paint was marked rust in other cuts. (not done by me) this time
link please
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Without seeing the video it’s hard to make an accurate judgement but the 3M carbon is thick – maybe he is just scoring it?
When i do a roof wrap I wrap over the channels then, with just enough blade protruding, i trim carefully along the center of the channel so that there is a void underneath. The blade doesn’t go anywhere near the bodywork. You can use your finger as a guide along the channel to get this cut parallel to the roof line, although most cars have trim that goes back into the channels to cover the edge.
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Not seen the video so can’t comment on how hard they cut into it.
I don’t know what that C.F. vinyl is like to cut but with ‘normal’ vinyl you can use a brand new scalpel blade – JUST enough pressure to ‘crack’ the vinyl and it shouldn’t even touch the paint let alone go through it.
I’ve knifed round many, many panels and not so much as nicked the paintwork on 99% of them…even then just a tiny scratch that t-cut out.
To prove this to several customer who were nervous (saw me freehand knifing some vinyl on their vehicles) I laid some vinyl on his bonnet – new blade – knifed the vinyl – tore away down the cut line & then lifted off the other half…not a mark.
Dave
ps. I’ve also been party to stripping some other vans / cars & they are covered in rusty cuts & deep scores….not mine I hasten to add.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C6LQ-daPig
This is done by Andrew who posted the BMW matt black wrap the other week so I’m sure he will come on here and clarify things.
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Nothing wrong with that, its not cutting on the roof, its cutting against the gutter trim. I have fitted many mini roofs using the same technique.
Is there any other way of doing it Martin?Peter
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No I don’t know of another way to do it but when I first saw this it looked like he was just cutting into the paint maybe I did’nt look hard enough. Its just that I’ve had a few vehicles in to repair lately done by others and have found a few cut into the paint especially on van sides and the rust has come through.
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quote Martin Oxenham:No I don’t know of another way to do it but when I first saw this it looked like he was just cutting into the paint maybe I did’nt look hard enough. Its just that I’ve had a few vehicles in to repair lately done by others and have found a few cut into the paint especially on van sides and the rust has come through.
Ive also come across bad fitting recently, just goes to show, there are a lot of badly trained "fitters" out there.
I even remember a few years ago someone who was told to drill a small hole in a van’s recess to allow the air to escape!!For info: Jag sign supplies and I think Hexis? now supply a tape to lay on an edge where a wrap ends on the paintwork. Its a bit more robust than just using masking tape, and can be good for creating curved lines.
Peter
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quote Peter Normington:For info: Jag sign supplies and I think Hexis? now supply a tape to lay on an edge where a wrap ends on the paintwork. Its a bit more robust than just using masking tape, and can be good for creating curved lines.whats it called peter, had a look but cant find it? 😀
nik
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Martin,
My name is Andrew Gamble, I am the applicator carrying out the carbon fibre application on the 3M video. I just wanted to reassure you that I didn’t use so much pressure that this mini is now a convertible!!
If you look closely at the angle of my scalpel (as peter has noticed) that I’m merely cutting against the gutter, using the edge to guide me, and not cutting directly against the vehicles paintwork. I have fitted (and stripped) many minis and have yet to damage the paint work on any of them.
Providing you use a new blade for every cut, I often go through a box of fifty in a day, and perfect your pressure you should avoid any paintwork damage, and i would never advise cutting directly onto them.
As with any cut on any surface edge of a vehicle, if you angle your blade accordingly yo are using the edge to guide, allowing the flat of the blade to flow against it. That’s why i personally find the curved blades better as you have a larger sharp surface area, giving a better cut than the pointed edge blades.
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Can 3M carbon be cut on a plotter??
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quote Nicola McIntosh:quote Peter Normington:For info: Jag sign supplies and I think Hexis? now supply a tape to lay on an edge where a wrap ends on the paintwork. Its a bit more robust than just using masking tape, and can be good for creating curved lines.
whats it called peter, had a look but cant find it? 😀
nik
Sorry nik it is from hexis, cut line protection tape, comes in 3 and 6 mm.
Little tip
use both to give you a good guide to cut , that is stick the 3mm on top of the 6mm then you have a nice edge to run your scalpel to, and the paintwork is safe, (you can cut through the tape though, if you are heavy handed,
but like dave says light pressure and a new blade is fine, but I like the bit of extra safegaurd if cutting on a £100k porsche
Peter 😀 -
Nicholas,
I haven’t heard of, nor tried myself to cut carbon Di-Noc on a plotter, however it’s possible to cut 3M diamond grade reflective on a zund plotter, and this is 430microns and I believe CA-421 Carbon to be in the region of 200microns, so I would imagine, depending on plotter type it would be possible. However I do know that in 3M’s technical bulletin for the Di-Noc family it’s stated as ‘not recommended’ for cutting on plotters.
So as a summary I haven’t really cleared this up for you have I?!
Andrew.
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Am just curious but at the same time i don’t want to break something on the machine trying it.
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quote Nicholas.Gormley:Am just curious but at the same time i don’t want to break something on the machine trying it.
I would say it is cuttable, on a plotter, though never tried it,
you wont break your plotter, that’s not the issue, it may blunt the blade at worst, it is quite thick and the blade and pressure would need setting right.
buy a bit and try it, let us know how you get on.Peter
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IL try a bit in the morning when i get a chance.
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Its called cutting tape or paint mask 3m do some I’ve been using it along time not a huge fan off masking tape but it can be used.
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I’ve cut both the 3M and APA vinyl on my Versacamm with no issues. The APA is much thinner though at 100 microns.
The only issue is that you will need a really hi-tack app tape that will adhere to the matt/textured finish. I weeded and taped a job only to find I couldn’t lift it off the backing paper!
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