Carbon Fiber or G10 for extremely lightweight blade?

Guys, I need any tips I can get on working with G10. I just spent 30 minutes cutting a pair of scales out of a 3/8" sheet with a hacksaw. Naturally the length I needed was more than the throat of the saw, so I had to remove the blade and hold it in my hands to finish the cuts. :rolleyes: I tried using a fiber cut-off wheel and my Dremel but the resulting stinky smoke scared me off that idea. I have a real basic Craftsman bandsaw but didn't use it for fear of blowing up the wood-cutting blade that came with it.

I noticed that the (orange) G10 turned black along the cut; do I need to be worried about this when I go to grinding/shaping the scales? If I go slow and stop before it's 100% shaped, it should clean up OK with sandpaper, yes?

Thanks in advance for your advise.
 
JT, no way to say it easy..... working G-10 with hand tools SUCKS! :)

Seriously a metal cutting blade/saw is the best/easiest way to cut it. A regular wood blade won't last for long at all! Its the fiberglass cloth.

You are correct that it will finish out nicely.

Tom
 
I understand about the proper blade. Also, my bandsaw runs hella fast so I've been told not to use it on steel or G10. I think it's meant strictly for wood.

I think I'll look around for a local machine shop or tile-cutting place next time I need some G10 cut up. It takes so long by hand that I can't make any money off it. Plus it makes my elbows hurt. :o

Glad to hear I'm on the right track on finishing. I was afraid of scorching the darn things and having to start over. :eek:
 
Daniel Koster said:
how bout some pics, Tom?



Here are some examples of what I've done in the past:


Orange/Black G10 laminated to a thin piece of O1

UltraLight1.jpg



And some Blue/Black G10 trainers of the same design

UltraLight0508-01.jpg





The thing to remember is that when you get down to grinding the bevels, you will be really thinning out the layers of the material. G10 holds together very well. I've had carbon fiber start to "fuzz" at the edges when it gets too thin.

If you look at the first pic I posted...you can see what I mean about the layers getting thin.


Dan
Click to expand...

Am I correct in assuming you are only grinding one side of the blade?
 
James_Terrio said:
Guys, I need any tips I can get on working with G10. I just spent 30 minutes cutting a pair of scales out of a 3/8" sheet with a hacksaw. Naturally the length I needed was more than the throat of the saw, so I had to remove the blade and hold it in my hands to finish the cuts. :rolleyes: I tried using a fiber cut-off wheel and my Dremel but the resulting stinky smoke scared me off that idea. I have a real basic Craftsman bandsaw but didn't use it for fear of blowing up the wood-cutting blade that came with it.

I noticed that the (orange) G10 turned black along the cut; do I need to be worried about this when I go to grinding/shaping the scales? If I go slow and stop before it's 100% shaped, it should clean up OK with sandpaper, yes?

Thanks in advance for your advise.
Click to expand...


James,

Dremel has a neat little metal cut-off wheel that I use to cut Micarta and G-10. Cost about $20 at Lowe's and you also need the quick release shaft for it.

One gets used to the smoke.

I use one to cut 3/8" material in half along with the little router table for the Dremel. I can adjust the height so I can cut the material exactly in half.

It's slow, time consuming and doesn't always cut all the way thru so I use a coping saw the rest of the way.

I wish I could find a larger diameter cut-off wheel that I could put in my router or my drill press.
 
Thanks for the tip, Dave. How do you like that router collar for the Dremel? I was thinking of getting one for making mortised scales. I don't really want to buy a real router since I don't think I'd use it much.

It also occurred to me that those portable bandsaws are pretty popular around here... I'll look into that as well.
 
James_Terrio said:
Thanks for the tip, Dave. How do you like that router collar for the Dremel? I was thinking of getting one for making mortised scales. I don't really want to buy a real router since I don't think I'd use it much.

It also occurred to me that those portable bandsaws are pretty popular around here... I'll look into that as well.
Click to expand...

The router collar works if you have a steady hand and/or use jig as a guide.
 
i make carbon fiber blades with m-2 inserts, also paper blades, kevlar, whatever, foam cores, on and on, 8" knife weighs 1 oz in foam core carbon fiber
 
Warren Thomas makes alot of blades that are either g10 or carbon fiber laminated to titanium with a carbide edge. Seems like his "budget" blades are usually g10 and sometimes dispose of the carbide edge part. If it was pure g10 and no metal I can see why it would be better than cf though.
nag0126.jpg


Not a neck knife, but if I could afford it I'd get one just for kicks.

and the coolest HAK ever:
7896r.jpg
 
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