Natural Micarta

M

MadTrapper

Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
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Some natural micarta appears more yellow than most. Is there a reason for this other than that was how it was manufactured? Is it possible for the color of natural micarta to turn more yellow for such reasons as prolonged exposure to sunlight or perhaps being coated with linseed oil or maybe some other reason that I'm not coming up with? I prefer the more yellow version of natural micarta and have a knife that I'd like to "convert" if that is even possible...

Thanks much for your time.
 
MadTrapper said:
Some natural micarta appears more yellow than most. Is there a reason for this other than that was how it was manufactured? Is it possible for the color of natural micarta to turn more yellow for such reasons as prolonged exposure to sunlight or perhaps being coated with linseed oil or maybe some other reason that I'm not coming up with? I prefer the more yellow version of natural micarta and have a knife that I'd like to "convert" if that is even possible...

Thanks much for your time.
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Normally, natural micarta will have some slight variance. But, this can also be due to what layer they finished sanding on, and the grit brought to.
- If they ended on a "more fabric layer" then it will be lighter, a "more resin layer" will be darker.
- If they brought the scales to 400 grit or media blasted, they will often be lighter (but less slick) than one brought to 5k then buffed.
- If they are not coated with water, oils from your hand, grit/grime, used a bunch and uncleaned or mineral oiled to darken, they will often be lighter.

Many folks will use a small amount of mineral oil on the scales, this will darken them and last anywhere from a few days to possibly the entire summer, depending upon usage and cleaning schedule.
 
NJBillK said:
Many folks will use a small amount of mineral oil on the scales, this will darken them and last anywhere from a few days to possibly the entire summer, depending upon usage and cleaning schedule.
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I used boiled linseed oil on a set of micarta scales about 2 yrs ago and they are still dark from it.
 
Thanks for the info. I'll definitely stay away from oil, linseed, mineral, etc. as I definitely don't want to darken them.

Anyone know if prolonged exposure to direct sunlight will do anything? I'm talking perhaps several weeks to a couple of months maybe? Just wondering if anyone has ever tried it. I'm guessing there's not going to be much of an effect.

I like the look of natural micarta and I'll be content with the knife as it is. Just curious if I can perhaps "yellow" it a bit.

Thanks.
 
By sunlight I guess you mean UV sensitive. I wouldn't consider the fabric/paper fiber in the micarta to be overly UV sensitive but the matrix might be to a some degree.

Best approach would be to assume that UV isn't a friend to anything. Even if it didn't discolor, it could certainly attack structural integrity.
 
MadTrapper said:
Some natural micarta appears more yellow than most. Is there a reason for this other than that was how it was manufactured? Is it possible for the color of natural micarta to turn more yellow for such reasons as prolonged exposure to sunlight or perhaps being coated with linseed oil or maybe some other reason that I'm not coming up with? I prefer the more yellow version of natural micarta and have a knife that I'd like to "convert" if that is even possible...

Thanks much for your time.
Click to expand...

The term "Micarta" covers a number of resin systems, including phenolics and epoxies among others. Epoxy and phenolic are the most common.
Phenolic resin is generally an orange-yellow.
Epoxy resin itself is normally clear, but the curative used can vary in color. There are literally thousands of different curatives for epoxy resins. They range from clear to dark amber in color.

Both epoxy and phenolic resins are sensitive to UV, but they don't change color, rather, they slowly disintegrate at the surface. But it takes a lot of direct sunlight to do that. Unless you are leaving the knife outside lying on a table for a couple of months, you shouldn't see much change.
 
Along the lines of what knarfeng was saying, I've seen stuff ranging from quite yellow to an orangey, almost brick-like color labelled as natural Micarta, so yes, it seems there's quite a broad range.
 
I have a Daado made f.b. with old Westinghouse Micarta which changed to a much lighter color when I rough sanded it to improve the grip.--KV
 
I appreciate the responses. Sounds like there probably isn't much changing the color, which is alright too. Frankly, I'd have been surprised if something that I consider as stable as micarta was able to be manipulated to any significant degree.
 
MadTrapper said:
I appreciate the responses. Sounds like there probably isn't much changing the color, which is alright too. Frankly, I'd have been surprised if something that I consider as stable as micarta was able to be manipulated to any significant degree.
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If you wanted to try to.lighten it a little; Your best bet would be to call around to your local machine shops and mechanic garages. Find someone with a media blasting cabinet and have them blast it.

Make sure you tape up your blade very well, and cover the spine/belt of the tang with nail polish, to act as a guard from the abrasive.

If you want to darken it a little, try bringing the polish up. This will lower the amount of lighter colored fabric shown, and thus darken it slightly.
 
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