Thread: Working with G10

I recently bought some multi-colored G10 from masecraft and have a few questions. I want to thin the material from the current 1/8" to around 0.1 to 0.09"

I've only worked with acrylic and generally use my belt sander to sand on both sides to thickness and then hand sand to 2000 grit.

The G10 I got has what appears like a glossy colored plate on top on the G10 material where the backside seems unfinished. They appear different in color, but I'm wondering if it is cause one side appears finished while the other side is rough.

I'm worried that my scales are going to be different color on the inside of the scales vs the outside. Should I not worry and treat this like acrylic where when I'm done sanding to 2000 grit on both sides after buffing I'll have the same colored glossy finish?

you are correct in that the back side is typically "unfinished".. If you were to sand down that back side from 220-400-600-800-1000 and then buff, you would see that it would appear similar to the "finished" side of your stock material.

Just so you know, if you are using layered G-10 / multicolor, take great care when thinning out -- If you don't thin it out evenly it will become evident very quickly, the different colored layers will start poking through in different places along the length of the scale.

Getting it perfect like Max takes some skill or you can leave it 1/8 thick and then just worry about rounding off all the edges perfectly / evenly

Originally Posted by Undream

you are correct in that the back side is typically "unfinished".. If you were to sand down that back side from 220-400-600-800-1000 and then buff, you would see that it would appear similar to the "finished" side of your stock material.

Just so you know, if you are using layered G-10 / multicolor, take great care when thinning out -- If you don't thin it out evenly it will become evident very quickly, the different colored layers will start poking through in different places along the length of the scale.

Getting it perfect like Max takes some skill or you can leave it 1/8 thick and then just worry about rounding off all the edges perfectly / evenly

Thanks Brad!

Will definitely keep that in mind as even working in acrylic I've found it difficult to get the scales tinned uniformly across (usually try to get it within 0.05").

I'll probably take some scraps and see how it goes before trying to make some scales.

Glad someone posted that website (AKS) about the G10 that you can buy in thinner stock. May look to get some from them in the future.