Carbon Fiber options and prefences

clearkevin · Oct 12, 2016

Hey Guys
I like many knife guys like the look and properties of carbon fiber but will admit that it's not always as tactile as I would like. I know a little about how CF is made and some of the options (recently a company is offering brightly coloured CF) there is also lightning strike out there. I have also owned a few of the CF G10 laminates. Like Ontario Rat 1 and the Spydero Domino. The Domino has far more grip and even a bit of texturing to it as do a number of other Spydies (Szabo for example). I am really curious about what is possible. How thick can carbon fiber be made? Is the Marble Carbon fiber weaker than standard weaved due to shorter fibers? Is anyone working with the coloured stuff yet? And what are the best solutions to make CF that has some grip to it? How easy or hard is it to mill as that seems like an easy way to texture it. Could you put a finish on it like the texturing on a Para 2? If you know of examples of things like this please post them. Maybe this belong in the makers forum if it needs to be moved all good just though I may get a better range of knowledge here.

clearkevin · Oct 12, 2016

Here is the coloured stuff I was talking about http://www.hypetex.com/Hypetex_brochure_web.pdf

Danke42 · Oct 12, 2016

Those colours in the link are not that inspiring. Is there a sheet somewhere that has all the colour chips side by side?

Vicarious Reality · Oct 12, 2016

I would also know how thick CF can be made... and when we will get Carbon Nanotube Fiber...

Danke42 · Oct 12, 2016

Vicarious Reality said:
I would also know how thick CF can be made... and when we will get Carbon Nanotube Fiber...

How thick, or how thin?

You can lay up a single sheet and have it thinner than paper. For thick you can keep stacking sheets as long as your autoclave is big enough.

I think for typical knife uses like scales nanotubes aren't needed. They won't show up on knives till there is a massive surplus of them once demand in the other fields is met.

LCKT707 · Oct 12, 2016

CF doesn't like to be machined very much imo. A lot of production knives with CF will usually have micro voids and tiny chipped areas that are somewhat noticeable to the eye from machining. Even some higher end customs that get machined may show this (albeit very rarely). It really likes to be sanded/buffed to get that flawless look. So unfortunately unless you want to toss in a good amount of man hours to finish the process it's hard to get good grip while still retaining that beauty with CF. Then again some people aren't bothered by such microscopic issues or understand the process and aren't looking for immaculate CF under a closeup image

What I liked to do is the scalloping or "anso" style handle pattern with CF. As you can finish it to a high grit with no flaws yet it would provide good grip as well.

clearkevin · Oct 13, 2016

The strength of Nanotubes is amazing they have the highest specific strength (breaking force divided by density) of any known material it would be interesting to see this material applied to Carbon Fiber used in knives.

Rival1314 · Oct 13, 2016

Go on instagram and lookup Turbocarbon, he makes lots of custom carbon fiber in various shapes, sized, and colors. It aint cheap, but he does amazing work.

As for your questions about strength, integrity, grip, and other attributes...check the makers section....tons of information.

Daniel Dorn · Oct 13, 2016

LCKT707 said:
What I liked to do is the scalloping or "anso" style handle pattern with CF. As you can finish it to a high grit with no flaws yet it would provide good grip as well.

I picked up a ZT 0620CF with a custom CF scale made in this fashion, and it's the most beautiful piece of carbon fiber I've seen. Whoever made it did a flawless job.

I've seen contoured carbon fiber finished with a light sand/bead-blasting, that makes it into a very grippy handle material. Notably the insert on a ZT 0600, a Benchmade 730CFHS, and a Microtech LCC D/A. It's not shiny, but still shows the visual depth we've come to admire in CF.

I have another smoothly finished custom scale that goes onto my Spyderco Southard. Depending on the weave, and the angle of grinding, CF can take on some beautiful characteristics. No need for the basket-weave look that used to be so common.

One thing not mentioned yet, is that if you're going to be grinding on CF, you definitely need to take some breathing precautions. The dust is potentially quite dangerous. Don't want to imagine getting lung cancer sometime down the road.

LCKT707 · Oct 13, 2016

Rival1314 said:
Go on instagram and lookup Turbocarbon, he makes lots of custom carbon fiber in various shapes, sized, and colors. It aint cheap, but he does amazing work.

As for your questions about strength, integrity, grip, and other attributes...check the makers section....tons of information.

I can definitely vouch for Gerco's work @ Turbo Carbon. Absolutely immaculate material and 100% void/microvoid free. However I'm not entirely sure the strength difference between his CF and say... aerospace grade weave/twill. Amazing stuff though and a great guy to deal with. Here's some of his CF I've worked with; some glow in the dark CF, and copper dust infused

Daniel Dorn said:
One thing not mentioned yet, is that if you're going to be grinding on CF, you definitely need to take some breathing precautions. The dust is potentially quite dangerous. Don't want to imagine getting lung cancer sometime down the road.

DEFINITELY a good mention. CF dust is very bad for you, always use a respirator and try to have some sort of dust collection system running.

clearkevin · Oct 14, 2016

Rival1314 said:
Go on instagram and lookup Turbocarbon, he makes lots of custom carbon fiber in various shapes, sized, and colors. It aint cheap, but he does amazing work.

As for your questions about strength, integrity, grip, and other attributes...check the makers section....tons of information.

Thanks Rival, I have checked out turbocarbon really cool stuff

symphonyincminor · Oct 14, 2016

Even on the most expensive custom, polished carbon fiber has an inherent "cheap plastic" feel. Sure, it looks great, but really it's essentially a high performance plastic (epoxy matrix). I avoid this except for marbled carbon fiber, which is just unbelievably nice.

Brushed carbon fiber combines the aesthetics with a bit more functional grip-ability.

Peel-ply carbon fiber that Spyderco uses is genius. You get the inherent lightweight qualities and tensile-strength of the material, with the same texturing and warm feeling of quality G-10. You give up that polished cross-woven pattern of polished carbon fiber because of the pee-ply textured upper layer, but it just depends on what you ultimately prefer.

It's probably my favorite laminate out of anything that's currently available, with brushed marbled being at the top of my list for preferences.

I wish more manufacturers would use silver twill, but I guess the market doesn't agree.

THEJimmyN · Oct 14, 2016

I love carbon fiber. Very sturdy and light. My favorites are when you get a whole CF slab rather than some G10 laminate or thin CF with a thick steel liner. There are so many designs and variations of CF. Some people think CF is tacky, but I can't get enough of it. Have CF designs all over my car as well. = )