G-10 without liners-good or bad???

JD- A engineer at Benchmade told me that G-10 is as tough as steel, or very darn close. I never had any issues with G-10 at all. But, I don't abuse my knives. Many do and that's when the problems might arise.
 
I don't doubt G-10's actual toughness at all. It is it's wear resistance that most concerns me. In steel terms, 420J2 will be 'tougher' than ZDP189, but will not have nearly the wear resistance. I worry about linerless G-10 handles will tend to 'loosen up' over time. For instance, years ago I had an old BM AFCK when the assembly screws didn't have a nut on the opposing scale. One barely noticeable over-tightening of the screws and they would strip out (and, obviously the holes in the liners were not threaded).
 
J.Davey said:
I've noticed this showing up on some nice knives lately, but I don't think I like it. Granted, having no liner on one or both sides of a folder may cut weight slightly, it just seems like it would be less rigid. Also, while I have no doubt about the strength of G-10, it does seem that it would be susceptible to chipping, and wear much quicker than steel or titanium. Opinions?
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Almost 40 years ago Bill Davis and I began to make knives with micarta handles and no liners, worked great. Blacky took the idea to Gerber and the rest is history.
 
With regard to stop-pin loosening;
My M1 trainer had slight vertical blade play out of the box. It was a prototype, not up to CE's standards, but Rob included it in the purchase.
Despite hours of abuse against my training dummy, no additional play has occured. I'd say that shows pretty good wear resistance.
 
I have a sebenza in my pocket right now wit a g10 scale. No liner and it is absolutely solid. I can't bend it with hand pressure even in the middle where it is unsupported. Can't get the blade to flex and the lockup stays right on. I'm honestly not worried about it.
 
J.Davey said:
I've noticed this showing up on some nice knives lately, but I don't think I like it. Granted, having no liner on one or both sides of a folder may cut weight slightly, it just seems like it would be less rigid. Also, while I have no doubt about the strength of G-10, it does seem that it would be susceptible to chipping, and wear much quicker than steel or titanium. Opinions?
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You are over-worrying the material properties of G-10. On the Rockwell hardness M scale, G-10 starts at 110 and can get near to 120.

The glass in G-10 is harder than steel and the resin provides resistance to brittleness. It is also pretty-much corrosion proof.
 
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This has been a good question and :thumbup: to J. Davey for posting it. Even though I will not own a knife without liners of some sort, I have found a lot of info about G-10 from this thread. For those who do like a linerless knife, or a single liner and G-10, I say GREAT! I really think the G-10 will hold up to what most people will use their knife for and that they will get excellent service from the G-10.:)
 
I went on the McMaster-Carr website and found Document 8549KAC. I believe the Mil Spec G10 is the FR4 version, but I'm aware that there are several different grades of the g10. For this post, I'm assuming that the manufacture will use a premium G10 for a linerless folder.

The tensile and compression strength of G10 is good- in some cases its better than steel. G10 breaks anywhere from 38,000 to 50,000 psi when put in Tension, and 35,000 to 66,000 psi in compression. By comparison, standard steel rebar will fail (break) at about 58,000 psi.

I could not find any info on the yield strength of G10, yield is when the material will permanently deform. In other words, its when you stretch or bend a material so hard that it cant return back to its normal state. when you have tight tolerances, the yield strength is critical. (after using your knife, you still want your blade to be centered in the handle with no blade play)

one thing to notice is the Modulus of Elasticity. The low modulus means that you will be able to flex it a fair amount without deforming it.... as for ultimate lateral and bending resistance? I have no clue. I can give the non-scientific answer of "feels pretty rigid'.

There are other material properties that factor in (like stiffness, impact strength, cyclical fatigue), but its been a long time since I've taken my material science class and I'm really rusty on the stuff. Honestly, field testing and putting the blade and material through some major punishment would a good test.
 
I could see carrying a linerless slipjoint, but in locking folders I prefer to have metal on both sides.
 
I'm new to knives compared to almost everyone here, but I have no worries about my linerless Mini AK47. I like the weight reduction that it brings, and it certainly feels solid in my hands.
 
cutter17 said:
Call me old-fashioned, but I want my folders to have steel/titanium liners, and full liners at that. I'm sure the all G-10 handles will work, but they are not for me. I don't even like the combo of titanium on one side and G-10 on the other.
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:thumbup: Deal-breaker for me.
 
I've used my CS American Lawman hard. It's the 2010 linerless model. It's like the old Timex commercial......... :thumbup:
 
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