G 10 for scales

[buca3152]

What I have is simply labeled as G10, and then it has the dimensions. No other markings, no other information. I understand that it isn't the ideal material for scales, and I wouldn't have bought it had I known that it was the textured type. I know my matte black from gloss black when I see it, but sometimes the cans don't have labels....

At any rate, I added a few coats of CA and sanded down to a very nice glossy finish. I followed the tutorial linked elsewhere in the thread, and totally recommend it to anyone else running into similar problems with whatever scale material you happen to have.

The matte or satin finish looks really nice though. And G 10 is as was said BULLET proof, lol. I was just frustrated trying to get them to high gloss when that isnt possible without adding some poly or ca finish. I dont regret buying this, it would have been easier if someone told me g10 isnt doable high polish and that MICARTA is. Live and learn. Paper black micarta coming for shinier finish, I also got red g 10 same as the blue and black. As I said I really like the look in satin.

 

[MileMarker60]

View attachment 407158View attachment 407158
Front and back. the second one is back of the black. When sanded and polished it has the polka dots in it. Before touching it also. I was told today by someone that I have canvas micarta(polka dots) which isnt made to be shiny, and the paper micarta is.

Honestly I think that piece will shine up once polished.
I have maybe 10-14 different colors of G10. This afternoon I'll sand up a couple of pieces to show you what I'm talking about. I'll even use blue

 

[MileMarker60]

Alright here is some quick and dirty G10 sanding pics. I used 3 dark colors and spent little to no time making sure it was right. Jut a quick test. Had this been a real set of scales I would have taken more time sand and would have went much higher in grit. This is just a really quick example. I spent all of about 10 mins. on it.
First
80 grit on a belt sander


220 hand sanded


400 hand sanded


quick polish, pic from 2 different angles.

 

[MileMarker60]

One moire quick one.
800 hand sanded then polished again.

 

[bdcoffey]

One moire quick one.
800 hand sanded then polished again.
Nice photos of the progression. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Heespharm]

One moire quick one.
800 hand sanded then polished again.
Nice photos of the progression. Thanks for sharing!

+1 no kidding good work...!

 

[Gorr]

Thanks, MileMarker60, for the photos. I'm now thoroughly convinced that my G10 is the textured type. Yours still has the little polka dots in it, but the surrounding area is really shiny. Mine never looked like that, even after the 6k grit automotive wet/dry sandpaper. The CA certainly fixed it up, though.

 

[buca3152]

I took a pre formed scale and decided to give it a go. I hand sanded only, started with 500 SIC then 1k then 2k. I worked them by hand with the paper on the end of my finger, no sanding sponge or block. Its shiny all right, but the polka dot pattern is uneven. There is no rhyme or reason to the patterns, some are more visible at the edge and some more visible smack dab right in the middle. I dont want to consider uneven sanding as it was done with one finger. Im done experimenting with this for a high shine and will use it for satin only, its not that much work to do, its just that it doesnt look uniform. Ive sanded horn scales before the same way and had a beautiful uniform finish. I worked the blade sanding it in thirds, then finished each grit front to back. The polka dots doesnt follow any sort of pattern. Completely random. The shine is uniform, the polka dot pattern is not.
Edit: Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I appreciate your sharing knowledge with me as well as all the other folks!

 

[MileMarker60]

View attachment 407615
I took a pre formed scale and decided to give it a go. I hand sanded only, started with 500 SIC then 1k then 2k. I worked them by hand with the paper on the end of my finger, no sanding sponge or block. Its shiny all right, but the polka dot pattern is uneven. There is no rhyme or reason to the patterns, some are more visible at the edge and some more visible smack dab right in the middle. I dont want to consider uneven sanding as it was done with one finger. Im done experimenting with this for a high shine and will use it for satin only, its not that much work to do, its just that it doesnt look uniform. Ive sanded horn scales before the same way and had a beautiful uniform finish. I worked the blade sanding it in thirds, then finished each grit front to back. The polka dots doesnt follow any sort of pattern. Completely random. The shine is uniform, the polka dot pattern is not.
Edit: Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I appreciate your sharing knowledge with me as well as all the other folks!

While you many not want to consider it to be uneven sanding,that is exactly what it is.
If it was multicolored or 2-tone it would be much easier to see.

 

[Doc226]

I always thought with G10 you really don't want to sand the surface other than to shine it up or the uneven pattern will emerge.

The rounding off of the corners doesn't matter as much.

 

[MileMarker60]

I always thought with G10 you really don't want to sand the surface other than to shine it up or the uneven pattern will emerge.

The rounding off of the corners doesn't matter as much.

For the most part you are correct. If you have to sand the entire surface it's best to contour all for a uniform look.

 

[buca3152]

I just took a piece to a disc sander on the last 3/4 of an inch. The material is not flat. See picture.
How could that untouched area be in the middles of the sanded. This is one swipe onto a flat disc sander. I know it is slightly uneven on the one side but can someone explain this to me please. Thanks. I think the material is not flat.

 

[buca3152]

The material is not flat. Ran a small scrap flat on a 400 atoma 100 x back and forth. Hopefully you can see the inside is all dull and the four corners are still shiny so that's another reason why this is an issue. I think if is flattened it would distort the dot patterns.

 

[Gorr]

It is still just layers of material coated in resin and compressed. That doesn't necessarily mean that all the layers were perfectly even or that they all compressed the same amount.

 

[buca3152]

What works great is examine the material well, mark the scratches that will show with a perm marker(so you dont use these). The top only gets 1200 then 2k wet dry, buff with white then blue compound and done. Nice shine and perfect. No distortion at all. The sides get 220 on a bench sander to shape and remove teeth marks from the saw, then medium grit sanding sponge (estimate 320 grit , dont really know) then w/d 500 1k or 1200 then 2k and buff as above. Perfect. Will post some pix later. I mask the material front throughout, then remove the tape but keep the spacer side masked to clamp so any stray epoxy or ca glue will not mess with the top. Clamp, let dry a few hours at least and finish it.