Speaking of Carbon Fiber

[MENTAL]

I'm sure you guys know better than me since I only own three CF Spydies. Is it normal to have chipping around the screw holes? I have never worked with CF, but I imagine that when tooling something that hard and it being layered, it is reasonable to get some flaking. I'm do not need the knife perfect as I intend on using it. Just a curiosity as to what experience you may have regarding the wear of CF or its condition out of the box. If there is some evidence of tooling/drilling/fitting is that an acceptable imperfection? I think it is. I have been spoiled by the superb fit and finsh of Spyderco products thus far. It has taken 34 Spydies before I came up with my first question regarding quality. Also, as there are different varieties of CF being used by Spyderco I imagine there are unique qualities of each. Please feel free to let me/us know anything that may help better understand what to hope for when buying and using these variants. Thanks for your time.

[ChrisR]

I have never worked with CF myself (don't have the tools or the skills!) but I recently sourced some and asked quite a lot of guys who have used it for tips on how to cut scales etc. Firstly, there are a lot of different qualities of CF - some good, a lot bad (with air pockets and poorly laminated) so I think it all starts with that. Cutting and shaping isn't normally a problem if you have good CF - it's just very hard stuff and the dust is potentially toxic so you have to be careful to catch/extract it. But the main problem comes in drilling screw holes and here you have to drill against a very firm backing to prevent delamination and chipping ... but it's always a risk and I guess there is a higher chance of loosing a piece than if you were drilling G10 or Micarta :)

Saying all that, I have never seen chips around the holes on most Spydies so their QC is extremely high. There have just been a few issues reported with the Michael Walker and I think it was similar problems that led Spyderco to pull the Cat & Chicago.

[[ITA]Nemo]

I confirm that I have chips around the holes on my Walker ZDP, but the CF of my Chicago is perfect!

BakaN

[The Deacon]

As a general rule, it's the resin that chips when holes are drilled, not the CF. For that reason, chipping is most likely on glossy CF where there's a relatively thick layer of resin on the outer surface and normally takes the form os small "fish scales" flakes. Most of the glossy CF Spydercos I own exhibit that to some degree, ranging from one or two that are barely visible under magnification to one or more that are easily visible. Smooth matte CF exhibits it as well, but it's generally less noticeable. Haven't really run into it on either peel ply or the Sage type "tufted" CF, but my sample sizes are more limited.

"You get what you pay for" is an almost universal truth. With CF, as with most things, quality tends to vary with price. Delamination of the CF itself is generally a sign of inferior CF. That was definitely the case for the Cat and Chicago. To a lesser degree, it is probably the case with the Walker as well, although more puzzling there.

[ChrisR]

Paul is spot-on - it's more a problem of the surface resin that the fibre. It's also worth noting that apparently some people have managed to fill-in chips using CyanoAcrylate SuperGlues ... but this is a skilled job as nobody wants to have to go to the ER with a Michael Walker CF perma-glued to their hands :D

[HistoricalMan]

...but this is a skilled job as nobody wants to have to go to the ER with a Michael Walker CF perma-glued to their hands :D

Ahaha, visualizing that made me laugh more than it should have.

[FLYBYU44]

The Bob T slipit I had also chipped. In fact it chipped quite badly around the screw holes and edges of the scales. It was one of the reasons I got rid of it. I'm actually not sure why Spyderco uses so much CF for handles, you'd think it was expensive and it's really not the best material to make handle scales from. I much prefer a good grippy G-10 handle.

[gull wing]

I have several CF Spidies, none have bad hole chipping. I have seen some on this Forum that are BAD, I would not like them for my own.

I've used a lot of CF on my own knives and swapped CF for orig on other knives. I found, a slow drill speed helps a lot. None of my CF scales have that problem.

Sorry!

[JNewell]

I have made scales from CF. I can say from personal experience that completely eliminating minor chip-out is tough.

[gbelleh]

I have a few CF Spydies and the only one with noticeable chipping is the Michael Walker which is quite badly chipped around 3 of the screws. From what I've read here, it's somewhat common on this model.

[MENTAL]

Thanks fellas. That is all very good information. I am now a little surprised that CF is used so frequently considering it is that difficult to get a repeatable, flawless fit and finish. I've never cared much about minimizing carry weight. I always go with the "If it's too heavy, I need to get stronger" rule. I guess I'll have to just keep buying them 'cause they look cool. Gotta admit though that I won't be thrilled if any of mine show up with chipping around three holes. Thanks for your time.

[The Deacon]

Thanks fellas. That is all very good information. I am now a little surprised that CF is used so frequently considering it is that difficult to get a repeatable, flawless fit and finish. I've never cared much about minimizing carry weight. I always go with the "If it's too heavy, I need to get stronger" rule. I guess I'll have to just keep buying them 'cause they look cool. Gotta admit though that I won't be thrilled if any of mine show up with chipping around three holes. Thanks for your time.

It's used because people want it. I suspect people want it more for its association with other cool things like high performance vehicles of all kinds, and because it's perceived as an expensive material, rather than for its superiority as a knife scale material. That last is proven (at least to my satisfaction) by the fact that peel ply CF, the only version of CF that's actually superior to Spyderco G-10 in that its surface texture is considerably more wear resistant, is the least well liked.

[dsmegst]

I have a good number of Spydercos with CF in various styles. I haven't gone as far as to examine every detail with a magnifying glass but I don't think I ever got a "bad" CF scales. The worst looking was the Walker CF where the cutouts are for the pocket clip. There were bits hanging off. I cut that off and that's all there was to it. I have seen some photos of imperfections but I've been pretty lucky. I like the light weight, stiffness and the look of CF so it works very well for me. The textured weave on the Taiwan made CF knives are my favorite.

[freeman7]

CF is attractive, period. The fact that it is very light in the pocket is a bonus.