What's the toughest handle material- G10, micarta, or carbon fiber?

Status
Not open for further replies.
For those of you who have mentioned bending breaking snapping cracking splitting chipping from your own personal experience can you please back up your claim with photos or video?...I make this stuff to pay off bills from my now dead diabetic cat, I have yet to see what you mentioned so if you could enlighten me that way I can it steer clear of what not to make
Thanks!
 
In a set up like a Strider SMF CC, what would be stronger? CF or G10?
 
i'm a little late, but if you want my opinion for ultimate toughness real G11 is the way to go.

G11 is a more mechanically stable form of G10 that was produced for structural applications. it is roughly twice as strong (tensile strength) than G10. it machines better, can be reliably tapped, and is super brutal!!!

the only downside is, is that you can't get it in any color other than "snot green," ......luckily i like snot green. :)

here's an example (looks like natural G10)
100_1425.jpg
 
I don't care for CF at all (just me I guess), Micarta is okay but my experience is that except for maybe the finest polished jobs like the handle on a Street Beat - it would wick oil like my Esse knives and require cleaning and blood might not come out at all. I'v only had oil stains and they come out with a brush and comet.

I like G-10 the best hands down favorite. I like the way it feels, cool in my hand when gripping my knives, and it can be textured from ivory smooth to pocket ripping rough. :thumbup:
 
My opinion only nothing based on science. I think G-10 being fiberglass and resin compressed under high pressure would be the choice ot the ones you listed. But I am with one person that responded here. Zytel, FRN, and Grivory are some tough materials. But again from the ones you listed I personaly would choose G-10. I have seen G-10 polished once and I thought they misslabled the box. It was a run of case knives that said G-10. Polished it looks almost exactly like carbon fiber. Almost being the key word but very close to it.
 
If you really want tough, try rubber. That is toughness (the technical definition, anyways).

If you want structural strength and fatigue resistance, then go with CF - I've never seen micarta or G10 used for those apps (like an airplane frame)

If you want real durability, maybe try kauri - it has a chance to last for a few more tens of thousands of years if you bury it in the right spot!

If you want strength, durability in a knife handle, then micarta, G10, and Cf are all right up there. Pick whichever one you think looks the best, because it is unlikely you'll break any of them.
 
In theory they can all get nearly indestructible for our purposes.

Probably comes down to the quality level of the specific materials being compared. CF has the best strength to weight ratio, G10 is probably the most chemical-resistant (as it's a fiberglass matrix), and something like canvas micarta might weigh more than phenolic made with straight up CF/fiberglass - but might be a little less brittle.

Also - I have been actively experimenting with home-brew epoxy-based composite materials, and researching the phenolic market for about a year now - and while knifemakers mostly use composite materials that clearly fit to one of these three categories, a lot of the composite materials on the market (that don't see quite the same level of use) are some combination of fiberglass, rayon-based fiber (or similar material used to make the cf fibers themselves), or 'other' material you find in micarta-like composites.

What is THE strongest? I forget the name right now, but there is some composite material that is a combination of amarid, beryllium-copper bronze (I think beryllium is the less-common element in it - but I am pretty certain that it is a copper based alloy) and a few other matrix elements; it's cured under a lot of heat and pressure. The government uses it inside the walls of embassies and federally owned buildings that need some outwardly invisible bomb and/or bullet resistance.

Of late I've been experimenting with a particular mix of home-brewed micarta, twill amarid cloth, supported by a skeleton of bailing wire, with a nylon and epoxy skin is showing promise... I'm selling a pile of stuff on here once I fill some existing orders. A thread is in the works...
 
Last edited:
hi im nightcrow im sorta new to this site but knives are one of my favorite hobbys from true hunting and combat proven to shelf trophys either way my winchester fixed blade knife i have had sense i was 14 the wood i think is walnut and thinning on one side from my right hand using it so much and i wanted to know if there is a better either type of wood or other natural material for a handle i was hoping for a type of bone like either deer or maybe bear something large enough for the handle size because i know this wood handle isnt going to last forever but just until the wood either cracks or falls off im just wanting to think of a replacement material for when it happens.

P.S. the reason for deer for bear bone for the handle is cause cow bone is over used like yellow or red on a corvette...(car)
 
Last edited:
I don't get the overlooking of FRN (zytel, grivory, etc.). As long as it's not so thin that it bends when you grab the knife (Griptilians do this, at least the one my friend let me use) it doesn't even feel cheap, at least to me. It's as strong as you need a knife to be, more flexible than the options given, and doesn't react with anything (so I'm told, I have no chemical knowledge).
 
I don't get the overlooking of FRN (zytel, grivory, etc.). As long as it's not so thin that it bends when you grab the knife (Griptilians do this, at least the one my friend let me use) it doesn't even feel cheap, at least to me. It's as strong as you need a knife to be, more flexible than the options given, and doesn't react with anything (so I'm told, I have no chemical knowledge).

The only thing I've found that will affect nylon that you might encounter accidentally, is very strong mineral acids, like muriatic acid. This will soften and turn the surface of a piece of nylon gummy very quickly. No other chemical I've exposed nylon to (trichlor, alcohols, acetone, MEK, paint stripper, bleach, etc) have done anything other than cosmetic drying of the nylon material. FRN is going to be more resistant to acids due to the high glass content as well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top