Best way to cut G10 to size?

SkagSig40

SkagSig40

Joined
Feb 1, 2001
Messages
2,671
I'm a new knife maker and I'd like to use G10 for my handles. I hear it dulls what ever you cut it with extremely fast! What methods are you guys using to cut it? I another maker told me to use a wet tile saw. I have never used a wet tile saw so how does it work exactly? Do you need certain blades for it? Thanks for any help or advice!

P.S.
What type of belts do you use to shape and grind the G10? What grits to progress through? Thanks again!
 
I use a band saw to cut out my G10 scales and use ceramic belts on my grinder to shape it ( i order all of my belts from Tru Grit). If I want a grippy handle I'll leave it at 220, if I want a smooth finish I'll do 36 (only if I have a lot of material to remove, most of the time I start at 80)80, 120, 220, 320, 600+. Make SURE you are wearing a respirator when you wonk with this stuff- it's nasty. I wear at least a dust mask when I hand sand it too.
 
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Cuts and works very easy. Just need very good respirator and good dust collection
 
What about resawing it? I have a wood cutting band saw, but the speed is adjustable. The thought of resawing a G10 block by hand does not appeal to me...
 
i use a metal cutting bandsaw, but a wood bandsaw would work.

A wet tile saw used diamond coated blades with flood of coolant (usually water).
 
I've used a hacksaw, wood bandsaw, and metal bandsaw. It cuts and grinds suprisingly fast but does dull saw blades rather quickly. If you think about it G10 is basically glue and tons of TINY glass fibers. It doesn't take a lot of force to break tiny pieces of glass and glue is super easy for a saw to cut through. However since you are cutting glass it'll dull steel saw blades quickly.

Wet cut tile saws are pretty fantastic for breaking it down into blocks and scales but can’t cut contours. Then again a 36 grit belt makes short work of contouring it.

Be certain to use a respirator when working it and a full face one if you can. The dust from G10 is very fine, stays airborne for a long time after working it, and is very irritating to mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth, throat, lungs). I don't like working it as I've yet to find a good respirator that works well with my glasses and I can't even stand the dust from the stuff in my eyes. I have a lot of eye allergies and dryness naturally but that stuff just stirs up the itchiness and burning like nobody's business.
 
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Iv used a chop saw with a high tooth count blade. Also a regular table saw and a sled.
 
I use a wet tile saw I bought cheap at Harbour f eight. It works for cutting carbs n fiber as well without creating an over abundance of airborne particles. Cleaning out the sludge is always nasty, but better than causing glass fibers to be stirred up when cleaning up the shop.
 
I use a couple G-10-only bandsaw blade. It's pretty darn dull at this point and makes a mess of the cut surface, but it's always going to be ground to fit anyway. It's a pain to swap blades, which is how I have more than one G-10 blade... :-/
 
Thanks for all the great advice gentleman! So would I be able to make contoured cuts with a tile saw? Not sure exactly how those work?

Also I see there are different sizes of tile saws. Is there a certain size I would need for handles? I'm assuming not.
 
Contours no, but reducing stock to scale size blocks absolutely! For cutting curves and such I just use a jewelers coping saw with a medium tooth blade. As far as saw size, I bought the smallest wet tile saw they had and have no issues cutting 8.5 by 11 pieces from AKS.
 
I like how it works over micarta. Tolerates heat better IMO.

Worse to breathe in I would suppose.

Not hard to work with at all.
 
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