DIY Micarta (materials)

M

Maineiac1

Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
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Hello I have been doing some micarta for custom knives I've been making and I was looking to "do something different". I've used burlap and the like but was wondering if anyone has used or tried hay, moss, brown grass, sand, pine cones, or any crazy like items with resin for a handle scale????
 
There's a lot of different "weird" micarta that are made. I know of a guy on FB who makes what he calls "Plantstone". I've even seen horsepoop micarta.

Experiment if you like. Some of the suggestions you're making are not too far out. Some have been done before and others make me go "why?".
 
I've seen hay and pine cones. Seen the horse poop. I've seen the aforementioned "plantstone." I think the same guy is make epoxy-impregnated animal hide scales with the hair still on them.

Sand does not seem like something I would want.

One "micarta" I fantasize about is mulberry paper. I think it would probably look fantastic with all the fibers and it might be kind of translucent. I reached out to Shadetree to see what he thought and he told me he "wouldn't want to try it himself."

The other "micarta" I fantasize about is raw cotton. Like, ginned but not carded with little bits of seeds and stalks still in it. I bet that would look awesome.
 
I've seen a few customs on the forums with pine cone and it looks really really cool IMO. There was also one that used a circuit board that I thought was pretty dang unique.

I could see a grass micarta take the place of OD with a ghillie suit look (maybe).
 
Nate Hardin has made some hemp micarta. Look up half breed knives or Hardin Bladeworks to find pictures. It almost reminds me of duck blind camo grass pattern.
 
Any leads to where I can get a picture of the circuit board scales???? I have access to plenty of those! Haha thanks everybody for the posts! Gives me some good ideas for the next batch of tries.
 
Not meaning to derail here but what are you using for resin? just Bondo or fiberglass? Does the heat from grinding soften it up? Thanks I would like to make some Micarta myself.
 
Maineiac1 said:
Any leads to where I can get a picture of the circuit board scales???? I have access to plenty of those! Haha thanks everybody for the posts! Gives me some good ideas for the next batch of tries.
Click to expand...

These are two threads I was able to find at the top of a search for "circuit". There may be others that are older if you dig through a little more but certainly good representatives. I'm always amazed at what some of the knifemakers on the forums can do and come up with, it's like functional art.
http://bladeforums.com/threads/v-rano-camp-knife-w-special-handle-scales.1495711/#post-17186605
http://bladeforums.com/threads/revenge-of-the-nerds-part-3.1484576/#post-17085754
 
That's awesome, thank you! I will be trying that next haha.

For the resin I am using, it's Bondo fiberglass resin from Lowe's. I'll need to try and find some clear epoxy for the circuit boards though. The resin I use doesn't get affected by grinding or sanding. Like a heat treated blade or even standard epoxied knife scales you have to keep heat from sanding to a minimum anyways.
 
M Maineiac1
I'm sorry I don't know who's this pic is (or the knife), it's a screenshot I took cause I liked it...
I've never seen them with components still on the board, that's so awesome! EE / circuit board design is a hobby of mine so I have lots of my own designed boards I need to use for some scales.

1493419990653c08fa0599d5228e724739ae9341964a74db51f55afedb8f4ffbe864cbf85cc631b9c841c829980aca26cc231c5d274aa236527acaeeceed6ea82d95e7782dd3b.png~original
 
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Cereal_killer said:
M Maineiac1
I'm sorry I don't know who's this pic is (or the knife), it's a screenshot I took cause I liked it...
I've never seen them with components still on the board, that's so awesome! EE / circuit board design is a hobby of mine so I have lots of my own designed boards I need to use for some scales.

Click to expand...

That knife belongs to K.O.D. K.O.D.
Made by Matt Bailey, I think it's called the "Model 2".
 
Yeah, it's mine. Matt Bailey model 2 flipper geek edition.

I do have fried Mobo I could donate, depending on where you live...
 
Cereal_killer said:
LOL his custom title got me! I thought it was his but I remembered his title saying banned so I was like "no, it was posted recently, it's not his cause he's banned".
Click to expand...

Yup, I enjoy messing with people. It was erect member for a while.
 
This is my Bailey:

001_zpsmf0tbxmi.jpg

Maineiac1 said:
I'll need to try and find some clear epoxy for the circuit boards though.
Click to expand...
FWIW, to me it doesn't feel like the circuit board is coated. I don't know for sure as I've never really handled circuit board that didn't have all of the electronic components installed.
 
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