Scratches in G10

[TkoK83Spy]

A friend of mine at work that has the S110V Manix in G10 accidentally dropped and kicked his Manix across the concrete floor today!! Thankfully it wasn't open, but he's got some scuffs in the G10 and it's driving him nuts.

Does anybody have any ideas of how to possibly blend the color difference a bit, so it's not so obvious? The color is lighter where the main scratch is. He's considering sanding it lightly with a high grit sandpaper, but I told him to hold off for a bit and let me see if anybody here has any ideas or has had success in doing something with a similar problem.

Any ideas anybody, or is it something he will have to live with?

[JRinFL]

The scratches are likely there to stay, but some mineral oil might even out the scale color.

[Cambertree]

Yeah, a bit of oil would be my suggestion too.

If the scuffs are on the edge of the G10, he could take the opportunity to contour the edges a bit, as well as sanding out some of the scratching.

[jdw]

Ballistol works really well on G10.

[JD Spydo]

Ballistol works really well on G10.

I've literally had that Ballistol actually heal and eliminate scratches in G-10. I have rejuvenated really beat up and super dirty G-10 handles and make them look almost like new.

Ballistol is the one product that I've found that can really make your G-10 handles last a long time. I put Ballistol on all of my G-10 handles ( in the user rotation) about every 3 months just as a preventative maintenance and it works too.

This Brother is on the money with his Ballistol recommendation. If I ever find anything that works better on G-10 I'll switch immediately.

[TkoK83Spy]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! I obviously at least have mineral oil, I'll bring that in for him to try tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll certainly recommend some Ballistol.

[Bloke]

Rick, I’d clean the scratched area with a toothbrush or similar and water to remove any debris and wipe the scales down with mineral oil as RL suggests or something like Ballistol. :)

Edit: The boys beat me at jump on Ballistol ... by the time I’d typed this.

[RustyIron]

Any ideas anybody, or is it something he will have to live with?

Tell him to hold is head high, with pride in the knowledge that he's the sort of man who carries and uses his knife.

[TkoK83Spy]

Any ideas anybody, or is it something he will have to live with?

Tell him to hold is head high, with pride in the knowledge that he's the sort of man who carries and uses his knife.

For sure! He's got like 15 Benchmade's...this is his only Spyderco, so he isn't too happy about it.

[TkoK83Spy]

So I brought in the mineral oil today. It pretty much masked and blended the colors back to close to rest of the scale color! Who knows how long it will last for, but he seems content. Thanks for the advice guys, he appreciates it!

[JD Spydo]

Rick, I’d clean the scratched area with a toothbrush or similar and water to remove any debris and wipe the scales down with mineral oil as RL suggests or something like Ballistol. :)

Edit: The boys beat me at jump on Ballistol ... by the time I’d typed this.

BLOKE ol' buddy please trust me and take my word for it. The BALLISTOL is much, much better than using ordinary mineral oil. Now I will admit that mineral oil has a lot of good, practical uses. But that BALLISTOL has some type of chemical action that literally rejuvenates that G-10 and I've had great luck using. Now I wouldn't rate it as being food safe at least when it's still wet. But I don't think it has any significant toxic properties to it either.

BLOKE if you ever try the BALLISTOL like I did you will be sold on it quickly I can assure you.

[JD Spydo]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! I obviously at least have mineral oil, I'll bring that in for him to try tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll certainly recommend some Ballistol.

Dude the BALLISTOL is truly the "Cat's Meow" when using it on G-10 handles. It actually heals up scratches on G-10. I've also had decent luck with it using it on a couple of Micarta handles as well.

Now I'm open minded and there is certainly new products hitting the market almost daily. And if they ever come up with anything that is better than BALLISTOL I'll be the first in line to buy some.

But I also use BALLISTOL for all kinds of cleaning chores and for other restoration type work. It's a great product and a buddy of mine who is a firearms fanatic uses it on a lot of his firearms when cleaning them.

