Best way to reliably process micarta for folder scales

Signalprick

Signalprick

Jason Ritchie
Gold Member
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Apr 3, 2009
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You would think after a couple years of doing slip joint recovers and now my own customs I'd have this figured out a little better but the fact is I don't. I've tried scroll saws, bandsaws my Portaband with a 10 tpi blade and nothing is all that reliable to the point I don't use a lot of what I have amassed because I don't want to ruin it.

So does anyone have any suggestions? How can I rip 1/8" - 3/16" thick scale slabs from small blocks or rip 1/4" thick blocks down the middle to make 2 pieces? I'm sitting on about 2 grand of Westinghouse blocks and thick pieces that I'd like to get reliably processed so I can use it.
 
Paper micarta cuts well on a table saw. I get really clean faces, both for cross and rip cuts. I have not tried rip cutting canvas micarta, but have cut some scales off a bigger sheet on the table saw without issue. The downside with the table saw is the amount you lose to the kerf. That would not leave you a lot if you ripped a 1/4” block in half.

Have you tried a resaw blade on the bandsaw?
 
I agree, a large wood bandsaw would do a good job out of it. Try to contact your local woodmaker or carpenter.
 
The saw does not necessarily have to be large, I think a 14" saw would be fine. I have a resaw blade, I think it's 2 or 3 TPI, that does a pretty good job ripping 4-5" thick wood even though the saw does not have a lot of power. I am on travel at the moment, otherwise I'd try to rip a piece of micarta with it. If Signalprick Signalprick hasn't found a solution when I get back home in a couple of weeks, I'd be happy to give it a try.
 
So the consensus seems to be either a tablesaw or bandsaw....and not my portaband saw, lol. I personally don't think the tablesaw is the best choice for the size of material I will mostly be processing. Basically just want to resaw 1/4" - 1/2" thick pieces down the width. So that leaves me with a bandsaw. Now I will concede that early on I had a freebie cheap bandsaw with no special blades and I didn't know jack about setting it up so that was probably a factor in me giving up on it early. I don't particularly want to make a giant investment in this as far as buying a new saw is concerned. I'd like to spend less than $400. A 14" or larger is probably out. So the question then is can I get it done reliably with a decent 9 or 10 inch bandsaw and the best possible blade I can get for it?
 
can you explain what you mean by its not reliable? are the blades breaking or dulling? explain the issue more clearly and we can give better advice. are you cutting slabs out of chunks and they are not coming out flat ? a portaband has a large length of blade unsupported, you cant adjust it like a band saw. are you having problems with the blade twisting and making an uneven scale thickness? i think stacy mentioned a jig for cutting slabs once upon a time.
 
Signalprick said:
You would think after a couple years of doing slip joint recovers and now my own customs I'd have this figured out a little better but the fact is I don't. I've tried scroll saws, bandsaws my Portaband with a 10 tpi blade and nothing is all that reliable to the point I don't use a lot of what I have amassed because I don't want to ruin it.

So does anyone have any suggestions? How can I rip 1/8" - 3/16" thick scale slabs from small blocks or rip 1/4" thick blocks down the middle to make 2 pieces? I'm sitting on about 2 grand of Westinghouse blocks and thick pieces that I'd like to get reliably processed so I can use it.
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It is very easy to split Micarta with chisel ...........You can try to split thick Micarta , sometimes it splits properly, between two layers....sometimes not :)
 
john april said:
can you explain what you mean by its not reliable? are the blades breaking or dulling? explain the issue more clearly and we can give better advice. are you cutting slabs out of chunks and they are not coming out flat ? a portaband has a large length of blade unsupported, you cant adjust it like a band saw. are you having problems with the blade twisting and making an uneven scale thickness? i think stacy mentioned a jig for cutting slabs once upon a time.
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Sorry John, yes so by reliable I mean when the blade either wanders or twists and you end up with a way uneven cut. If it's off by a little bit no big deal because I can then mill it back to flat. So yes by reliable I want to figure out how to resaw as accurately as possible for as cheap as possible.

I tried making a fence with a featherboard for my Dewalt portaband on a SWAG table but the blade still wanders. I was better off doing it freehand with that tool. I'm now looking at the Rikon 10" 10-3061 which is quite a bit more than I'd like to spend but it is a highly rated 2 speed 10" benchtop unit.
 
