Need advice on working with G10

It's nasty to grind and makes a lot of dust. Always wear a respirator. It is not difficult to work though. After I finish a knife, I always wipe down the G-10 scales with Rem Oil to bring the color back. I order my G-10 from McMaster-Carr and texture it myself. That's all I can think of for now.
 
Robert, best tip I can give you is use your metal cutting bandsaw to cut it. It eats wood cutting blades for breakfast. If you want textured g10, go to Halpern's web site.
 
Thanks guys,
I guess my questions are What type blades for the bandsaw? Drill bits and which belts work best IE: last the longest using this stuff?
And where is a good place to get them?
 
Robert
My experience is pretty limited, but I don't think its significantly different than linen micarta. The glass content makes it more abrasive on your saw blades, but thats about the extent of it. Its a little more forgiving, on clamping and pulling things into place because it will flex a little more too.
Beyond cutting it with a bimetal blade(if you can) there isn't much to do differently. I only have a woodworking bandsaw and it didn't give me any trouble. A dull blade will cut it fine, it just messes you up when you switch back to wood. I just keep a junk blade for G10 and similar stuff, and switch back and forth if I know I'm going to be dong a lot of one or the other.
Hope that helps.
 
Use the same tools and precautions you'd use for working titanium.

Bimetal saw blades, cobalt drills, go slow, and use a respirator! ;)

(BTW - like Micarta® it can burn. Don't try to sand the burnt fibers away, Use a knife and cut them out.)
 
I do have reservations about using this stuff only because of the glass strands. I tried using a regular wood bandsaw blade for about 2secs instant dull...
I always wear a good mask with an organic vapors filter on it. I may compromise and use G10 just for guards and Micarta for the handles.

Thanks for the warning Tom and all who responded
 
I find it to be very easy to work. Like the others have said, bimetal blade, slow sanding speeds so you don't burn it, good ventilation. I get the textured stuff from Halpern and have a variety of colors on hand. Some textured versions are so rough that you need to dull them down a hair with a scotchbrite flapwheel. The best finish is just a squirt of WD40, it brightens it up instantly!
 
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