Black G10 knifes scale are drying out

[Akkureg]

Hello Everyone,

I hope you're all doing well! I've been working with some black G10 scales that have been drying out after a few weeks. I initially applied WD-40 and food-grade mineral oil, and they looked fantastic! However, after few weeks, it seems like both of them have evaporated, and the scales are looking dry again.

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or solutions to keep the G10 black scales shiny for the long term? I'm also curious if there are any oils that won't evaporate over time. I even conducted a little aging experiment where I applied WD-40 to a couple of them and food-grade mineral oil to a few others, then baked them in an industrial oven for 48 hours at 180°F about the temperature a car glove box reaches when sitting in the sun for 10 hours. Unfortunately, the results were the same, and both sets still looked dry.

It's important that any oil used is Prop 65 compliant and doesn't leave a sticky feeling on the hands after wiping them with. I also polished them with Feed-N-Wax, but I'm not sure if that will help prevent drying out. Any suggestions or advice you might have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

 

[Ilikesharpstuff]

G10 technically doesn't absorb liquids or oils. The outermost layer where the glass fibers have been cut/exposed will wick a minimal amount and hold it which is what you're observing. To keep them shiny your best bet is to polish them. You can take pretty large jumps in grit if using sandpaper, but it would likely be fastest/easiest with a buffing wheel and some Mother's mag polish or something similar.

 

[The True North]

Interesting. I've never experienced drying myself.


Are they peeling/degrading or is it just a surface thing?

 

[Akkureg]

G10 technically doesn't absorb liquids or oils. The outermost layer where the glass fibers have been cut/exposed will wick a minimal amount and hold it which is what you're observing. To keep them shiny your best bet is to polish them. You can take pretty large jumps in grit if using sandpaper, but it would likely be fastest/easiest with a buffing wheel and some Mother's mag polish or something similar.

Thank you for the feedback. Polishing or buffing will be a challenge because the production quantities are very high and it is difficult and time consuming to do sanding and buffing on each of them .

 

[Akkureg]

Interesting. I've never experienced drying myself.


Are they peeling/degrading or is it just a surface thing?

it is not peeling or degrading but you can see the white dry spots on the surface. When you oil them its looks shinny and won't have those white dry spots.

 

[The True North]

it is not peeling or degrading but you can see the white dry spots on the surface. When you oil them its looks shinny and won't have those white dry spots.

Sounds like a light, high-grit sanding is in order.

 

[Ilikesharpstuff]

Thank you for the feedback. Polishing or buffing will be a challenge because the production quantities are very high and it is difficult and time consuming to do sanding and buffing on each of them .

Unfortunately that is what it takes. Perhaps you can alter your production to leave an improved surface finish from the existing processes?

 

[killgar]

G10 (Garolite) doesn't dry out. Unlike natural materials like wood, bone, leather, etc, G10 itself doesn't contain any oils that would evaporate or get bleached out.

And like Ilikesharpstuff said, G10 is not absorbent, so it won't retain oils.

G10 is made of layers of glass and resin, and sometimes when a top layer of resin is damaged, the layer of glass below it can appear white as a result of light refraction.

I've used G10 for several years, but have never had a piece of G10 produce white spots as a result of being dry (and I live in a very dry environment), but I have had white spots appear as a result of minor damage to the surface of the G10 (textured G10). When that happens, I use a black permanent marker on those spots (the ink trapped in the crevices of the texture). But I've only had to do this on very small spots.

It sounds like maybe there were production flaws in your G10. That happens.

 

[Akkureg]

G10 (Garolite) doesn't dry out. Unlike natural materials like wood, bone, leather, etc, G10 itself doesn't contain any oils that would evaporate or get bleached out.

And like Ilikesharpstuff said, G10 is not absorbent, so it won't retain oils.

G10 is made of layers of glass and resin, and sometimes when a top layer of resin is damaged, the layer of glass below it can appear white as a result of light refraction.

I've used G10 for several years, but have never had a piece of G10 produce white spots as a result of being dry (and I live in a very dry environment), but I have had white spots appear as a result of minor damage to the surface of the G10 (textured G10). When that happens, I use a black permanent marker on those spots (the ink trapped in the crevices of the texture). But I've only had to do this on very small spots.

It sounds like maybe there were production flaws in your G10. That happens.

Thank you for you input. Appreciated.
We have this new design where we are milling into multiple layer of the material exposing different layers of glass and when it comes out of the machine it looks gray/white and when you wash and clean them with WD-40 or mineral oil it all goes away and they look shinny and dark black but when the oil goes away or evaporate it bring back the white spots from the glass. We cannot use the black marker any other suggestion?

 

[J. Doyle]

Thank you for you input. Appreciated.
We have this new design where we are milling into multiple layer of the material exposing different layers of glass and when it comes out of the machine it looks gray/white and when you wash and clean them with WD-40 or mineral oil it all goes away and they look shinny and dark black but when the oil goes away or evaporate it bring back the white spots from the glass. We cannot use the black marker any other suggestion?

If you're going to do only machine finish, that's what you're going to get. There is no "fix" because there isn't an issue.

That's the material property of a machined finish. The only permanent answer is a higher polish finish, which you've already said you're not willing to do. So you're going to get the result you've been getting.

 

[Taz]

Machining will not typically leave a polished finish or a very smooth finish, so this is normal for pretty much any machined handle material. A hardening oil (Tru Oil or Tung Oil) may last longer, but will wear off over time and with use and I don't know about the Prop 65 stuff? The G10 is most likely behaving normally for the processes you are using and you need to change up the process to keep the "wet glossy look" you want. Polishing will last longer than a finish will, but takes more time and hand work. If you are doing a lot of machining, the polishing will be a longer/more complicated process than a smooth handle would entail and probably be difficult to do without someone actually doing them one at a time.

 

[Akkureg]

Machining will not typically leave a polished finish or a very smooth finish, so this is normal for pretty much any machined handle material. A hardening oil (Tru Oil or Tung Oil) may last longer, but will wear off over time and with use and I don't know about the Prop 65 stuff? The G10 is most likely behaving normally for the processes you are using and you need to change up the process to keep the "wet glossy look" you want. Polishing will last longer than a finish will, but takes more time and hand work. If you are doing a lot of machining, the polishing will be a longer/more complicated process than a smooth handle would entail and probably be difficult to do without someone actually doing them one at a time.

Yes i agree polishing will last longer but it will take a lot of time and we would be making thousands of pcs in a month so it will be very difficult. Thank you for suggesting Tru oil or Tung oil and i looked their data sheet both have California 65 warning and we cannot use it.

 

[SharpBits]

Is G10 a requirement for the project? Is it possible to use another material that might be better suited?

 

[Taz]

You can get G10 pre textured that may have a better look and machine that? But it will look dry/lighter color without some sort of polishing/coating. Sometimes if I wash a knife handle (or sweat on it a lot during the summer), it will look dry after it dries, but with some use, the oils in my hand darken it up again.