What will scratch carbon fiber?

G

Golden Goal

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I've been handling my first CF knife for about 5 minutes now and I'm wondering how hard the handle material is. I tried to look up the Mohs hardness to get an idea but learned that this doesn't really apply because carbon fiber is not a pure material. Normally, my rule of thumb of keeping my knives away from four types of everyday substances - ceramics, metals (with some exceptions) glasses and rocks - works well in preventing scratches on both blade steels and scales. Can anyone shed any light on their experience with carbon fiber and anything that has made it look less than awesome? The only comparison points I have are a couple of fixed blades, one with canvas micarta and one with G10, that get strapped to hiking bags and abused so I don't care too much about what the scales look like. If it matters, the carbon fiber in question is on a Knifeart large Seb 21.

Thanks!
 
carbon fiber can scratch, you can sand with some fine grit sand paper (well depending on how large the scratch is).

There are different kinds of carbon fiber, some have a presentation side and others have already just been sanded bellow that, basically you either see the weave uniform or its sanded down into the layers. (sorry long day my words are not so great at explaining right now). so if you have a perfect face side, sanding it may dig into the lower layers and change the way the carbon appears. it depends on the type tho. if you have an epoxy layer on the top, then you may have some small room to go. if its a matte finish, then you may not have to much to work with, a fine grit shouldnt cause too much of an issue. but dont quote me on that.
 
Sometimes real carbon fiber is only on the top with some other fiber below ! When you scratch you will scratch the resin and maybe the fiber.
 
It's not the scratches the biggest problem, it's the dents.
A CF handle's corner that hits a hard ground will very likely chip off. And no sand paper will get the chunk back :(
 
FullMetalJackass said:
It's not the scratches the biggest problem, it's the dents.
A CF handle's corner that hits a hard ground will very likely chip off. And no sand paper will get the chunk back :(
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The same is true of G10. My goofy stupid brick-knife, er, Medford, is missing a little piece of G10 on the corner of the handle that chipped off. Then again, if you drop any knife onto a hard surface you're liable to find some new and interesting way to damage it.
 
What will scratch carbon fiber?
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Anything that will scratch fairly hard plastic. Carbon fiber is just carbon threads and epoxy resin.
or
as I like to call it for personal reasons (the popularity of carbon fiber ruined my dream vocation) (I hate, hate, hate, hate it not because it isn't a great material . . .) well anyway . . . I'm better now . . . sort of . . .
anyway I call carbon fiber : pencil shavings and glue.

If you can scratch glue you will scratch . . . THAT dambed stuff.

yes I have carbon fiber knives

 
Anything harder than CF will scratch it I would imagine. Even though the carbon threads themself are supposedly very hard I believe the epoxy matrix it sits in is not that hard. On the other hand I watched a video where a guy took a brick of CF and a brick of G10 and hit them with an axe like a beam of wood. The g10 broke very much like wood. Chopping into it had much the same effect as chopping into wood would have. Chopping into the CF was more like chopping into plastic. It chipped and snapped like plastic. Both were ALOT harder and tougher than their light weight nature would lead you to believe.
 
FullMetalJackass said:
It's not the scratches the biggest problem, it's the dents.
A CF handle's corner that hits a hard ground will very likely chip off. And no sand paper will get the chunk back :(
Click to expand...

It may be drifting a bit off topic, but since we are talking about breaking and scratching, you also have to be a little careful around CF shards. If you get stick or otherwise impaled on CF, it will not show on X-Ray or MRI, and can be a pain to remove from wounds. Probably only a worry if you are crafting with CF, but just something to know.
 
I work a lot with carbon fibers and I can tell you that almost every kind of pocket debris can scratch the surface. Like said before the surface is just resin. Light scratches can be removed with sandpaper but if you hit the fibers you destroy the smooth surface. That is not easy to fix. You would have to add a new layer of surface coating. So better take care of it... Or use it as a tool! ;-)

Gesendet von meinem KIW-L21 mit Tapatalk
 
Yes CF splinters can be a nightmare. The little fibres are extremely narrow and very stiff and hard for their size. They will be even worse than a fibreglass splinter which is already a nightmare. Be careful around CF where the epoxy is wearing away and the CF net is beginning to be exposed.
 
Lapedog said:
Yes CF splinters can be a nightmare. The little fibres are extremely narrow and very stiff and hard for their size. They will be even worse than a fibreglass splinter which is already a nightmare. Be careful around CF where the epoxy is wearing away and the CF net is beginning to be exposed.
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this is true. so if your going to sand down any cf make sure to wear a mask and glasses along with gloves. if you breathe it in, or get in your eyes etc you will be in a world of trouble.
 
After riding CF bikes for years I tend not to worry about CF anymore. Yes it'll scratch but so does metal and g10 and micarta et. al.
 
I don't worry about it. That doesn't mean I abuse the CF either. I do use the clips which reduces scratches from coins and keys. Is your knife jewelry or a cutting tool?
 
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