Those with G10 scales.

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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I find my Fiddlebacks with the G10 scales a bit slippy. Is that the case with everyone's G10, or does it vary from knife to knife, or maybe color to color?

I was seriously bummed about two days into owning my Model Standard Kephart when it squirt outta my hand and dinged the scale at the butt. My cure was to just start using the heck out of the knife. :) It'll never be sold or traded so not that big a deal, but I'd prefer for it to not happen again.

Anyone tried anything to add some grip?
 
You can rough it up a bit with sandpaper, but it will be less shiny afterwards..
 
I believe that Ken mentioned somewhere that the final step in the finishing process before ship is that they apply a paste wax and hand buff it.

I would start by putting a little mineral spirits or Goo Gone on a cloth rag and wiping down the handle to remove any wax residue. Clean & dry after that, then try it for a couple of days. If you end up going to very fine wet & dry sandpaper or scotchbrite later on, I would mask off the metal with blue painters tape and do one side at at time so that you don't scotch up the metal.

Natural grippiness is one of the characteristics that make me prefer the Shadetree burlaps as my first choice in synthetics. G10 is my 2nd favorite synthetic because it is so durable and it is available in such a variety of colors to suit anybody. The trade-off with G10 is that if it is finished to a beautiful luster, it becomes a little slippy when wet like you described.

Keep us posted on what you try.

Phil
 
Strig,
As all of the others have stated, this is the only "issue" per se with G10 -- while very durable and non permeable, it sacrifices "grippiness". Sanding might improve the situation a bit, but the only other thing I can think of would be applying a texture to the handle as some tactical knife manufacturers do. I wouldn't recommend doing this as it would void your warranty, but if you were inclined to do so anyways (its a user / keeper, right?) you could do so with some files and sandpaper . I would recommend using a sharpee to apply your pattern, then use the files to deep etch, followed by the sandpaper to finish... you might be able to use a dremel to do this is well, but YMMV....

There are lots of examples out there of different pattern types, but my recommendation is purely hypothetical and I wouldn't recommend it unless you 100% knew what you were doing and were ok with voiding your warranty


Cheers
 
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I used to be a big fan of G10, but I've recently come to the conclusion that it's a high maintenance product. The light shades of G10 (natural, bone, ivory etc...) are very prone to discoloration from leather dye. I get very nervous when cleaning fish with a blade with G10 scales. The slip factor is always there when handling G10. I clean a lot of fish on lake and river shorelines. I have to be very careful when laying the blade down on river rocks while cleaning fish. It must be done very gingerly as G10 seems to chip fairly easy at the right angles especially on the pommel and guard where the G10 has sharp 90* angles.

Sandpaper and files work, but that voids your warranty, so I'd avoid that all together.

One great thing about G10 is the colors. You just can't get the same true colors with any other material IMO.
 
I'm really liking my g10 scales on my esee 5, IZULA 2, and soon junglas.
They do have a bit less traction than stock, but the shape feels more natural to me.
 
Agreed -- but I didn't want to be presumptuous about Andy's warranty or imply anything, since I cannot speak for the FBF or their warranty, and I'd hate to make a recommendation that might cause another forum member a warranty issue.
 
NoFair said:
I can't see how light sanding of a G10 scale can void a warranty:confused:
Click to expand...

When modifying a fiddleback, I think there is too much left to interpretation and to avoid any "I didn't know I couldn't "lightly" sand my fiddleback with 200 grit sandpaper..." type situations, they put the sand paper rule in place. But I could be wrong. It's your Fiddleback, do as you wish with it.
 
Hey Duder. Could you point me to the "sandpaper rule"? I didn't know that existed.

Thanks man.
 
velosa said:
Hey Duder. Could you point me to the "sandpaper rule"? I didn't know that existed.

Thanks man.
Click to expand...

Good call.

As it turns out, I misunderstood the warranty. Sandpaper doesn't void the warranty.

"Any repairs made to a knife to correct damage caused by the customer from hand tools, such as files, sandpaper, etc. are not included in the free clean up and re-mark (spa service) and will be charged accordingly. This isn’t a change, but needed to be stated"

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1155194-A-Note-on-the-Warranty-and-the-Spa-Service

I think this one should be quoted as well:

"Fiddleback Forge can NOT honor the warranty for any knife that has been customized or altered in any way with a machine by an individual or company outside Fiddleback Forge. We can not guarantee the quality of work, or more importantly, the maintaining of proper heat treat during these changes, and therefore are not responsible for damage to knives or the heat treat of blades during these processes. This policy is common to the entire knife industry, but it needed to be said none the less."
 
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Sanding does not void the warranty, no. Mostly I'm worried about someone using a motorized machine on the blade. This could easily cause overheating and ruin the HT.
 
On the topic of grippiness, I find G10 to be slippery if it is untextured and the finer the finish the slipperier. The best solution is a bit of sand blasting on the handle. We are experimenting with this.
 
The knife in my avatar is a Martin with sandblasted G10 handles, it's got plenty of grip when wet and the texture really feels great in hand.
 
E,
good to know; this topic has always been a detractor for me with g10 fiddlebacks in that I had some that I absolutely loved, but ultimately let go due to their downright slipperiness. Also good to know that Andy & Co. are tracking on this as I would happily buy more g10 knives that come pre-sandblasted since burlap has become quite the epidemic around here :D.
 
Yep, conversely, I had an AA forge with non sandblasted G10 and was slipperier than snot on a door knob. When Andy gets the sand blasting down G10 will make a great user. Burlap is all the rage now, its cool, but I prefer the beauty of wood for my EDCs and lighter use blades. People passing on the wood for burlap is making life very good for me!
 
I've got access to a glass bead blaster. Didn't even cross my mind. I've owned numerous knives with g10, usually peel-ply and that stuff is seriously grippy. I absolutely adore the polished finish on the Fiddlebacks, just wish it was less slippy. I'm betting it'll look great blasted too.

I'm confident that I won't ever damage the temper, regardless of what I use to sharpen the blade. I've spent too much time heat treating steel to be careless, but I understand why the policy is in place. I know it's not targeted at anyone. :)
 
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