Safety precautions for working with CF ?'s

Fish30114

Fish30114

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Jan 5, 2014
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I would say that I am in the stage of still trying to educate myself about knifemaking. Having said that, at this stage I am still sending my knives to someone else for modding. My go to guy just mentioned to me that he wasn't really set up for working with Carbon Fiber. Which got me to thinking, what precautions does one need to take if working with CF. I actually thought for my first foray into knifemaking, I would build a couple of pre-made blades and put the handles on them, and was actually thinking of doing one or two in CF, I really like the looks of the stuff. So basically just looking for info, tips, advice for working with CF.

Thanks--Don
 
CF is extremely carcinogenic. If you are going to work with it id suggest the following

1.) Wear a P100 rated respirator that fits well
2.) Work it wet
3.) Vacuum up any and all dust with a shop vac with a HEPA rated filter when you are done and wipe down all surfaces with a wet cloth
4.) If possible work outside or in an area you can hose down.

Working it wet avoids alot of the safety hazards so I would strongly suggest using a wet setup with grinding and doing all hand sanding sopping wet.
 
Carbon fibers act just like asbestos in the lungs.
The best advice for working with carbon fiber is- don't. It's not worth the hassles and danger, at least to me.
 
Hell Bill, that's the kind of answer I was looking for. I like it as a finished handle, but not if it's that dangerous. I used to grind golf clubs a lot, but then someone told me Beryllium Copper was carcinogenic and I quit doing them altogether, I still wonder if I may have exposed myself to a degree enough to have gotten what is called Beryllium deep lung disease....
 
Regardless of chemical composition, every particulate is dangerous - and the finer it is, the worse it is for you. G10, wood, metal, whatever. CF (I mean the actual fibers, regardless of whatever is holding it together beforehand) has the added danger of tending to break down very quickly into tiny, tiny pieces when you cut/grind/sand it. It's like comparing beach sand to powdered sugar.

Regardless of carcinogenic properties compared to other materials (which is actually up for some debate), it definitely makes the worst mess of anything I've ever worked with - and that's a big warning sign.

The fellow you asked is probably aware of all this, and not comfortable with the dust mitigation/collection equipment he has. As Bill said... if in doubt, just don't use it.
 
Everything that has been said, with the additional fun that carbon fiber splinters hurt like the dickins and are very hard to remove. Once you've had a carbon fiber splinter, you'll fully understand the danger of breathing the stuff.
 
The sanding dust is basically tiny tiny splinters. If you grind in short sleeves, your arms will get coated with the dust, and itch/hurt like CRAZY.

Dust control at the source is important with CF. Just hanging a shop vac nozzle under your grinder may be an improvement, but certainly won't catch all the dust. I don't do a lot of CF work, but if I did, I'd look into a wet grinding solution.
 
Thanks for the further info gents. That is why I like this site so much, a deep breadth of knowledge.
 
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