Black glass/composite handle material..???

[Howling Moose]

I am looking for black glass/composite rod such as the Mad Dog knife company in Prescott Valley, Arizona uses for their knife handles...would y'all have any idea where such material might be found?


THANKS!

[Jan Dox]

I don't really know exactly wat type of composite Mad Dog uses but materials like G10 and G11 exist in Belgium in natural brown in round bars. Sheets of G10 and G11 exist here only in few colours as white and brown. I suggest you ask suppliers of G10 and G11 sheets if they can provide solid bars in black. It might be a good alternative. The are used in the industry and worked into high strength non conducting mechanical components.

Jan

[Colin KC]

Hiya Howling,
Jantz supply have something similar, it's a jet, onyx & obsidian composite & has white & gold flecks & streaking (don't know to what extent) however the closest I have found is a 1"x1"x4" block.


Prob doesn't help much, but what you really need is Mike (our "Q")

[caveman]

I believe the product you're searching for is called Cycolac, an ABS plastic product pioneered by General Electric a long time ago....I used to have a custom cue stick with a handle made of the stuff.....as to where you can buy some, I have no idea, you might check places like this:

http://www.gehrplastics.com/products/abs/abs.htm

[Howling Moose]

Thanks...I'll give 'em a hollar. I checked that web site out but saw no menton of there being any "fiberglass/composite" rod...maybe just comes by a different mfg name.

[Jason Cutter]

I thought that the handles on Mad Dog knives was a G-10 type material. The surface texture on some with the checkering is pre-machined onn the pieces you buy, similar to what you find if you look at the shops that supply parts to make folders. The surface is not meant to be ground away, so you still have a reasonably slab sided and blocky handle profile.

Black G-10 (smooth) is reasonably easy to find - its listed in all the major knifemaking supply shops and sites - Jantz, TKS, Koval, K&G.

I know that in Australia, there are electrical insulation companies that import the stuff - and its the "correct" black colour. Probably not G-10 but a similar proprietary material. In fact its very difficult to find any other colour from industrial sources. But the hitch is that they want to sell you a half-tonne of the things before they'll talk business. The alternative stuff is very much cheaper, but we're still talking several grand a pop.

If you share with a dedicated group of other makers ? Or ask for a sample to work with, perhaps. Could have simialr sources in many different countries.

Cheers.

[Howling Moose]

Well, that last idea was "el busto' "...they sent a sample of 3/4" rod that flexed like a "fat fly rod!" weiged in at near nothing...

the glass-epoxy composite rod that MD Labs uses is absolutley rock solid - a 16-18" rod willl tear a wood crate to pieces (or bust a femur/cranium as circumstances may warrant)

Any other ideas where to look....(or ask?)

Thanks!

[whv]

try raw materials. there might be something under plastics that will do. :confused:
or maybe here?

[caveman]

do a Google search for Cycolac suppliers, here's one link from there...

http://www.insulfab.com/material.asp

[Howling Moose]

I found a company that distributes it - and that's the cheezy sample I was talking about (unless they sent me the wrong stuph)?

the rod I got was "goldish" on the inside, apparently coated with a phosporus type coating, but the rod is "featherweight" and very flexible...the MD Rod is a "glass-epoxy comosite", VERY stiff and quite a bit more weight to it...if you've ever handled a MadDog, you'll have an idea what I'm talking about...

any other ideas?

[caveman]

the stuff my cue was made of was black, solid all the way through, very dense plastic......like you said earlier, you could beat some furniture to pieces with it if necessary....