What exactly is G-10

MrMania · Dec 3, 1999

And what, if any, are the advantages over stainless steel as it applies to handles? I'm looking to buy my first knife (probably a spyderco Harpy) and want to make an educated decision.

Thanx!

Allen Blade · Dec 3, 1999

Hello,

I think the best comparrison to g-10 or g-11 over stainless as a handle material would be the weight. The G-10 will be much lighter. And G-10 is non-magnetic. just dont try to find the proprietary G-10 material out there because it doesnt Exist, never has been never will be,,unless as Mr Turber alluded to ,you want to buy 60,000 lbs mill run of it.

you have a choise of g-10 in its standard configuration which is what most Knives are using,, or you can go with a G-11 material which has a slightly heavier Glass load ,
and a slightly tighter Weave in the fabric than g-10. But for all intents and purposes the Regular G-10 works just fine.

if i were you i would go with the G-10 version of the spyderco for Weight sake alone. And besides its black and isnt all shiney like Brushed Satin Stainless. any i am sure will Carry in a pocket with Keys or Change while showing much less Surface wear than Stainless.

my .02

See ya,

Allen Blade

dogboye · Dec 3, 1999

I think that the fiberglass/resin compound G10 was originally developed for the computer/circuit board industry. It was later found to be good for handle scale material. It has, IIRC some of the threads I have seen around here, a very high compression strength, for what that's worth. I can personally say that the several knives that I have with it as handle material stand up very well. Closer to what you are asking about, I have the Spyderco Standard, which, I believe, has the almost identical handle to the G10 Harpy. I love it. It feels great in the hand, and is pretty grippy. I don't know how grippy when wet, but I would certainly bet more grippy than SS. The Standard gives up some of the advantage of the light weight of the g10 by having a stainless steel spacer, and a single liner of stainless steel. But, it really isn't heavy, and definitely is a great knife. I would highly recommend the Harpy in G10. In fact, I want one myself, but just haven't gotten around to buying it.

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It just a ****ing staple!!
Guess who...
St. Mary's County, Republik of Marilundt

Lynn Grififth Knives · Dec 3, 1999

The G-10 Spydercos are easier to hold on to, in my opinion than the stainless. Also have a warmer feel. I personally would choose the G-10. Buy with confidence, Spyderco makes a great knife, and G-10 is a great handle material.

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Lynn Griffith-Knifemaker

My website
GriffithKN@aol.com

leroys_45 · Dec 3, 1999

i like G-10 alot. it is light and strong as said above. i findit to be much more "grippy" than stainless or aluminum in wet weather. i also like the appearance. if you want a G-10 harpy, get it soon!! they were just discontinued recently, so the supply will be drying up in the near future.

as to the harpy itself, i have 2 G-10 models myself. one is a user, the other is put away in case i lose this one. it may not look that practical, but i found it to be much more useful than i thought i would. i used it everyday for about 4 months when i had a landscaping job. great knife, i doubt you'll regret it.

bladewiz · Dec 3, 1999

In looking at this thread regarding G-10 I thought you might be interested in my G-10 Knives. www.geocities.com/bladewiz/bladewiz.html

Matt Shade · Dec 3, 1999

G10 is a composite material made up of glass fibers weaved into a cloth like state. From there it is placed under extremely high compression and inmregnated with epoxy resin.I have read the it has somewhere over 50,000 psi tensile strenghth, and and is in the 60,000 psi range on impact strength. I don't know how big or thick a chunk they were using in that test. It should wear very well and more than likely something else on the knife would wear out before it does. But that should take a LONG time with a knife as good as a spyderco.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !

Lynn Grififth Knives · Dec 3, 1999

Matt,
That is a great description of G10. Can I use part of your description on my website. I want to use it on my "definitions" page.

Thanks,

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Lynn Griffith-Knifemaker

My website
GriffithKN@aol.com

cerulean · Dec 4, 1999

I think that a lot of people don't understand just how strong G-10 really is. That makes sense; you're used to heavy things being stronger than light things. For its weight though, it'll be hard to find anything stronger than G-10.

According to a recent issue of Blade, you can take a section of G-10 that is about 3 feet by 4 feet, suspend it between two chairs and stand in the middle of it. You can do this even if the G-10 is only 1/32 of an inch thick! Now that's some strong stuff.

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Cerulean
Denver, CO

Allen Blade · Dec 4, 1999

Hello,

And i think the G-11 has an even greater Compressive yield strength than the G-10,
somewhere around 79,000 psi and that is measured and attributed to a 1 inch square cube of G-11.

so im not sure if actual measurments of strength would be the same in the thicknesses used in Scales on folders or not.

But i am sure that the strength factors in folder scales are far beyond what normal used would subject the material to.

Thanks,
Allen Blade

generallobster · Dec 4, 1999

what about impact resistance? I have never dropped any of my knives on concrete, but I have heard of g-10 chipping.

[This message has been edited by generallobster (edited 04 December 1999).]

MrMania · Dec 4, 1999

Hey, Everyone, Thanks for replying!

I went with the G10 Spyderco Harpy, which should be at my door in 2 weeks.

Can't wait to see it!

Thanks again,
MrMania

JoHnYKwSt · Dec 4, 1999

I've dropped my mini axis on concrete twice. The first time it left a large chip on the butt of the knife. The second time I dropped it, it hit the same spot and the chip is now larger. Also, the chip is whitish in color. Seems under that black, the fibers are white.

I've dropped my zytel knives and Sebenza on concrete many times and both the zytel and titanium fared much better than G10.

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Johnny
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Outlaw_Dogboy · Dec 6, 1999

Just a couple of quick things....

By the definition of the compression and tension 'strength', it doesn't matter what size test piece it is. It is psi... "per square inch".
I think that the impact strength is lower than that of, say, zytel or titanium, because of its nature. So, I'm not surprised by the chunk being knocked out of the butt of your axis, JoHnYKwSt. I dropped my BF Native a couple of times (DOH!), and while it didn't knock a "chunk,"it did put a couple of little nicks in the G-10, which were immediately visible because they looked like white spots. Over time, though, the nicks have disappeared (or at least, the discoloration has; the nicks are now as blue as the rest of the scales). I think the whiteness is caused by microscopic delamination between layers of glass fibers. I'm not sure why the whiteness disappeared on mine, unless moisture and/or skin oils gradually worked in between the fibers. In fact, I think the ones near the blade disappeared first, right after I oiled the pivot area the first time after the drop. You might try putting a little oil on the scales where the discoloration is?...

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It's just a ****ing staple!
Maybe we should make knife blades out of staples!
Outlaw_Dogboy, Pax River NAS, Republik of Marilundt

dogboye · Dec 6, 1999

Interesting knives bladewiz. How do they hold an edge? Are they really intended to be used for cutting (I mean, other than just envelopes and flesh-- in self defense)?

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It just a ****ing staple!!
Guess who...
St. Mary's County, Republik of Marilundt

JoHnYKwSt · Dec 7, 1999

OD,

I just oiled my chip and it worked well for the smaller nicks but for the large chip, it is still an off color. If you look at pics of the 705, the butt is pretty sharp, which explains why the chip is so large.

G10 is pretty rigid, but if that rigidity causes chipping, then what good is it.

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Johnny
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