Making Micarta, that easy?

G

Gendry

Joined
Jul 19, 2014
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92
So I basically had no idea what this stuff is until recently. My understanding was, some type of synthetic wood for scales. The other day however I seen a thread where a guy made a block of the stuff out of an old colorful quilt or something, which confused the hell out of me. So I looked it up, and it turns out it's just fabric, soaked and hardened in resin, basically, right?

Watched a couple tutorials on youtube, and it looks very easy, something I plan to try after the new year instead of breaking apart old desks and dressers for hardwood.

There were a couple different processes I seen, layering and such. The one I would like to try though, the guy basically cut a bunch of 1 inch strips of different colored (camo) cloth, mixed it in a cup of resin for a few minutes. Put it in a plastic bag, secured it so it wouldn't seep out anywhere, and then clamped it down. He showed some knives made with this material, and it was impressive.

Is it really this easy? As a guy who didn't know what micarta was until a couple days ago, do you think I can make set of decent scales?

I plan to do this at the shop at work. For fabric, we get these 20lb bundles of cut up tshirts to use as rags, large variety of colors but mostly seems to be the same fabric, with a few exceptions. I had planned to use this, do you see any problems using old tshirts as a base for the material?

In all three videos I watched, none of them mentioned how long I should leave it clamped to harden the resin enough, can somebody enlighten me please? 10 minutes? An hour? Over night?

I plan to use that "bondo" fiberglass resin, I assume homedepot would carry this product? Is there a particular product name I should look for? I also understand it is rather nasty. I do not have a proper respirator, those paper ones with the elastics to attach to your face is the best I got, I don't see that helping with fumes. However, in our welding bay, we have a powerful ventilation hood. 10 square inches for the vacuum end, it will reach out 20 feet into any position. It has enough suction to suck up 90% of sawdust off the table from 12 inches above and it simply sucks it all outside and vents it behind the shop. Made for fumes, welding smoke, and grinding particles. I figure if I keep this over my work the whole time, while keeping my head a little ways away, the fumes shouldn't be a problem. Do you see a flaw in this?

Assuming I create a workable piece of the stuff, I know grinding and sanding is even worse then the fumes. Would using this vent hood, as close to the grinding as possible, along with a paper dust mask be sufficient protection?

A lot of questions, I know, thats why I come to the pro's. Any other tips you guys can throw my way to help me make some of this stuff? With all the possibility's for colors and patterns and experimentation it seems like an excellent handle material, I just have the few concerns I mentioned.

Cheers guys, have a Merry Christmas.
 
My only suggestion is if you are going through the trouble of making your own micarta, make something worth while. Micarta is not expensive and when I compare home made to the professional stuff, there is alot of quality difference. I think mostly due to the choice of resin and setting pressure. I suggest finding some material that would add some artistic quality to your micarta, not just old shirts.

BTW some resins will dry with a very yellow tint, which you may not want. I think most micarta markers use a ship building resin that dries clear.
 
You cant make Micarta at home.

Why?

Because this is Phenolic-Cotton lamiante, and to set this you need heated press. And this is LARGE press... (With heating dispersion)
Phenolic resin is a heat-hardened under pressure for this application.

The best method to make laminate in home is Vacuum Infusion + heating blanket ( or something like this called).
 
Kosa_PL said:
You cant make (What can be called "Real) Micarta at home.
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Is that what you meant? I mean, obviously professional stuff will be the best, the real stuff.. But I have seen video's of guys making very impressive handle material from scratch like this.
 
A lot of guys making the stuff do not have the kind of equipment use to make the real stuff. What they do have is arguably superior resin because most folks going the homemade route seem to be using use epoxy. Of course, that assumes they arrears using good epoxy and they can get proper ratio of resin to cloth. One other thing to consider is that many of th other resins do not have the same susceptibility to degradation under UV light as unpainted/coated epoxy. ;)
 
I should have known better, well I guess I did but was hoping it was different this once. Ever since I jumped into this, nothing is as simple as you think. A 4 step process has serious science behind it you have to get right.

I still would like to try it once at least though, might as well experiment if I can, right?

12345678910 said:
I wouldn't want to do this at work, it's messy.
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Well, I work in a shop with a large welding bay, with the vent hood. I figure a large sheet of thick plastic covering the 4X8 steel table will contain this. It's like papier-mâché with honey like tar for lack of a better term right? At work I have rubber gloves that go half way up my elbow, all that room, any supplies I need, my coveralls, ect. It is a machine shop, I think the stuff that goes on in here regularly is just as messy as this. Unless I am totally under estimating the whole thing, like I normally do with this hobby.
 
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Micarta is a brand name. It is the heat and pressure stuff. Some call the homebrew stuff mycarta. I read that most folks really feel it (mycarta)works pretty good for handle material: but it's not as strong I would think as the real deal. Personally I think with good materials it should be serviceable.
 
Have made a bunch and can tell U from experience it is a PIA and a mess. Micarta is made from industrial sheets of "PrePreg Laminate" layered together under heat and pressure as mentioned. If you want something that will actually take a polish (Maybe:{) try using this epoxy http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boat-building-supplies-epoxy-fiberglass-plywood/west-system-epoxy/
If your bent on trying it use some lightweight or Veil fiberglass between your layers for rigidity. Don't expect any or very little shine if you use fabric (Even taking it to 2000 grit) to make "Cloth Micarta", cloth don't shine it is the binder that takes the shine. IE: Melamine resin works the best and I believe that is used with colored fiberglass sheet prepreg to make G10.
Fiberglass resin will work but needs to be assembled FAST before it kicks off.
Try this (Which I've done) take a piece of Micarta and a piece G10 side by side. Whack the snot out of them with a Ball Peen hammer and see which one stands up!
Difference is amazing.
IMO it is a waste of time and money. The commercial stuff winds up being less expensive.
 
