Help with folder scales, Please!

S

SpyderJon

Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
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Howdy all! Okay, here's the scoop. I don't have ANY power tools. Not even a dremel. For Christmas, I'm spending my knife money on a couple of knives, including a couple kit knives from DDR. I've decided to get the prefab scales because I have no way of forming anything else. One set with Carbon Fiber, and the rest with G10. Can anyone share with me the proper way to shape the scales with sand paper? What grit? at what point to change grits? how to protect the bolsters? PLEASE help me! Thanks, in advance!

Sincerely,
Anthony
 
Found some blue "duct" tape at the paint store...it is used for taping around windows and trim to not get paint on them. It is nice because it peels off easy but is still sticky. I put that on what I do not want scratched.

Using a sanding block start with like 120 grit paper and sand to shape...leave enough material to allow the other grits to be used without the scales becoming flush with the handle.

Sand with the 120 grit, then like 220 until all the 120 scratches are gone, then like to around 300 to 400 to remove the previous grits scratches. Some stop here, some go to 600, others go even higher. I find with the materials I use I have deminishing returns after like 1,000 grit but have gone as high as 6,000. The back side is coarser that the grit side!
 
Bruz, thanks for the advice! Do you know if there's any difference between sanding G10 and sanding Carbon Fiber? Anyone?
sincerely,

anthony
 
G10 and carbon fiber are about the same. You'll want to wear a respirator and gloves (even surgical gloves can do the job).

I've tried the cheap route, wearing a painting mask, and I was rather bummed to see that the inside was filled with carbon fiber dust. Yuck. 3M respirators only cost about $20 while the highest-rated cartridges are about $18. Your respiratory health is worth way more than that.

At first I sanded without gloves and the dust got into the cracks in my skin. It got kind of itchy and dry, like when you touch fiberglass chainlink fence material.

To fix the scale for sanding, you can try taping the back to a large wooden block so you won't mar the table's surface. Even Scotch tape works reasonably well for this, provided you tape it such that the tape can't "roll" in your sanding direction.
 
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