[Bloke]

Rick, I’d clean the scratched area with a toothbrush or similar and water to remove any debris and wipe the scales down with mineral oil as RL suggests or something like Ballistol. :)

Edit: The boys beat me at jump on Ballistol ... by the time I’d typed this.

BLOKE ol' buddy please trust me and take my word for it. The BALLISTOL is much, much better than using ordinary mineral oil. Now I will admit that mineral oil has a lot of good, practical uses. But that BALLISTOL has some type of chemical action that literally rejuvenates that G-10 and I've had great luck using. Now I wouldn't rate it as being food safe at least when it's still wet. But I don't think it has any significant toxic properties to it either.

BLOKE if you ever try the BALLISTOL like I did you will be sold on it quickly I can assure you.

Hey Joe, I started using Ballistol on your recommendation a few years ago, mate. I clean and machining dust off G10 scales before I use the knife. It does brighten G10 and I can’t rightly say, but it does appear to form a barrier as such on G10 which makes cleaning easier down the track. :)

[RadioactiveSpyder]

The primary ingredient in Ballistol is mineral oil. Cheers, Radioactive

[Liquid Cobra]

I’ve found that rit dye will remove superficial marks in g10.

[Doc Dan]

I’ve found that gifting me these knives with scratches works wonders. :p :D

[JD Spydo]

The primary ingredient in Ballistol is mineral oil. Cheers, Radioactive

I can believe that>> but it's got an active ingredient that does much more than any mineral oil I've ever used. It's also got some type of ingredient in it that seems to do well in some types of cleaning jobs. It does great in many types of firearms cleaning jobs and it doesn't leave a residue like many other petroleum based products do.

I've just had great luck using it on a wide range of cleaning a lubricating jobs. It has a solvent type action to it that makes cleaning some types of materials really easy.

[JD Spydo]

I’ve found that rit dye will remove superficial marks in g10.

Now that's the first time I've ever heard that before. I've been trying to decide whether or not to dye the scales on my M390 Military model because the handle I have is starting to fade somewhat and I'm just wondering what a dye job would do to make the handle look nicer.

I'm also curious if you might put any oils or other petroleum products in your dye>> or is there something in the RIT dye that helps G-10?

[JRinFL]

I had totally forgotten about Ballistol when I posted the suggestion of mineral oil. :o

[RadioactiveSpyder]

I can believe that>> but it's got an active ingredient that does much more than any mineral oil I've ever used. It's also got some type of ingredient in it that seems to do well in some types of cleaning jobs. It does great in many types of firearms cleaning jobs and it doesn't leave a residue like many other petroleum based products do.

I've just had great luck using it on a wide range of cleaning a lubricating jobs. It has a solvent type action to it that makes cleaning some types of materials really easy.

You can believe me or not. I'm a scientist and just report the facts (despite what folks seem to think politically about us these days...). The full ingredient list of Ballistol (short for "ballistic oil" BTW) is:

Mineral Oil
Potassium Oleate
Ammonium Oleate
Oleic Acid
Benzyl Alcohol
Amyl Alcohol
Isobutyl Alcohol
Benzyl Acetate
Anethole
Isohexane (aerosol only)

Potassium oleate, ammonium oleate and oleic acid are emulsifiers (soap); benzyl, amyl and isobutyl alcohols are solvents (gives you your "solvent action"); and benzyl acetate and anethole are basically perfumes to make it smell nice - the first one smells like jasmine (and attracts bees quite well apparently) and the second one smells like anise or fennel.

In regards to LC's comments about RIT dye, that would just cover up a scratch to better match the original matching color. It certainly would do nothing to "heal" a physical scratch in G10 (nor does Ballistol or mineral oil either). You can lightly sand the scratch down until you get back to flat, but that will obviously work by removing material, not to mention sand away the peel-ply layer/texture. Cheers, Radioactive