I have had some experience with industrial fiberglass applications and while the components are a little different, and not inexpensive, I think the general idea is the same with the exception of the heat and pressure requirements, so I'll throw in my two cents.

I do believe you could make something quite workable with what you are suggesting, although as mentioned it would not have the strength and appearance qualities of the real deal. I would suggest using a higher quality fibrous material than the old t-shirts, I have read of others using jean material with decent results for instance, but I would soak the fabric first and then layer and baste it together alternating the weave and then clamping as opposed to just mixing it all together in a bag.

As far as the safety equipment goes, you are right on the money to be very cautious about inhaling vapours and the grinding dust from these materials, you can end up in a world of hurt with serious respiratory issues if you don't respect the toxic nature of these products, the ventilation hood is a great asset but IMO a genuine brand name air purifying respirator with the proper cartridges to protect you from the fumes and then from the particulate is essential.

I have been thinking about attempting to make a small block of this makeshift material just for the experience but I don't have a space that I can properly contain the dust yet so it will have to wait.
 
I used canvas from the craft store and Bondo brand polyester resin from Home Depot. It worked perfectly. Make sure you have everything ready to go before you start. That resin kicks in about 15 minutes depending on how much hardener you use. You should be able to sand and shape it in an hour after mixing. The true colors come out after you start sanding into it to reveal the layers. I alternated dark brown and orange and was very happy with how it came out. Canvas was my first choice because it is thicker and required less layers. Also, the final product has more texture than thin, smooth cotton or linen.

EDIT to add: I have seen some killer looking psychedelic homemade stuff that the guy twisted several colors together before he pressed it.
 
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It's not as easy as it looks.

Would you build your own home with home-made half-vast plywood or drywall?

More importantly, if you were hired by a guy to build his home, would you guarantee that you could "make" your own half-vast plywood or drywall? Would you stake your name and reputation on it and guarantee it for the rest of your life?
 
I call the home made stuff MyCarta. It isn't as hard or durable as real Micarta. Additionally, people use the term "epoxy" as loosely as "Micarta". The resin used by most home makers is usually budget resin. If doing it at home for fun, use the best grade hard epoxy resin ( not polyester resin).

Frankly, unless there is a very sentimental reason to make a home made laminate, I don't see why someone would do it. You can probably buy much netter looking and lasting Micarta from a supplier for the cost of making MyCarta.
 
I don't recommend using cheap resin you get at depot. The stuff has usually been sitting there forever and is no good. You'll have problems either kicking off too fast or not curing at all. When dealing with composites it is important to understand that the cloth determines the ultimate strength. Resin by itself has very little strength. Compare it to concrete without rebar. Epoxy based resins are stronger, produce less odor, and cost significantly more than polyester resins. I used clear polyester resin on my last batch and it came out super nice. It's fun to create your own design stuff that they don't sell commercially. If you're striving for a basic color or pattern, you'd be better served just buying the stuff.
 
You should try what you saw in the videos and see how you like it. I am going to make some homemade micarta when I get the chance, I have seen some pretty cool scales made from old clothing. Be sure to get a good respirator though, you can get one for around $20. Good luck!
 
I enjoy making a few batches outside during the summer but it is tricky to get right. I only make mine when I want something different than the market offers. Void free, flat and parallel pieces are difficult to get right but the process itself isn't too tricky after some practice.

Prep is key, paint trays are nice for holding epoxy during lay up... be sure to keep your clamps epoxy free.
 
From a boatbuilders perspective, the "Goldilocks zone" resin for most is vinylester. It it significantly cheaper than good epoxy and significantly stronger than polyester and lacking of certain undesirable characteristics of both like osmotic blistering and the aforementioned susceptibility to UV degradation. No it is not as strong as good epoxy, but then again, we aren't building a $6 million custom fishing boat here.
 
+1 on using high-quality epoxy resin. The polyester resin like from the Bondo kit is crap IMO.

The length of time you must let it cure depends on the hardener; some kicks off quickly, some takes hours and hours, depending on the application.

I used to work in a shop helping to making custom racing sailboards from kevlar, fiberglass and carbon fiber, and I'll tell you the best secret I learned to making a really nice layout: the center-scrape!

Get your pieces of fiber or cloth sheets cut and ready on a large piece of cardboard. Mix up a small batch of your epoxy and hardener (I'd use slow-hardening), and pour some of it onto the center of a fiber sheet. Then use a flexible plastic scraper to press the epoxy down into the sheet from the center out to the edges, which will keep the fibers aligned and square without distortion, force epoxy into the fibers, and will push excess resin out of the sheet and onto the cardboard (there will be quite a bit of excess). The epoxied sheets will then be easy to pick up and lay on top of each other evenly.

In the sailboard shop I would then vacuum-bag the entire layout, but for a block, clamping it should work just fine! :]
 
james terrio said:
It's not as easy as it looks.

Would you build your own home with home-made half-vast plywood or drywall?

More importantly, if you were hired by a guy to build his home, would you guarantee that you could "make" your own half-vast plywood or drywall? Would you stake your name and reputation on it and guarantee it for the rest of your life?
Click to expand...

Why make your own knife, when you could just buy one? :D
 
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