Pocketed G-10 Riser

Watsonjay · June 19, 2026, 06:31:15 PM

Pocket is looking good. Still waiting on bit to cut g10 and vacuum hose so Im not inhaling g10 dust. Ended up milling it for 3/16 g10. A lot of worm holes in the spalted tamarind, glad Im putting in g10.

Kirkll · June 20, 2026, 09:45:47 AM

This is a pretty cool experiment. You'll have to be careful shaping your grip and not get too deep sanding on the off side thumb ledge with your spindle sander. Are you factoring a finished depth in the throat of 1.75" ?

Watsonjay · June 20, 2026, 09:55:56 AM

Yes. It is .25" in from the edge of the finished exterior shape and a .25" from center of the riser the closest point to sanding through to it will probably be by the thumb area on the grip at the deepest part. We will see.

Kirkll · June 20, 2026, 12:20:55 PM

I've played with that spalted material a number of times, and i believe it's a prime candidate for
Stabilizing with cactus juice. But...i used the water thin super glue on it a few times and it sinks in pretty good for a pre sanding sealer. You might want to check out that SOLAREZ UV cure sanding sealer on this spalted stuff. That might be the ticket....

Years ago i played with thinning down EA 40 with acetone to use as a grain filler. it did the trick but was kind of a mess, and it was a b itch to sand. I think i'd try that SOLAREZ UV stuff. I bought some and it definitely fills better than lacquer. i just used a smooth rubber glove to apply it, and a bondo spreader to squeegee off the excess.It dries quickly and is easy to sand.

.02 cents worth.

Watsonjay · June 20, 2026, 12:50:00 PM

Quote from: Kirkll on June 20, 2026, 12:20:55 PMI've played with that spalted material a number of times, and i believe it's a prime candidate for
Stabilizing with cactus juice. But...i used the water thin super glue on it a few times and it sinks in pretty good for a pre sanding sealer. You might want to check out that SOLAREZ UV cure sanding sealer on this spalted stuff. That might be the ticket....

Years ago i played with thinning down EA 40 with acetone to use as a grain filler. it did the trick but was kind of a mess, and it was a b itch to sand. I think i'd try that SOLAREZ UV stuff. I bought some and it definitely fills better than lacquer. i just used a smooth rubber glove to apply it, and a bondo spreader to squeegee off the excess.It dries quickly and is easy to sand.

.02 cents worth.

Ya Ive been thinking about getting some after seeing you guys talk about it on another post. Right now I have a spray can if sanding sealer.

Kirkll · June 20, 2026, 01:37:56 PM

That spalted material soaks up lacquer like a sponge. That's why i recommended other options. i like lacquer for a sanding sealer on most of the woods i use because its quick and easy to sand. But it doesn't fill deep grain slots well because it shrinks too much. So i'll save that SOLAREZ UV stuff for deep grain slot woods.

Are you going to do a practice run using some 1/4" mdf or scrap wood for your G-10 i-beam implant? I would imagine you will leave a wee bit of room around the edges to get it into the pocket all buttered with epoxy. just curious...

Watsonjay · June 20, 2026, 04:40:09 PM

Quote from: Kirkll on June 20, 2026, 01:37:56 PMThat spalted material soaks up lacquer like a sponge. That's why i recommended other options. i like lacquer for a sanding sealer on most of the woods i use because its quick and easy to sand. But it doesn't fill deep grain slots well because it shrinks too much. So i'll save that SOLAREZ UV stuff for deep grain slot woods.

Are you going to do a practice run using some 1/4" mdf or scrap wood for your G-10 i-beam implant? I would imagine you will leave a wee bit of room around the edges to get it into the pocket all buttered with epoxy. just curious...

I don't think I will do a dry run. I am confident on cutting the shape, the problem is figuring the movement speed, rpms, and how deep to cut on each pass. Trying it on a wood wouldn't tell me much. They have calculators online that help and then I usually bump all the settings down a little more to be safe. If there is too much chatter ill bump the rpms up a little on the router. Im still new at this.

Watsonjay · June 21, 2026, 09:52:49 PM

Well Id mostly call the cutting of the g10 a success.... Apparently the g10 that I thought was3" was really only 2 so there are a couple 1/4" or so gaps on the belly side. Any suggestions on how to fill in? Wood and ea40, or just fill with epoxy? I had my speeds too high so at one point it popped the g10 off the bed and the bit hit the material put a dent in the end of a limb pad, but not bad. I have it sunk in about 1/32 below wood surface so that should leave room for some ea40. It is a perfect fit on the rest of it but loose enough to fall out if I tip the riser over.

