How Dangerous is G10 Dust?

MattyLav

MattyLav

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Jun 28, 2012
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How Dangerous is G10 Dust? Is it Bad if its on the ground? How do you dispose of the dust? Is the g10 itself dangerous?
 
It's only dangerous if you breath it in.
I'd pick up a good quality mask and work it wet, and every thing should be fine.
 
G-10 is a laminate of resin and fiberglass. Both are dangerous (very) if inhaled, for different reasons. The resin is toxic, when heated and the fumes get into the lungs. And the fiberglass is just that: glass. Once those shards get into your lungs, they'll likely never come out. Use a mask or respirator when sanding or grinding it.

Many recommend grinding it WET, so the airborne dust is controlled. Then it would be a good idea to cleanup & remove as much of the stray dust collected on surfaces, so it won't get airborne again.


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Many recommend grinding it WET, so the airborne dust is controlled. Then it would be a good idea to cleanup & remove as much of the stray dust collected on surfaces, so it won't get airborne again.
David
Click to expand...
thanks and how do I do that? Wet it and clean it I mean.
 
MattyLav said:
thanks and how do I do that? Wet it and clean it I mean.
Click to expand...

Just wet it with water, is how most do it, I believe. I'd think a damp rag to wipe up the dust would handle most of the cleanup. The objective is to avoid stirring up too much dust back into the air while cleaning it up, so using a damp rag/sponge should help with that, maybe in conjunction with a spray bottle of water. If you do all the sanding/grinding wet, then quickly clean up afterwards (before the residue dries too much), that should make it easier.


David
 
G10 and many other materials are extremely hazardous to work with if you don't follow safety precautions. You do NOT want fiberglass particles building up in your lungs. Epoxies and resins can be very toxic as well. Look for recommendations on here for a quality respirator or breathing filter. Don't jeopardize your health by skimping on safety gear.
 
I agree with the cautions above. I used it for knife handles and did not care for it because of those hazards. Plus, my eyes burned and I felt like I had pneumonia for a day. The stuff is BAD and for what? It's heavy
a health hazard, expensive and does a person or knife actually need that much strength? Micarta is not as expenisve, not such a health hazard and offers all the strength any gorilla needs. Much is whats in vogue. DM
 
A dust mask will not do for the material being ground, and with such materials (glass and resin) knowing the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) is important. The glass fibers can cause Silicosis if your exposure is high enough and standard HEPA filters for a respirators will not work against the offgassing of the resin as its heated and sent airborne during grinding. Your clothing and how you decon yourself after is another huge part of being safe while working with hazardous materials.

It would be recommended that you wear a Hooded Tyvek Suit with half or full face respirator equiped with Organic Vapor filters. Make sure the mask fits well and can pass a pressure check. Use HEPA filtered vacuum for cleaning of dust then wet wipe area to remove the remaining fibers. You repeat this process in self decon BEFORE you remove your respirator. Remember if using a half face respirator to wear appropriate eye protection.

If you plan to do this often further safety guidelines should be set in place.
 
Let's not kid ourselves, folks... anything but pure clean air is NOT good to breathe. Wear a respirator, work wet whenever possible, use whatever means available to contain the dust, vacuum up dust (sweeping it around just puts some of it right back in the air), etc.

David Martin said:
Micarta is not as expenisve, not such a health hazard and offers all the strength any gorilla needs.
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Incorrect. There are a lot of reasons G10 is a better handle material than micarta, but this isn't the place for that. The point is, micarta dust is just as bad for you as G10 or carbon fiber or wood or steel or brass or... whatever. Some may kill you a little quicker (if you don't protect yourself), that's all.
 
I was tempted to suggest vacuuming as a way to clean up, but some vacs will throw a whole lot of dust back into the air. Maybe a vac with good filtering (HEPA) might do, but I'd avoid others. Every household vac I've ever used always managed to get my sinuses worked up, so I know those weren't very good, in terms of keeping dust out of the air.

( I used to have a cordless vac that was absolutely worthless for fine/dusty cleanups. The 'filter' in the thing was so thin, you could see through it. And when I attempted to vac up some spilled flour in the kitchen one day, I got a nice white cloud of the stuff exhausted right back into my face. :mad: Glad it was only flour...)

When I was in the military, the recommended (actually mandated) procedure for cleaning up hazardous particulate spills was to cover the dust deposits with damp rags, and then very carefully 'sweep' the rags in towards the center of the coverage, and collect them. No 'scrubbing' involved, as that just distributes dust over a wider area.


David
 
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Not to make light of taking precautions on working with G-10 or any possibly hazardous materials, but a little common sense goes a long way. I think if we had to wear hazard suits to work on something, that it would eliminate 99% of us from ever doing anything creative. Some people are obsessive compulsive about some day to day hazards. I am not demeaning them for it as we all must do what we think is right for us. We are surrounded by things that are bad for our health. Including the air we breath 24 hours a day that is full of toxins and "baddies". But we can not live in a bubble, at least I won't.

Our bodies are amazing at co-existing with a lot of bad things. It is when we ingest some things in huge quantities that it tends to effect our health. Some things take less, some more. Also some are more toxic than others. I grew up in a house that was covered in asbestos siding. Spent 4 years on a ship in the navy that had asbestos covering 90% of all the piping on the ship. I am 70 years old, and hope that someday I don't come down with cancer because of my exposure to asbestos. My biggest problem is overexposure to good food.:D
I guess what I am saying is to enjoy your hobbies, and just be sensible when around things that could harm your health. Constantly worrying about them will be as bad as their effects on you. Live a little and have fun doing it!

Blessings,

Omar
 
Good point, Omar. To the O.P.: if you are planning on making a handle or two for your own knife, wear a respirator, soak your material in water before working and as you go, and use a good vacuum. If you are going into production, then you need to use some of the more in-depth safety measures mentioned above.
 
I have bad habits. Today I shaped my first G10 handle. No dust mask. Breathed quite a bit of it.
Im going to need some sort of respirator no doubt. But just how bad is bad in this case ?
Like is inhaling the dust once. Any worse than say smoking or idk. I guess im wondering if you need a lot of exposure to it or is it so bad that im pretty much screwed after one time breathing it ?
 
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