Has anyone scaled with G10? In terms of cutting, sanding and shaping how does it compare with micarta and wood?
G10 v Micarta
- Thread starter Hunter Bock
- Start date
G10 is a touch material to work with, it will eat up your bandsaw blade and it will eat up your sandpaper.
whats the best way to shape it efficiently?
I work with G10 and Micarta frequently at my job. Micarta is I believe a phenolic resin laminate with paper, canvas or linen as the laminate material. G10, some times referred to as Garolite, is laminated with fiberglass and I don't know what resin. G10 is mean, and nasty. It will make you itch and cough if inhaled. If you see me itching and coughing, it's a safe bet I'm making scales again. Wear protective gloves and a mask.
I've been making scales out of 1/2 inch sheet G10 which requires sawing out a 1 x 6 chunk, splitting it and machining 2 scales out of each chunk. Jeez, the things I'll go through to get free scale material. Two 6 inch chunks with splitting will just about ruin 12 feet of top of the line band saw blade. I machine it with carbide tooling, high speed steel cutters are ruined in no time. It also eats up conventional metal files so shaping is best done with abrasives. What my boss doesn't know, won't hurt him.
After I saw out the shape, things go a little better. I finish the shaping with a belt sander and contours are done with cheap diamond files and sand paper. Rough sanding and final shaping is done with 180 grit aluminum oxide sand paper and finished up with W/D silicon carbide. After I'm done, it seems like it was all worth it. Love G10. Hate the process, love the results.
The Micarta family is much easier to work with. High speed steel cutting tools work just fine. You can even do some shaping using conventional metal files. The only thing that bothers me is the phenolic resin smell.
Both G10 and Micarta don't flex much so wedge fitting is tricky. You end up with more of a spacer than a wedge.
By comparison wood is heavenly to work with. A great material for some one with just hand tools at home.
The McMaster Carr catalog of industrial supplies has some eye opening information on the Garolite family. Different grades of Garolite are identified by color and electrical properties.
I've been making scales out of 1/2 inch sheet G10 which requires sawing out a 1 x 6 chunk, splitting it and machining 2 scales out of each chunk. Jeez, the things I'll go through to get free scale material. Two 6 inch chunks with splitting will just about ruin 12 feet of top of the line band saw blade. I machine it with carbide tooling, high speed steel cutters are ruined in no time. It also eats up conventional metal files so shaping is best done with abrasives. What my boss doesn't know, won't hurt him.
After I saw out the shape, things go a little better. I finish the shaping with a belt sander and contours are done with cheap diamond files and sand paper. Rough sanding and final shaping is done with 180 grit aluminum oxide sand paper and finished up with W/D silicon carbide. After I'm done, it seems like it was all worth it. Love G10. Hate the process, love the results.
The Micarta family is much easier to work with. High speed steel cutting tools work just fine. You can even do some shaping using conventional metal files. The only thing that bothers me is the phenolic resin smell.
Both G10 and Micarta don't flex much so wedge fitting is tricky. You end up with more of a spacer than a wedge.
By comparison wood is heavenly to work with. A great material for some one with just hand tools at home.
The McMaster Carr catalog of industrial supplies has some eye opening information on the Garolite family. Different grades of Garolite are identified by color and electrical properties.
To quote an old favorite movie of mine "The only winning move is not to play."
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- Thread starter
- #7
I'll be working mostly with hand tools (no circular saw, have dremel). Micarta I take it would be preferable (or resin, acrylic?). Micarta blanks I've seen show the layering on the vertical side. How does this sand and shape?
Thanks all.
Thanks all.
my recent experience with micarta was easy to sand and shape by hand.
Did you use some type of power saw to cut out the original shape? I've never used hand equipment on it during basic shape sawing. I'm thinking it may put up more of a fight than wood.
Tbh, the basic shape i cut a while ago perhaps either with a coping saw, belt grinder, or scroll saw. It was minimal. Perhaps the type of micarta matters? Mine was linen iirc.