Watsonjay · June 22, 2026, 11:52:43 AM

Glued in the g10 today. My g10 was only 2" wide and I needed 2 1/4 so I made a paste from epoxy, fiberglass, g10 dust and wood and filled in the small gaps and an extra layer on top and that should be a pretty strong combo. Ill run it through the drum sander to level it out and then glue on the other half of the riser. I know it looks a mess now but the drum sander should clean it up nicely.

Watsonjay · June 22, 2026, 07:54:04 PM

Cleaned her up and now gluing the split riser back together. Tomorrow will be the big day.

Watsonjay · June 23, 2026, 03:22:35 PM

FAIL!!!!! Close but no cigar, as they say. I was worried about the sight window area, so I must confess I didn't cut to .75 center as that 1/16" scared me so I only had the cnc cut to .745. Every pass it plunged deeper and I was waiting for a change in sound as it hit ghe g10, but it never happened. Instead somehow I cut too close at the bottom limb pad. I think I need to use a fence to make sure perfectly in line on the x and y axis. I have cut lines in it now that I use for alignment but I think a fence would be better. As I think about it it doesn't really matter that the g10 is showing in the pads and would actually allow me to add more strength. Id call it a good first try as I still came out with a usable riser. Now I just need to see if I can keep it hidden during shaping.

Kirkll · June 23, 2026, 03:34:47 PM

No worries on the limb pads bro... Those should be capped with linen phenolic anyway.

Watsonjay · June 23, 2026, 07:52:21 PM

Quote from: Kirkll on June 23, 2026, 03:34:47 PMNo worries on the limb pads bro... Those should be capped with linen phenolic anyway.

Do you use ea40 or CA glue for limb pad phenolic?

Kirkll · June 24, 2026, 11:17:24 AM

I use the thick CA for my limb pads.

Watsonjay · June 24, 2026, 11:22:26 AM

Thank you

Kirkll · June 24, 2026, 12:50:12 PM

I don't know whether you have experienced this yet, but you do NOT ever use super glue and wet epoxy at the same time. Things start smoking...

Yup... serious fire hazard. chemical reaction between the two is intense.

Years ago i tried using a spot of super glue on the end of a power lam i was running up the belly ramps of a riser block on a one piece to keep it from sliding around during lay up and mixed the two glues together.

It was scary!

Watsonjay · June 24, 2026, 01:29:49 PM

No I didn't know that. I will definitely NOT do that.

Longcruise · June 25, 2026, 05:37:31 PM

Quote from: Kirkll on June 24, 2026, 12:50:12 PMI don't know whether you have experienced this yet, but you do NOT ever use super glue and wet epoxy at the same time. Things start smoking... Yup... serious fire hazard. chemical reaction between the two is intense.

Years ago i tried using a spot of super glue on the end of a power lam i was running up the belly ramps of a riser block on a one piece to keep it from sliding around during lay up and mixed the two glues together. It was scary!

Glad to know that! I contemplated doing that during a lay but didn't.

OTOH, I do join lams with it without problems so evidently it's not a problem once cured.

Watsonjay · June 25, 2026, 07:59:36 PM

Quote from: Longcruise on June 25, 2026, 05:37:31 PM
Quote from: Kirkll on June 24, 2026, 12:50:12 PMI don't know whether you have experienced this yet, but you do NOT ever use super glue and wet epoxy at the same time. Things start smoking... Yup... serious fire hazard. chemical reaction between the two is intense.

Years ago i tried using a spot of super glue on the end of a power lam i was running up the belly ramps of a riser block on a one piece to keep it from sliding around during lay up and mixed the two glues together. It was scary!

Glad to know that! I contemplated doing that during a lay but didn't.

OTOH, I do join lams with it without problems so evidently it's not a problem once cured.

Ive done the same with the bamboo to make longer for one pieces. But like you said, it is always cured. I kinda wanna try a couple drops just to see. Ya I'm that guy. Borderline Darwin Awards!!

Watsonjay · June 27, 2026, 07:02:09 PM

Rough shaping pretty much done. Need to make belly of top limb pad match bottom a little better. But no break throughs to g10 after phenolic is on limb pads you will never know it has g10 in it. Some finish sanding then hit it with shellac and final sand. Then onto the limbs. I think this experiment was a success. Is it worth the extra steps to hide it from the belly side??? I guess some would say yes, others no. It is good to know that I can if I want too.