The development of such a tool as a knife is a task practically necessary for human survival. Since people do not have sharp teeth or claws, like animals, it was this simple thing that replaced this drawback. The first devices of this type appeared a very, very long time ago. To this day, the knife came almost unchanged, all its functions and general appearance remained the same. Over time, only the raw materials that served to manufacture this tool changed. To date, one of the best substances for creating a knife is considered material G10.
general description
Previously, natural remedies such as wood, leather, or bones were used to create knives. All these three components are united by the fact that they are natural.
At present, with the high development of technology and progress, in general, materials of non-natural origin are most often used. For a long time, plastic was a very popular raw material. The latest development was the material G10.
General properties
It is clear that each individual artificial material that is used to make the knife has its own properties.
However, there are several common features that unite them all, including the G10.
- The first property concerns convenience, namely simplicity in caring for the instrument. Most man-made materials, including plastic, and G10 are highly cleanable. In addition, these substances are not able to absorb various unpleasant odors, and they do not get wet during operation.
- Another quality that has been developed precisely thanks to the use of such raw materials is a new way of mounting the handle. In general terms, this process looks like pressing material onto the tail of the cutting element. This is very convenient, since this kind of installation will help to avoid such unwanted things as rivets, seams, additional fasteners, etc.
Specific traits
Material G10 and other artificial substances have 3 common features that combine them into one group.
- Widespread and widespread. The production of this raw material is put on stream, that is, large factories or plants are engaged in manufacturing in a constant and continuous mode of operation. This allows you to fully cover the entire demand for material that creates society.
- Another very important and significant difference between artificial and natural raw materials is that it is more universal. Natural materials have both some positive qualities, and quite a lot of negative ones. Unnatural ones, in turn, were created by people, and therefore their negative factors were minimized. Thus, it turns out that the artificial material for the G10 handle, plastic or other substance, has a greater number of positive qualities than negative ones.
- The last thing that can be emphasized from the pros is aesthetics. It is worth noting that, rather, artificial raw materials play a second role, since, for example, wood can be very attractive if properly processed. But it is also important to understand that the gap between these two groups is minimal and the substance created by man is constantly being improved, while wood will remain so forever.
Short description G10
What is the G10? This is a very popular composite material. The composition of the substance includes continuous fiberglass, as well as epoxies. The substance itself has a layered structure, which is soldered together, just these resins. Soldering is carried out under very high pressure. Characteristics of the material G10 indicate that this substance has a textured surface. This item is fairly easy to paint. You can paint both in a plain color, and in several shades.
The positive qualities also include the fact that the element perfectly retains color, and in appearance it is similar to mikarta. But at the same time, its strength properties and resistance to loads are much higher, and the degree of combustion is much lower.
Processing method
In order to further increase the strength of the material of the handle from G10, a sandblasting method is applied, the essence of which is the uninterrupted bombardment of the surface of the handle. The processing principle is quite simple and lies in the fact that a stream of sand drives resin into the depth of the material structure. Because of this, roughness usually still increases. Strengthening this parameter is not a negative factor at all. On the contrary, due to the high value of this characteristic, the grip of the knife with the palm will increase significantly.
However, there is still some drawback and it consists in the fact that the color of the substance will fade and will no longer be so expressive. This material has some peculiarity, which is often called to breathe a second life. The essence of the procedure is that the handles are treated with a special oil that improves its quality after prolonged use.
Destination G10
G10 - a material for a knife, which is characterized by lightness, rigidity, hardness and textured surface. This substance is used for the manufacture of handles not only with fixed-blade knives, but also for folding models. This raw material is created using a compound and subsequent reinforcement with fiberglass fabricated at high pressure. A distinctive feature of this material is its increased strength and substantial resistance to moisture. You can also paint this material in a variety of plain colors. A feature of G10 will be that there is the possibility of painting in layers.
In other simpler words, this substance is a composite of epoxy resins and fiberglass with minor additions of some chemicals and industrial paints.
Mikarta
When studying the modern and durable G10, it is important to pay little attention to material such as Micarta. The thing is that these two substances are very similar to each other. They have many identical positive characteristics.
Among the advantages of mikarta are the following:
- high resistance to moisture;
- withstands extreme temperature extremes;
- high resistance to machining;
- the dense structure of the material does not allow to absorb various odors;
- in addition to all this, the mikarta is very tightly attached to the blade, which excludes the possibility of any gaps, as a result, it does not allow harmful microorganisms to accumulate on food debris, which are often clogged in these gaps.
By itself, this element is an insulating substance, which consists of a polymer film. It is glued together with other electrical insulating papers, fabrics or materials having a similar structure with these two groups. The color of the final product will depend on what kind of resins or other materials the stick was glued together.
Micarta and G10
As noted earlier and could be seen from the description of these products, they are very similar to each other. However, there are a number of significant differences that you need to know in order to choose the most accurate element that meets all the requirements.
In appearance, these raw materials are very similar. The significant difference is that the G10 is much less combustible and more durable. Its resistance to tearing, bending and impact is much higher. It is also important to note that the G10 has a sandblasting method that significantly increases the roughness of the entire surface, which greatly improves grip. However, the colors fade significantly. Micarta is not amenable to this method of processing.
In conclusion, we can say that both substances are almost similar to each other in their appearance, very similar in their internal structure, they use fairly similar elements. However, at the same time, they still have distinctive features, which create a tangible difference between one raw material and another.