Advantages of one Micarta or the others? Canvas vs. Linen vs. Paper.

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DukeHarley

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Just wondering what if any are the advantages of the 3 main micarta medias vs the others. Or is it purely aesthetics?

Jay
 
The finer the substrate, the smoother the finish and look can get. Many outdoorsmen like rough-sanded canvas micarta for its somewhat grippy feel. Paper micarta can be sanded and polished until it looks almost like solid bone or ebony.
 
So then I would assume that the canvas might have a tendency to be a bit more porous than the others?

Jay
 
Not sure porous is the right word, since the canvas is rough it will keep a grippier surface, but the resin will prevent adsorbtion of water and other materials. You can also seal with application of boiled lindseed oil.
 
Ok I see. Just the actual media is different as far as how fine it is. I think that's what I'm getting from this. From rough to smooth it goes canvas, linen, to paper.
 
Antlerhog said:
So then I would assume that the canvas might have a tendency to be a bit more porous than the others?
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Yes.

I don't give a hoot what others claim; no matter how fine you sand and polish canvas micarta, there are still exposed fibers. Slobbering oils or waxes on it is a temporary "fix".

That's not necessarily a deal-breaker, it's just a fact.

If you require serious 100% blood/guts/bacteria/chemical/water resistance and zero maintenance, use G10.
 
James is right... micarta is made with Phenol based hardeners (Look up the MSDS) nasty stuff
Aesthetics is the only difference except you have to use sharp fresh belts and normally hand sand the finish PIA Fibers burn and turn a nice nasty brown with dull belts
G10 is the way to go
 
I don't understand why g10 and (canvas at least) micarta are always brought up in the same breath. They share some similar traits but look and feel totally different to my hand. Polished paper I can see using g10 in place of.

Canvas micarta has a "warmer" feel than g10 in my opinion. I cannot comment on working g10 because I haven't done it, but working canvas micarta isn't that bad if you're careful and wear your ppe.

I love g10 to death but I've also dropped it and had it chip. Canvas micarta may have dealt with that drop better too.

They are both excellent. I agree that g10 is more element proof, but cleaning the fibers of micarta is pretty easy too. I haven't had any of the crappy import stuff (I bought all of the micarta I've used many years ago from Jantz) and have never had a problem with the elements.

Peel ply g10 is some super grippy stuff if needed.
 
james terrio said:
If you require serious 100% blood/guts/bacteria/chemical/water resistance and zero maintenance, use G10.
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Very true. We do not recommend micarta for kitchen knives because it will absorb liquids.

Strigamort said:
I love g10 to death but I've also dropped it and had it chip.
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We process several tons of G10 every year. I've never seen G10 chip. Maybe the G10 you chipped was offshore material?

Each layer in G10 is about .007" thick. Thin .020" has three layers and is almost impossible to tear by hand. The only way a chip would occur is if there were no fiberglass layers in the area that chipped.

Chuck
 
Strigamort said:
Peel ply g10 is some super grippy stuff if needed.
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That it is :thumbup:

I've never chipped G10 myself. I have deformed it some by beating the heck out of it with a ball peen hammer just to see what would happen.
 
I had a small chip occur in my zt 0561 when I dropped it on concrete. It's a very small chip and I think it occurred due to the 3D texturing of the 0561 scale. Where it chipped was a small protrusion on the very edge of the knife. I personally like g10 more then micarta but both have their plusses and minuses.
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
Very true. We do not recommend micarta for kitchen knives because it will absorb liquids.

We process several tons of G10 every year. I've never seen G10 chip. Maybe the G10 you chipped was offshore material?

Each layer in G10 is about .007" thick. Thin .020" has three layers and is almost impossible to tear by hand. The only way a chip would occur is if there were no fiberglass layers in the area that chipped.

Chuck
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I had the scales on my wifes Leaf Storm chip BADLY when the knife fell about 2 feet of the armrest of the couch. I wonder if they used cheap import G10?
 
carbonsteel928 said:
I had the scales on my wifes Leaf Storm chip BADLY when the knife fell about 2 feet of the armrest of the couch.
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Do you have any photos? The Leaf uses natural G10 which is translucent. You should be able to see if the fiberglass is in the chip area.

Chuck
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
Do you have any photos? The Leaf uses natural G10 which is translucent. You should be able to see if the fiberglass is in the chip area.

Chuck
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I can take a photo but at my wife's request, the chip was sanded down, not sure what will show. As a result of that chip, I preemptively removed the scales off of other LF and replaced them with stabilized wood.
 
Did you see any fiberglass cloth when you sanded the chip?

G10 without fiberglass cloth is like concrete with no rebar. If there was no cloth in the G10 it would be hard and brittle i.e., very susceptible to chipping.

Chuck
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
Did you see any fiberglass cloth when you sanded the chip?

G10 without fiberglass cloth is like concrete with no rebar. If there was no cloth in the G10 it would be hard and brittle i.e., very susceptible to chipping.

Chuck
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I just checked it and is very glass-like without any visible fibers. Guess they had some cheap stuff sneak in.
 
The knife I'm talking about was made by a very good maker here. I would bet a months wages that it is the highest quality stuff.

The chip is very small, almost unnoticeable. I should have pointed that out, I certainly don't want to give erroneous information. I just think that micarta may have handled it better, or maybe it would have deformed in a way that would have been worse.

Like I said, I love both materials, but I do think they are different animals in a tactile sense. G10 is hard and unforgiving, but sometimes that's the best thing.

The next time I place an order for ferro rod handle material it'll be g10 just for the experience.
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
Very true. We do not recommend micarta for kitchen knives because it will absorb liquids. Chuck
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Paper micarta too? I have a set of Henckels kitchen knives and they appear to have black paper micarta scales. There is a vacant spot in the block, due to attrition, that I would some day like to fill with a parring knife of my own making, and it will need matching scales to not look out of place. Maybe no one will notice that it isn't an integral like the Henckels are. :)

(Well a quick google search tells me that the handle material is Polyoxymethylene, DuPont calls theirs Delrin)
 
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