SPI Supplies® Brand Mica Sheets and Disks
Information and tips about cutting mica in your laboratory
One must first understand that mica is very very hard and cutting a thin sheet of mica is
nearly like cutting a strip of equal thickness of steel! So no matter what the edge is that
you would be using for the cutting, it is going to lose its sharpness very quickly.
Most of the mica pieces described on the SPI Supplies website are prepared by die cutting,
other wise there will be delamination at the edges and also, a large generation of
particulates. Carbide tools are always used for the die cutting, and that is why there
is sometimes a not-so-small tooling charge when special sizes or shapes are needed. This
is also why most customers of the SPI Supplies Brand® of mica sheets and discs are
impressed with the almost complete lack of edge splitting and fracturing.
Cutting in the laboratory of a customer:
We are often times asked how mica purchased from SPI Supplies can be cut down to smaller
pieces. And the answer depends on the thickness of the piece being cut.
- Thickness is less than 15 mils (0.015" or 0.381 mm): For sheets of this thickness
or less, one can use either a very sharp scissors or an Exacto type knife or even a
single edge razor blade. Be sure to wear good eye protection (which should also be worn
by any one nearby watching). One can expect some edge fracturing and splitting, the
amount depending on the sharpness of the scissors or blade. The splitting can be minimized
by holding down the mica, as it is being cut with a ruler or other "straight edge" instrument,
the higher the pressure applied, the better the result.
- Thickness is greater than 15 mils (0.015" or 0.381 mm) but less than 30 mils
(0.030" or 0.762 mm): Scissors and razor blades will not work. The only possibility is to
use a guillotine type cutter perhaps even a paper cutter. There will be a strong tendency
for the mica to edge fracture, but that can be minimized by applying higher pressures to
the side of the mica on the flat cutting surface.
- Thickness is greater than 30 mils (0.030" or 0.762 mm): We do not believe that
anyone can do a credible job cutting such mica pieces with out resorting to the use
of good tooling and die cutting.
Just remember that any cutting edge that you might use to cut the mica is going to be become
dull quickly. While razor blades and even scissors can be discarded and new ones then used,
one normally does not think of a paper cutter as being a disposable instrument. At the same
time, we are not aware of any service that resharpens the guillotine blades from worn out
paper cutters.
Because of all of these problems and the difficulties in keeping the edges from fracturing,
we always advise our customers that their first option should be to let us to the die cutting
of their mica right down the size they really need.
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Tuesday February 09, 2010
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