question about G-10 and carbon fiber

B

Belly

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May 21, 2000
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207
All,

I just received a Benchmade 210 TK, and it is pretty sweet. I really like this tough little fixed blade. The carbon fiber and silver G-10 look great.

I have a few questions that I am hoping someone can answer. There are 2 tiny areas in which the silver G-10 is just the tiniest bit rough. I would like to use some sort of very fine grit sandpaper to smooth the 2 tiny areas out.

How does Benchmade finish the G-10? Do they use fine grit sandpaper or something else? Will doing this myself ruin the finish? Is there some sort of protective coating over the G-10? Will sanding this cause additional fibers to stick and hurt my hand when gripped?

I am aware that it is dangerous to breath in the fibers, but these areas are about the size of a pencil tip and I will do this out doors.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them.

Thanks,

Belly
 
My recommendation is that you could sand them, using a grit that seems comparable maybe 600 to the already standard finish, fill your sink bowl with water and sand underwater.
 
The sanding underwater sounds like a pretty good idea. Besides keeping any dust away from you, it also lubricates the wet/dry. I would start, however, with 1000 and work down from there. I don;t mean work down to a finish, but start with a very fine grit to see if that'll smooth your areas out without scratching. If it doesn;t, move down to 800.
 
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I was under the impression that the roughness of G10 was a byproduct of the fiberglass fabric used in its construction. Heavier fabric equaled rougher texture. Can anybody verify whether or not this is true?
 
G10 is a pressed composite and the fibers are pretty much uniform in size for benchmade which is pretty damn small. BM sands machines whatever the G10 to size and it usually has a nice finish that isn't rough, I also think they press their own G10 like the 710 where it has that distinct texture.
 
Thanks for the info everyone. Here is an update:

I bought 1000 and 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper. I got an old plastic container, filled it with water, put rubber gloves on and tried to sand(underwater) the areas that were rough. Now, when I say rough, I mean that there are 2 tiny imperfections or small holes in the silver G10 that had tiny, splintered fibers surrounding them(not completely) that if rubbed on a t-shirt would catch slightly. They are no big deal, but they annoyed me, especially because the rest of the handle was so nice and smooth.

Well, I made it worse. I used the 1000 grit. The more I sanded, the more fibers "stuck up". Now, there are even more fibers sticking up in the surrounding area making it less smooth than before. Also, in some places when there are no fibers sticking up, the surface looks different. I believe that the 1000 grit is too fine/doesn't match what Benchmade uses. That is more easily remedied by using a rougher grit.

Overall, I am regretful that a tried it. I am not skilled in the ways of knife making. I will experiment a little more, and then send it back to Benchmade and throw myself at their mercy.

If anyone has additional ideas, I would love to hear them.

Thanks,
 
I haven't used G10, but a boatbuilders' trick for rough spots in a carbon fiber layup is to rub it smooth with a vinyl (white) eraser. I assume that's a phenolic rather than an epoxy resin though so I can't say how successful it'll be. Worth a shot and it certainly won't make it any worse.
 
I would send it to BM, but it's possible that it must be heated to melt the fibers rather than just sanding down the resin, but if it has a proper resin coating then it should grind the fibers away too. I know that my 710 has a heat molded texture but the edges and machined.
 
hmmmm. What is sounds like is a weak mixture of resin in that spot...or maybe the whole scale. I'd send it back and explain what you tried to do.
 
Sometimes there are areas in the G10 and G11 as well as Micarta where there are voids. I've seen this many times myself and on some its too deep to sand out without reprofiling and thinning the entire scale down.

I normally just remake them if its that bad. On some of my own I have sanded them but it left scratches that were pretty easily seen. Buffing them helped but in the end I just bead blasted both scales and it blended them uniformly and fixed it right up. Of course it was no longer glossy but I found I actually preferred the slight grippy texture the bead blasting provided.

STR
 
65535 said:
I would send it to BM, but it's possible that it must be heated to melt the fibers rather than just sanding down the resin, but if it has a proper resin coating then it should grind the fibers away too. I know that my 710 has a heat molded texture but the edges and machined.
Click to expand...

If it is really G10, it won't melt. Glass fibers and epoxy. If you get the epoxy hot enough, it will char. But it won't melt. And glass is glass. It won't melt at any reasonable temp.


Belly said:
Thanks for the info everyone. Here is an update:

I bought 1000 and 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper. I got an old plastic container, filled it with water, put rubber gloves on and tried to sand(underwater) the areas that were rough. Now, when I say rough, I mean that there are 2 tiny imperfections or small holes in the silver G10 that had tiny, splintered fibers surrounding them(not completely) that if rubbed on a t-shirt would catch slightly. They are no big deal, but they annoyed me, especially because the rest of the handle was so nice and smooth.

Well, I made it worse. I used the 1000 grit. The more I sanded, the more fibers "stuck up". Now, there are even more fibers sticking up in the surrounding area making it less smooth than before. Also, in some places when there are no fibers sticking up, the surface looks different. I believe that the 1000 grit is too fine/doesn't match what Benchmade uses. That is more easily remedied by using a rougher grit.

Overall, I am regretful that a tried it. I am not skilled in the ways of knife making. I will experiment a little more, and then send it back to Benchmade and throw myself at their mercy.

If anyone has additional ideas, I would love to hear them.

Thanks,
Click to expand...


Sending it in would have been easiest. But if you want to have a last go at it, you might try this:

+Clean and dy the handle thoroughly.

+Buy some epoxy adhesive. Do not buy the 5-minute type. It cures too fast. You will need more work-time. Buy the overnite dry type. At the same time, buy some cheapie vinyl or latex gloves (the ones like surgical gloves) so you can smooth the epoxy on with your fingers.

+Apply resin to the area that is rough using your gloved fingers. The resin should encapsulate the stray fibers and you may be able to lay them flat so they do not stick up.

+Let the epoxy cure overnight.

+If any fibers are still sticking up after cure, you can now sand them away (NOT wet sand. You won't have control and you will only be sanding epoxy, which is not toxic.). Then put on a second thin coat of epoxy to provide a final smoothness.


You won't match the original finish, but you won't have any voids or holes and you won't have any fibers sticking up.
 
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