zytel????????

From http://www.knifecenter.com/

<blockquote>
ZYTEL®
Du Pont developed this thermoplastic material. Of all synthetic materials, ZYTEL® is the least expensive to produce, which explains the abundance of work knives that have this material. It is unbreakable: resists impact and abrasions. ZYTEL® has a slight surface texture, but knife companies using this material will add additional, more aggressive surface texture to augment this slight texture.
</blockquote>

Now beyond that I have no idea of it's physical makup :) However from personal experience it's a nice sturdy and very affordable handle material. At first I considered Zytel a spawn from hell, back when CRKT first brought out their Mirage series of knives. However after using several more models by CRKT and other manufacturers I've become very fond/comfortable. It's not G-10 mind you, but pretty darn nice for the price....
 
zytel????????

Sucks!!!!!!!!

OK - barely - for folders because of the lightweight. A no no for any heavy use blade because it is too slippery - regardless of any additional texturing. Requires finger grooves to be secure. This is my only complaint with the otherwise excellent BK7.
 
Zytel, a glass fiber filled nylon molding compound, is far from unbreakable. In fact, it can fail prematurely and catastrophically, especially in a humid environment and in high load situations. It IS cheap, however. I'd never use it in a knife handle that had to take loads. For example, the Spyderco Matriarch is very light-weight and a lot cheaper than the Civilian. I have a Matriarch for my collection only and would NEVER carry it where there was any chance I'd have to use it.

G10, on the other hand, is super strong, very predictable, very light and almost as cheap as zytel. It's easy to get a great non-slip surface with G10. It a glass/epoxy laminate and makes a great handle material, so there's not much excuse for designing new knives using zytel.
 
Zytel, though some folks hate it and others love it, is'nt weak at all.
It depends on the thickness of the handle.
I know some BMX bikes have zytel wheels and they take alot of punishment.

Allen.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong folks,(and I know you will), but wasn't Blackie Collins the first to use this material while designing for Gerber, and wasn't the Gerber LST the first production knife to be made with this material?
 
The Becker Knives don't have zytel handles, BTW;)
They have GV6H handles. They are slightly similar materials, but GV6H is stronger.

Jeff
 
I am probably about as big a proponent of Zytel as you will find on the forums.

We use Zytel at work to make internal machine components which take heavy loads very often. I have yet to see the Zytel fail, the metal (primarily aluminum) components go first. It is extremely strong for its weight, and I find it ideal for folder handles.

Zytel is a combination of Nylon plastic and glass fiber reinforcement. It is used on cheaper knives simply because it can be injection molded to shape, rather than machined like G-10 or Micarta. This greatly reduces costs.

In my experience with industrial applications of these materials, Zytel is (by weight) far, far stronger than G-10; and (by volume) significantly stronger than G-10. Phenolic Laminate (aka Micarta) is better than G-10 but still not as strong as Zytel. Also, Zytel bends wheras these other materials tend to shatter under impact.

If the surface texture is considered too smooth, I would recommend using a bit of 600 grit sand paper to lightly scuff up the surface. This exposes more of the glass fibers and greatly increases friction. However, it will change the appearance of the material.

Blade Santa Cruz does have a point about humid environments. Nylon-based products will absorb and hold water; and doing so slightly reduces the strength. I have never had a problem with this, as the rate of absorption is very slow.

Also, nothing is truly "unbreakable". All materials will deform or break at a high enough stress level. From what I have seen, the breaking point of a well-designed Zytel product should be beyond the capabilities of almost anybody.

The only thing I don't like about Zytel is that if it is used on an unlined knife sometimes it feels "hollow", which of course it is. This isn't a problem so much as personal preferance.
 
Whether it's GV6H or BS2Pee it feels and looks exactly the same - like plastic. It is definately strong but hardly ideal for knives. Sure it could be sanded or better yet bead blasted to increase grip and perhaps if this were done by knife manufacturers when intended for knife handle applications it might be slightly more popular.
 
I'll have to disagree with several of you. I've been involved with the failure analysis s number of loaded parts that stemmed from the premature failure of Zytel or similar fiber-reinforced nylons in humid environments. It's a poorly understood surface phenomenum; machining off a few mils from the surface will restore mechanical properties to near original values. But I've seen them reduced by 50% and more just through aging, unloaded, in a humid environment. Additionally, the material holds it's strength with little apparent degredation, then fails catastrophically, making it difficult to predict failure and to design with.

Glass/epoxy laminates are inherently stronger than nylon epoxy if both are well-made. The sizing and finishes on the glass interact much better with short, uncured epoxy molecules than with long, bulky nylon chains. Differences in density (actually specific gravity) vary, since the two resins have very similar values and glass reinforcement is used in both. The level of glass reinforcement plays the dominant role here, but I'd bet the G10 takes a higher loading which makes it a little heavier but a lot stronger. The modulus of the G10 is also much higher (try bending an unsupported zytel handle and a similar G10 handle. G10 is simply stiffer, stronger and more reliable than zytel. In my book, Zytel is a bad material choice, particularly if you expect to depend on the knife.
 
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