how to make micarta scales?

Murnax

Murnax

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Jan 27, 2003
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I'm trying to figure out how to make my own micarta scales for a folding knife. Does anyone here make their own micarta? If so, what type of epoxy do you use and where do you get it? Most of the epoxy at Home Depot wouldn't work because it comes in small containers and cures too quickly. Any help would be very appreciated.

Thanks
 
THanks much for that Sylvester. Actually just testing some of the newer stuff right now. Well, right now just got out of shower, but have pice ready for cutting and grinding next to me right now as soon as I finish waking up. :)

First off, while the thread is actually on stabilizing wood, there are some very good posts on resins/etc on this thread at CKD:

http://ckdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14288&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

I right now am actually just using the regular fiberglass resin that you can find at Home Depot. IIt's a styrene monomer, and gives you a bit more working time than lots of epoxies. It works better if you thin it a bit with some acetone or another thinner, as discussed in the above thread.

If you are making it from fabric, I'll make a few suggestions from things I've picked up. If you try this resin and don't thin it, you willhave some problems with fuzzing, where the resin doesn't completely impregnate the fibers of the fabric. This is helped by thinning. Also, fabric that is 100% cotton works a lot better than fabric that is part synthetic(ie polyester, etc). If you are using a patterned fabric, get it with a small pattern. Ie, some of my camouflage micarta, I used plain fabric where biggest sections of colors were maybe half an inch across, and other batch I used regular BDU's where you had stripes an inch across or more. You need the smaller pattern to have the different colors come out when the micarta is ground.

Other options which also work better for paper based micartas are some of the thing epoxies used for golf club or fishing pole making, or B72, which is a resin that you get in pellet form and dissolve in acetone. I haven't tried either of these yet, but there are many makers here who use the B72 for stabilizing wood with good results, and there was at least one maker, the guy who first got me intersted in making my own micarta, who made paper baesd micarta with thinner epoxy(pretty sure he said it was for making golf clubs). If you search back a while ago(almost a year now) in this forum you can find his work, though I don't remember theusers name. Had some striking micarta that was layered with black and bright yellow.

Anything else, let m eknow.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention you will have some problems with bubbles too with the resin I suggest. A superglue finish afterwards takes care of this, but thinning should take carte of a lot of it too(one of things I'm testing on this latest batch)
 
Thanks for your help. I already read the thread by Jester with the black and yellow micarta. Thats what got me interested. What do you mean by a superglue finish afterwards? Just dip it in superglue and let that dry? Also, when making the micarta (I'll probably do paper for my first attempt) do you just soak the paper in the epoxy and stick layers of it together? I read to put plastic wrap on boards with a dumbbell on top, but wasn't sure if there was anything more complicated to it than setting layers on top of each other to the desired thickness. Once again, thanks.
 
Jester. I knew it was someone with a J.

You really basically just do your layers. It's not as complicated as you'd think it is. THe plastic wrap of course is to keep it from sticking to the boards, and the weight helps squeeze out bubbles(at least in theory). Experiement with the weight, as if you put too much on, it will squeeze the resin/epoxy out of the paper, which isn't what youw ant either.
 
Well I tried to make my first micarta this weekend. It didn't quite work out, but I learned a few things and came up with a few more questions. First off...it would appear construction paper is a bad idea. I couldn't find any black copy/printer type paper, so I used black construction paper. The color from it ran all over the place. Secondly, I tried using fiberglass resin, but the only stuff I could find was in jelly form. I mixed it with acetone to thin it, but I think I may have thinned it too much because the final product was only loosely held together. Also...acetone and fiberglass resin smell really bad, so I learned this is not an indoors kind of project, lol.

Now for the questions. I still can't find a source for fiberglass resin that is not in jelly form (found this at a bunch of car parts stores). Does anyone know a website that sells it? The Home depot and Lowes near me don't carry it.

etp777--I'm not sure if you can tell just from my description, but do you think the fact that it didn't bond the paper well would be from excessive thinning with acetone, or because I put too much weight on top of it while it was drying (I used a ten pound weight).
Thanks for the help.:)
 
You might check out West System epoxies. They are relatively thin, made for doing fiberglassing on boat hulls. There is a little "repair pack" to test it out with, then larger 1 qt. and gallon pump dispenser versions. This stuff isn't cheap.
 
I tried to do this as well recently :)

The fiberglass resin was at my local Yardbirds. I tried to thin it with pain thinner, with limited success....and it does smell bad. Although the stuff I used said it dries in 24 hours, I think leaving it for longer due to the number of layers is a good idea. :)

In any case, we'll see if it turns out or not. I think I didn't use enough weight to squeeze out the air bubbles. :( We'll see.
 
Seems all knifemakers intentionally want to make their lives more complicated. My work takes me into many industries, one of them is Laminex. Laminex makes kitchen bench top material, which is esentially thin paper micarta.
I managed to talk one of the Techs there into giving me half a pint of phenolic resin. As the resin comes in it must be batch tested and the half pint was what was taken for testing.
The Techs told me I would need to press my saturated layers of linen between two smooth metal plates and heat to about 150 degrees F. They use super heated water/steam running through their plates as naked flame will blow you up.
I had hoped to make rag micarta from wads of sewing threads I can get from another client. In the end it all seemed too hard.
I hope this info helps you on your quest and you are more determined/stubborn than me. :)
 
Results of the first attempt:

p1010001.JPG


The white specks are resin. this is a quick sand to 120 grit. I think I need to use a bit more weight to squeeze the excess out more consistently.
 
Look's good please let me know which Resin work's for you ?? been planning to make some myself for a little while .



Matt :)
 
You folks should sure keep in mind, epoxy fumes are seriously carcinogenic. I know we love this work but it is not worth developing cancer for. Be sure to work in a well ventilated area and wear a respirator!

Talking about how bad this stuff smells gives me the creeps...it ain't worth dying for guys.

Dave
 
Don't worry:

P1010006.JPG


(actually I was grinding right before that pic, but minus the muffs, that's what I used.)

And that's People Eating Tasty Animals.
 
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