Working with carbon fiber

Fair enough, apologies, on both accounts.

I misread Bizmarck's first post last night and it seemed like he was implying protection was unnecessary. Reading it during the day its clear he was not. So please accept my apology.

I too have worked with a LOT of CF, unrelated to knifemaking, I don't use it for handles. It is very dangerous to your lungs. That's not hype or fear mongering. I just want that to be clear.
 
I did a little work once, and it was not fun at all supper itchy and difficult. I save it for special occasions now. You need a full face respirator. A half face and safety glasses just wont work for this stuff. I found that because it is so light, the dust stays in the air and can be blown all over, under saftey glasses and every where. Be sure to vacuum and clean up afterwards. too comment on the specific danger; unlike g10 or micarta each individual fiber is very very small, (5–10 μm about ten times smaller than a human hair). Also when you sand it unlike wood where the swarf is relatively benign, these fibers are cut, turning into millions of super tinny sharp needles. when the fibers get into your skin, since they are almost pure carbon, you body will not reject them very well and they can burow in deep. I dont find it to be a huge problem on my skin, I just have itchy arms for a while, but inside your lungs I can only imagine the damage.
Also a couple of quick tips: wear latex gloves to keep the itchy dust out of the webbing in your fingers. and work all at once, or in as big of chunks as is possible.
 
javand said:
Fair enough, apologies, on both accounts.

I misread Bizmarck's first post last night and it seemed like he was implying protection was unnecessary. Reading it during the day its clear he was not. So please accept my apology.

I too have worked with a LOT of CF, unrelated to knifemaking, I don't use it for handles. It is very dangerous to your lungs. That's not hype or fear mongering. I just want that to be clear.
Click to expand...

No worries and thanks for editing your post.

Jason
 
Man, Ignore a thread for a few days and see what happens.
When this was first posted, I figured, "No reason to read this thread again, nothing much can be said about CF that hasn't been said before."

Guys, as Morrow asked....keep it civil and clean. If bad advise is given, or there is ambiguity, say so as politely as possible and see what happens. If the situation is serious, report the post to the moderators.
 
I've only worked with it a couple times now, but I really like CF. It definitely requires all the safety precautions, but frankly so does everything we work with. Wood and antler and steel dust can hurt you too, just maybe not as quickly. Anyway, I've found it actually easier to cut, drill and shape cleanly than G10, and it looks great.

Please be safe!
 
I love carbon fiber, but defiantly use all safety precautions you can, to the point of paranoia. When I first started using it in limited amounts I didn't take all the precautions, sure I ground with a respirator, but hand sanded without one, and occasionally did a little light grinding without one. Didn't take but a couple times of that to figure out I was being an idiot. It's the reason I've got a dust collector set up now. It's probably the reason on my yearly physical I show a slightly reduced lung capacity for my age, not much, but noticeable under lab conditions. Now I plan out how I'm going to use it and after grinding and hand sanding, with dust collector going and respirator in place, clean the shop and take a hot shower immediately after.
 
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