Ultrasonic cleaner for G10?

aarongough

aarongough

Joined
Mar 12, 2013
Messages
1,167
Hey guys!
I'm curious if anyone has tried an ultrasonic cleaner on G10? It would be great if I could remove the 'chalky' appearance from G10 after grinding without having to wash, oil, wash and so on!

-Aaron
 
I vacuum it after every grit up to 400. From there on I sand it under the faucet with running water. When I get it to the grit I want, I buff it with black, then white compound.

Tim
 
tim37a said:
I vacuum it after every grit up to 400. From there on I sand it under the faucet with running water. When I get it to the grit I want, I buff it with black, then white compound.

Tim
Click to expand...

That sounds like it would definitely work! Unfortunately I need to leave these at 120 grit, any higher than that and they can get slippery when wet...
 
It doesn't matter what grit you start sanding under water. 120 is fine. You might also try bead blasting the G10 - leaves a very even, nice looking surface. Wash it under water with a soft nylon bristle brush.

Tim
 
tim37a said:
It doesn't matter what grit you start sanding under water. 120 is fine. You might also try bead blasting the G10 - leaves a very even, nice looking surface. Wash it under water with a soft nylon bristle brush.

Tim
Click to expand...

I would definitely like to look into bead-blasting. Haven't tried that on G10 yet... I know stonewashing in my vibratory tumbler leaves it with a very nice finish! But that can't be done after assembly unfortunately.
 
I do not understand the problem/question. If you want to leave any material (wood, steel, G10, micarta, bone, whatever) at 120 grit for gription or non-glare purposes, of course it's gonna look a little weird. Some would say, "fugly".

It's dang sure not gonna look pretty and polished... because it's not polished. That's just how coarse scratches/bead-blast/tumbled finishes work... light reflection and all that. :confused:

You can smear any number of oils or waxes all over it to make it "look" smoother and shinier, but they're gonna wear right off in a weekend's use. Your other option is to coat the thing with clear polyurethane or CA, and buff it... which defeats the whole gription idea of using really coarse G10.

Ya can't drink whiskey from a bottle of wine... ;)
 
Last edited:
Aaron,
Have you ever attempted stippling on your knife scales or tried the contoured pattern g10?
-Josh
 
james terrio said:
I do not understand the problem/question. If you want to leave any material (wood, steel, G10, micarta, bone, whatever) at 120 grit for gription or non-glare purposes, of course it's gonna look a little weird. Some would say, "fugly".

It's dang sure not gonna look pretty and polished... because it's not polished. That's just how coarse scratches/bead-blast/tumbled finishes work... light reflection and all that. :confused:

You can smear any number of oils or waxes all over it to make it "look" smoother and shinier, but they're gonna wear right off in a weekend's use. Your other option is to coat the thing with clear polyurethane or CA, and buff it... which defeats the whole gription idea of using really coarse G10.

Ya can't drink whiskey from a bottle of wine... ;)
Click to expand...

With G10 that's actually really not correct James... This is what it looks like when finished to 120 grit:

x4eIoE5l.jpg


This is achieved by grinding to 120, washing it really well with detergent, then lightly oiling it, then washing it again... Appearance does not change over time.

Basically dust is getting trapped in the pores of the G10, wetting it out with the oil restores the color. I'm hoping the ultrasonic cleaner will remove the dust completely...

Sounds like I just need to try it and see.
 
greenjebadiah said:
Aaron,
Have you ever attempted stippling on your knife scales or tried the contoured pattern g10?
-Josh
Click to expand...

Not as yet. I've used some other knives with handles made that way and I found that with heavy use they would totally rip your hands up! I want to explore some options to improve grip when using gloves though!
 
I think you will find bead blasting will leave a nice surface which will give a good grip without tearing up your hands. I use both glass beads and a mix of AlO2 and glass beads I get from Grainger.

Tim
 
I like to blast it with 120 grit aluminum oxide then wipe the chalk off with a WD-40 rag. Stays grippy.
 
tim37a said:
I think you will find bead blasting will leave a nice surface which will give a good grip without tearing up your hands. I use both glass beads and a mix of AlO2 and glass beads I get from Grainger.

Tim
Click to expand...

Cool, I will have to try it!
 
Just a thought that I have here. G10 is a plastic correct? Why not lightly hit it with a flame to seal the surface. But not hard enough to drastically change the surface. Might even leave that clean wet look for longer.

Be warned, I have never even touched G10 let alone tested this idea. I would also test a mach up first, to see G10's reaction to a heat source. Use a mask & well ventelated area too.
 
Aaron, do you have an ultrasonic cleaner? I have a small one but I could try it with some scrap g10 and send pics. Only other thing i can think of is, and I'm real busy, but I guess you can send a resolute my way and I'll let you know what happens. :D
 
samclaymore said:
Just a thought that I have here. G10 is a plastic correct? Why not lightly hit it with a flame to seal the surface. But not hard enough to drastically change the surface. Might even leave that clean wet look for longer.

Be warned, I have never even touched G10 let alone tested this idea. I would also test a mach up first, to see G10's reaction to a heat source. Use a mask & well ventelated area too.
Click to expand...

G10 is not a plastic unfortunately, it's a composite of glass fiber and phenolic resin... It's unaffected by heat up to about 500-600F or so, after that it starts to char and blacken!
 
greenjebadiah said:
Aaron, do you have an ultrasonic cleaner? I have a small one but I could try it with some scrap g10 and send pics. Only other thing i can think of is, and I'm real busy, but I guess you can send a resolute my way and I'll let you know what happens. :D
Click to expand...

When I created this post I did not have one, I bought an inexpensive one last night to try it though!
 
Got my materials mixed up ugg, which one was I thinking of? Oh it's zytel. Remember reading about these two durring the same time. It would explain my mixup. Would have been nice if it worked though.

My Buck 119 has a polished black phenolic resin handle. It used to be smoother than a babys bottom. But since 98' it has pitted and faded with regular use. Nature of the beast I guess. You can only force a material so far. So all I can suggest for now is cleaning and adding a thin layer of fiber glass resin. On top of conturing or grooving the handles to improve grip. A simple hash mark before each pin wouldn't really detract from your knife imho. Allowing you to seal the knife while maintaining bare hand grip. As always your choice on what to do.

Forgot to mention, killer color combo on the knife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top