I'd want a saw that could take a 3/4" blade if not a proper 1" re-saw blade. That may mean a 14".

Might it be possible to water jet?
 
9-10” saws do not resaw well compared to a 14” saw with a good blade, smaller motors and not as good tension tends to give less accurate results. A table saw can be used to resaw you just need a jig to hold the blocks properly so your hands are out of the way, Jeff Feder did a video a while back about splitting blocks on a table saw. Even a good bandsaw requires clean up, I just split some 5/8” Westinghouse for a friend on my 14” saw and I would say following that with a disc sander or a mill with a fly cutter is the best way to flatten them quickly, a table saw would leave a much cleaner cut but you will lose at least 1/8” for the saw kerf, honestly I’d say you need to start with 3/8” -3/4” thick and split from there, 1/4” isn’t thick enough to split and clean up even on a bandsaw. At your current budget you won’t find much that works better than what you have, maybe just take some 1/4” and mill it to 1/8-3/16” thick
 
After properly setting up my bandsaw i was able to cut 3mm slices from a 2 inch wide paper micarta block within 0.2mm, your fence and you blade need to be aligned properly, the tension need to be right and so on. Thats why I said go to a woodworker, because chances are that they have a properly running bandsaw with a resaw blade and and a motor that wont stutter cutting up wide micarta pieces. They might swear with you if they ruin a new blade though 😁
 
Joshua Fisher said:
9-10” saws do not resaw well compared to a 14” saw with a good blade, smaller motors and not as good tension tends to give less accurate results. A table saw can be used to resaw you just need a jig to hold the blocks properly so your hands are out of the way, Jeff Feder did a video a while back about splitting blocks on a table saw. Even a good bandsaw requires clean up, I just split some 5/8” Westinghouse for a friend on my 14” saw and I would say following that with a disc sander or a mill with a fly cutter is the best way to flatten them quickly, a table saw would leave a much cleaner cut but you will lose at least 1/8” for the saw kerf, honestly I’d say you need to start with 3/8” -3/4” thick and split from there, 1/4” isn’t thick enough to split and clean up even on a bandsaw. At your current budget you won’t find much that works better than what you have, maybe just take some 1/4” and mill it to 1/8-3/16” thick
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Yes sir, I always mill my scales to the desired thickness weather I resaw them or use slightly oversized material. It's simple, fast and saves on abrasives.

FredyCro said:
After properly setting up my bandsaw i was able to cut 3mm slices from a 2 inch wide paper micarta block within 0.2mm, your fence and you blade need to be aligned properly, the tension need to be right and so on. Thats why I said go to a woodworker, because chances are that they have a properly running bandsaw with a resaw blade and and a motor that wont stutter cutting up wide micarta pieces. They might swear with you if they ruin a new blade though 😁
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Funny, I was just reading a few articles on proper set-up to resaw. A lot more goes into it than I knew. This is all great info. I'm learning a lot. Thanks for all the input so far!
 
Just 2c as a fairly new owner of a 14" bandsaw (Record Sabre 350 for ref), although it claims that it can take a 3/4 blade, I think a 5/8th is better. I followed Alex Snodgrass's band saw set up advice, getting the teeth running on the centre of the wheel, rather than the center of the blade on the center of the wheel. It works well, but means the blade really is better to be a little narrower. I haven't tried re-sawing Micarta though. I have cut bandsawn veneer from 6 inch wide hardwood boards. Personally I hate the smell and dust from phenolic laminates and would cheerfully spend money to buy thinner stock if it meant I didn't have resaw it.
 
Squaring up my bandsaw and making a homemade single point fence (I just glued half-round dowel to the cheap fence my bandsaw came with) has worked wonders for me when cutting scales. After cleaning them up, I can pretty reliably get three scales that measure just a hair under 1/4” from a 1” wood block…. And that’s with me using a crappy 9” Skil bandsaw and an Olson 4tpi blade. I use my Milwaukee portaband and swag table solely for metal now.
 
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Blades matter a lot. My saw came with a blade (usually included blades are not great quality) that cut smoother with a narrower kerf that the blades that I ordered and had made up by the dealer that sold me the saw.
Those dealer made blades all cut kerfs that are too wide for veneer or ideal for splitting knife blocks. I have had better luck with blades made by Tuffsaws (uk only shipping), who specialise in blades, rather than selling blades as an extra to selling machines.
 
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