What advantage does G-10 have over Micarta?

G10 Smells worse and is more of an irritant that Micarta!! I find that the one advantage G10 has is........
If I am trying to get knives finished and friends and family are hanging around in my shop B.S.ing.. A little G10 on the belt grinder will send them back into the living room in a hurry!!!!!
Would this be considered rude if I give them fare warning???
Neil

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Update in process! New knives, pictures, Sheaths!!
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Meeting/5520/index.html




[This message has been edited by Dr.Lathe (edited 07 December 1999).]
 
Hello,

G-10/11 is hazardous to Grind for the simple fact that it produces microscopic particulate matter in the GLASS category, not a lung friendly substance.

Micarta also produces a hazard to the Lung buy Pickling it, because as the micarta is ground it Out-gases Formaldehyde gas from the phenolic resin used to make it. The same is true for the G-10/11 as it uses a similar phenolic resin.

As far as strength goes, I have used both Versions of Epoxyglass composites
and all the varieties of the linen,canvas,paper based Micartas.

The Canvas and Linen micarta versions on a Standard knife, either full tang or Hidden are more than Enough structurally for a knife.

There is no way on this earth , that if I took 2 pieces of Canvas micarta, Compression bonded them together and shaped a Knife handle out of them that, anyone on the planet could grasp that handle with Human power only and snap it in half, No Way! So the Strength issue of the material on a properly made Fixed blade hidden tang knife is Mute to me.

As far as Folder construction goes I think G-10 is the way to go in less that 1/8 thickness on the scales, or unless you have a backing Liner to provide support.


Also in any Grinding Operation if you Smell the material you are getting it in your Lungs. Above when it was stated that Micarta Smells worse than G-10, this may be true but if you keep Comparing the smell for to long you wont have to worry about it much.... 8-)

As far as Elemental concerns, and impact, I have never had a problem with MICARTAs absorbing Water or Gas, or DEET. SURFACE tension is one thing Absorbstion is another.

I have taken Chunks of micarta, one with My bonding agent on it, one that was just a fresh cut piece, and another that was Sand blasted and submerged them for 24 hours in my Quench Bucket. I then took them out blew them off with my air gun and they were as dry as when they went in, no Absorption at all.

I to plan on Using More G-10(Bead Blasted for a better grip of course) and will continue to use the MICARTAS because they offer affordability looks, are more than enough Strength for any design I make.

My . 02

Allen Blade
 
Allen, very interesting. Thanks for trying the quench test.
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I wonder if the FDA has any list of approved handle materials?

I offered to sharpen a friends fillet knife with wooden handle. You could smell it as you walked towards it.

Are there any other synthetics commonly used in carry knives, that have good properties for a user?

I have seen Titanium slabs used on a fixed blade, but that seems a little much. For all temperature use and grip is that a good idea? More weight? Of course on the other hand I like my Sebenza handle, but it comes out of my pocket.

If G-10 and Micarta resins are similar, does that mean they have similar impact strengths? (Some posts mentioned chipping of G-10 when it is dropped.)

 
Why does G-10 and micarta always come in polished or bead-blasted, and never checkered like they do on the resinated wooden scales for gun handles (and the Master Series of Buck knives)?

The checkering seems to give a really great grip to the material. Is it a style/fad issue, or are there other concerns?

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Longden Loo - Ventura, CA
Technology's the answer, what's the question?

 
I think time involved, and expense are the biggest reason you don't see checkering very often on knife handles. Plus knives being in the hand all the time, could cause the chechering to look gunky in a short period of time. I have considered doing some light checkering on a couple of knives. I would love to hear the opinions of other on this.

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Lynn Griffith-Knifemaker

My website
GriffithKN@aol.com


 
To the original question...g-10 is better because it is non-conductive
smile.gif
. But a fair test would be doing a quench test on checkered g-10 and micarta and then sticking them in a wall socket..*evil grin*.

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Yeah! Drop the chalupa...


 
Hello,


In my experiance, the linen and canvas based Micartas also isolate your hand from electrical shock. Although this only occurs
if the handle is of a compression bonded variety. I have cut live wire with my Compression bonded Micarta Handles with no problems at all.

As far as strength goes,,its Compressive Yield strength is what is being measured.

G-10/11 is suppose to take 79,000 lbs per square inch. which means you should be able to place 79,000lbs on a 1 inch square block of G-10/11 without it Deforming.
I have not seen the specific Yeild strength of MICARTA ,but with my General use of it on my Knives it has proven to be more than sufficient in the Brute strength Category.

the Micarta also seems to be a Friendlier
material to use for extreme Cold environments, A friend of mine who has a
G-10 handled knife from a "CERTAIN" maker we all know who uses it on all his knives. Was on winter Survival training in Ft Richardson , Alaska, an set this G-10 handles knife with its slick finish with his LBE in his M113(armored personel carrier).

In the morning when he went to retreve his LBE he put his hand on said knife handle and
to adjust its position on his web belt it Froze to his hand momentarily, also took a layer of skin of one finger when he withdrew it.
in short order he sent it to me to Bead blast the handle to get its SLick finish off,
and has since to my knowledge hasnt had that problem again. This may have nothing to due with the bead blast ,but i think it does do to the Sand blast making a pebbled surface
rather than a Closed pore surface.

As far as the material looking polished when you get it from the supplier,this is because in the manufacturing process the Phennolic material wicks to the surface under pressure during the forming .

kind of like when you pour Concrete and as it sets gets a Glass like apperance as the fluid wicks to the surface and slightly covers the substrate material.

my .02

Allen Blade
 
Allen,
Interesting story about the knife handle freezing and sticking to the person's hand. Who would have thought that could have happened.

Its seems to me that the added strength and abilities of G-10 as a handle aren't necessary. Someone told me a while back that G-10 is unaffected by muriotic acid, thats great, your enemy throws you in a vat of acid and your skeleton is left behind holding the handle of a knife.
smile.gif
If G-10 does have added benefits how do those beneifts relate to knife use?

It also seems that it is not worth the health risks.

 
Hello,

yep kind of a weird story, although i am sure any Slick finished handle might cause this if sufficient cold temperatures were reached,not sure though. I know i have never had a problem with Bead blasted G-10 or Micarta in extreme Cold, but then again it was cold so i wore gloves.

but the Gloves didnt stik so...

I think either one is Fine i just feel that for a cost effective less hazardous to manufacture handle, with more than enough strength, Micarta is just fine.

Allen Blade
 
So would a micarta (or G-10) checkered handle perform even better than bead blasted in extreme cold conditions?

I know it's not as cost effective, but is a checkered surface superior to bead-blasted to the extent that people will pay to get it?
 
Hello,

I think a Checkered handle would maybe collect and garner more debris down in the checkering than i would like on my handle,,,, A bead blade finish on the Canvas micarta i use produces a Textured finish that when wet sort of feels like a CATS tounge for gripyness and when Dry gives an aoverall pebbled feel. It works basically the same on G-10.

But Fine Checkering i think would as i said collect more debris on a knife Handle
more so than Checkering on a Rifle, as generally the Knife is subjected more to use and, to Grease,grim ,guts..Ect.ectt....

my .02

Allen Blade
 
Anyone else think green micarta is one of the ugliest features ever seen on a knife (besides those stupid little Spydercos, the Toad, Pegasus, Navigator, and one other)?

Howie
 
i could be in the minority here, but i really like the look of green micarta. i like the maroon color too. i like the spyderco navigator (have one on order), but don't care for the others. the navigator handle really locks in a grip for me. but once again, i could be strange.
 
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