new micarta thread---and AUS10

[Outlaw_Dogboy]

I just got around to reading the "my micarta smells" thread. Very entertaining.

I have some questions...

Do the micarta handled Spydie knives have metal liners? The G-10 handled ones do, correct? How stiff is the micarta? I think I read in the "...smells" thread that micarta is a fabric, and not as stiff as G-10?

How does either the micarta or G-10 hold up to heavy use, compared to the zytel? By heavy use, I mean 'pruning' branches and whittling, such as may be used around a campfire to get sticks to roast marshmallows. Is that specific enough? Or maybe just pruning back some small tree branches that are intruding into your driveway. I know that the zytel will hold up pretty well to this, at least in the short term. But, I handled a couple of micarta Spydies over the weekend (Calypso Jr.), and they were SCHWEEEET! Didn't notice the smell....

Now, AUS-10. Did yall know

that Cold Steel was/is the first production knife company sell a knife that uses AUS-10 in the blade (the CS Triple Action)? Hmmm...seems to me that the Spydie Native with the SS handles had AUS-10 in them quite a while back... Anyway, that CS guy is a laugh a minute. He also claimed that AUS-10 was so much better than their AUS-8 that they could now claim to produce a knife that would hold an edge better than ATS-34, ATS-55, OR EVEN 440V!

Sorry....back to a serious note. The shop had one of the Native's with AUS-10. Nice! But one or two of the serrations were severely chipped. I'm a little surprised the guy still had it out. I should have offered him a low-ball price, because they were chipped really badly. Has anyone ever had any brittleness problems with the AUS-10?

Outlaw "full of questions" Dogboy

 

[amacks]

Heck, Junglee used AUS10 before CS.
Aaron

------------------
Why did you stab that girl?
You won't believe this, but I had too much coffee!
-Edmond by David Mamet
aaronm@cs.brandeis.edu

 

[Jackal]

I've had some "chipping" problems with one of my "Q"'s (440C) and one of my Enduras (AUS8). -AR

 

[Sal Glesser]

O-D - All three materials ae quite tough. All have some drawbacks. For pure "toughness", I would have to say G10 ranks first. Thre are also various strengths in G10. Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon (FRN) is also quite tough. When large amounts of fiberglass are added such as in the case of Grivory (up to 60%), It can be as tough as an average G10. Dupont "Zytel" won't take that much fiberglass, but will still take enough to drive a car over. We have had only one FRN break in the body of the knife in normal abuse. At 50 - 60 degrees below 0 F. FRN becomes brittle and strength is lost. there, G10 survives best. Micarta is probably the least strong in tensile strength but will hold a clip screw better then either G10 or FRN. Like any other comparison of "Very good" materials, the choices often depend on useage planned.

AUS-10's been around for a while.

We found that the teeth on a serratd edge are stronger when sharpened on both sides like a plain edge knife. The edge is not as "sharp", but on Spyderco knives is certainly sharper than most are accustomed to and the individual tooth is thicker and stronger, thus holds up better to abuse..
sal