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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 05-07-2005, 04:41 PM
Hyperion Hyperion is offline
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G10 textured finish

I have always wondered how companies get the textured finish on G10 scales. I have read Bob Terzuola's book, and it sounded like he said you can sand blast it to give it the sand paper/textured finish. Is that true?

How do companies get the different finishes on the G10? Examples would be a Benchmade knife which has a large random texture pattern, and an Emerson which has a very small uniform texture pattern.

Is that acheived by sandblasting the G10?

And what is the difference between the two textures acheived? Is that the difference between Canvas, Linen or Paper being used in the G10?


I have also heard that you can buy G10 with the pattern already on it, but so far out of all of the knife supply websites I have never seen textured G10 being sold.

If anyone knows the answer to any or all of my questions, or has a link to a supplier of textured G10 that would be great.

Thanks in advance.


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Old 05-07-2005, 06:29 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I use a lot of G-10 but haven't seen anything pre-textured. G-10 is a fairly generic term and I think that all G-10 is not created equal. Much of the texture depends on the laminated material just as you supposed. Coarser material like canvas can supply a coarser finish. The knife supply houses all seem to offer only fine textured G-10 but other places like MSC and McMaster-Carr also carry it. Possibly some of theirs is made with a coarser material.

Sand blasting does help. The surface can get pretty tacky if blasted with coarse media. Heavy blasting and then a light buffing can produce a kind of slick knobby suface if you get it just right.

Even highly polished G-10 is still a little tacky and grips better than polished Micarta. You can also carve or mill the surface to create a texture. Time to start experimenting...


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  #3  
Old 05-07-2005, 06:44 PM
Hyperion Hyperion is offline
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Thanks for the help Ray.

I will definitely have to do some experimentation. I have a few pieces of Micarta, G10 and Phenolic linen and canvas that I can play around with.


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Old 05-08-2005, 02:20 PM
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Jeremy Krammes Jeremy Krammes is offline
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Halpern Titanium carries textured G-10. http://www.halperntitanium.com/

Jeremy


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  #5  
Old 05-09-2005, 03:57 AM
Jason Cutter Jason Cutter is offline
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G10 is a laminate of layered glass fibre weave in an epoxy resin. The resin is quite soft and the glass fibre is very tough and rigid. the combo gives G10 its great toughness that makes it fantastic for knife handles. I am told the textured effect is a direct influence from the pattern of the actual glass fibre weave. The texture is what is left behind when the surface is blasted with an abrasive medium, which eats the softer epoxy resin faster than at the glass fibre. I have not been able to reproduce this effect at home with my blasting cabinet, probably because I don't have the correct blasting medium.

I read a recent Blade magazine, on the issue of Micarta and other Phenolic laminates. Apparently, in Canvas Micarta and Linen Micarta, the fabric weave is NOT canvas or Linen. The linen Micarta is a cotton weave laminate etc. This isn't important though... just trivia. (which I love !)

Some simple ways to get a surface texture on any of the laminates is to bead blast, sand blast, sand with a soft medium or just cut shapes, holes, grooves or checkering into it with a milling machine, drill bits or just plain old files. Jason.


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Old 05-09-2005, 05:22 PM
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DaWulf DaWulf is offline
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I just went through a discussion of this on another forum I frequent. According to the makers there, textured G-10 looks just like ordinary G-10 when purchased (ie. mirror finish both sides). But it has the feature that it can be peeled apart in layers exposing the texturing. Supposedly Halpern (as mentioned above) and Texas Knifemakers Supply are two places where you can aquire the 'peelable' variety. I plan to order some in a couple of weeks and see for myself how accurate the information was. I'm using some of the ordinary variety on a knife I'm working on now. Needless to say, lacking a blasting cabinet, I'm less that estatic over the results so far. Blasting, checkering, or dremel-texturing seem to be the only options for putting a decent finish on the stuff. I can attest that large grit sanding doesn't cut it.
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