as the documented investigations show, the fibre material and its fibre orientation have a decisive influence on the result of machining operations for finishing fibre composites by milling because of their predominantly negative cutting angles and narrow cutting spaces, tools with geometrically undefined cutting edges can advantageously be used for glass-fibre reinforced plastics with elevated glass content when working without coolants. lasercutting of fibre-reinforced plastics will provide the best results in terms of surface finish and high feed rate when cutting off thin walled aramide-fibre reinforced plastics. cutting ceramics cannot be used for the machining of fibre-reinforced plastics due to its low heat conductivity. in addition, these cutting materials are available only with chamfered cutting edges. machining of fibre-reinforced plastics requires sharp cutting edges. carbon-fibre reinforced plastics cannot be cut off with acceptable results due to the relatively high heat conductivity of the carbon fibre. in general, jet cutting is also suitable for contour milling of cured laminates. (orig./rhm). (tib: fr 3646.) (copyright (c) 1990 by fiz. citation no. 90:081609.)