homemade micarta question

[Dewberry]

I'm thinking about making some paper micarta. My question for yall is does any one have an approximate how many sheets of paper make how thick of micarta

[gimmejr]

Depends on the fabric and depends how thick you want it. I recently made some out of some old tshirts and used about 15 layers.

[Dewberry]

I am going to make it out of construction paper

[bdmicarta]

I am going to make it out of construction paper

I would think you could cut some strips, wet them with water, stack them and clamp them together and then measure the thickness. I don't know how much thicker it would be with epoxy vs. water but the goal is to squeeze out most of the epoxy anyway.

[bladsmth]

Look at the pack of paper. If 100 sheets is 1", then use that as a guide to figure how much you will need. It will probably be a bit thicker, but you won't have any shortage.

Make sure you use thin laminating epoxy with the slowest cure time . It could take twenty or thirty minutes to laminate up a stack of construction paper.

[Dewberry]

thank you, any suggestions on what epoxy to use?

[shane wink]

If you experience problems with the epoxy, I use marine epoxy, kicking before you have saturated and stacked your paper place the container of epoxy in a bowl with 70% ice and 30% water. This will lower the temp and delay the polymerization process and let you take your time. This does not hurt the bond or the epoxy. Mix only what you need as making a large amount simply makes the epoxy kick sooner as it will produce more heat. Epoxy is a desensitser too so be careful not to get it on your skin.

Goodluck and post you pics up when you get them!

[Dewberry]

The Ice water Is a great idea, thanks for the suggestions

[bladsmth]

Also use a wide bottom work pot. The shallower the pool, the slower the set.

If you use West System 105 resin and the extra slow 209 hardener. You shouldn't need to chill it. The pot life is about 45 minutes.

[Dewberry]

Also use a wide bottom work pot. The shallower the pool, the slower the set.

If you use West System 105 resin and the extra slow 209 hardener. You shouldn't need to chill it. The pot life is about 45 minutes.

well i live on the coast in texas so chances are i will be doing this in over 95 degree temp which i have found cause things suck as 2 part epoxy and bondo to set much quicker than expected. so extra precautions ever hurt

where can i buy the epoxy you reccomended and about how much $$$ will it cost me?

[bladsmth]

Any marine supplier or fiberglass dealer has it all. As in most things, there are probably many suppliers near you, if you know where to look.

Just do a search for West System Dealers. In this one, just type in your city and state ( I used Brownsville):
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/where-to-buy/

[bladsmth]

I also meant to mention that USA Knifemaker supply carries this resin,too.

www.usaknifemaker.com

[bdmicarta]

I've watched a few videos of people making cloth micarta. One person had his materials stacked in a convenient location and had his tools handy before starting. He used a small paintbrush to spread the epoxy and of course was wearing latex gloves. Once he mixed the epoxy he worked fast- paint, stack, paint, stack, paint, stack ... I would guess that making paper micarta requires working fast because you have many more layers.

[jkaczyn18]

I have used Bondo fiberglass resin. It worked pretty well. My local Walmart sells it for around $14, and it comes with the hardener. I use a couple less drops of hardener than the instructions say. This slows down the cure time as well, and it still sets up very nice.

[Dewberry]

I have used Bondo fiberglass resin. It worked pretty well. My local Walmart sells it for around $14, and it comes with the hardener. I use a couple less drops of hardener than the instructions say. This slows down the cure time as well, and it still sets up very nice.

does the bondo resin effect the color of the paper at all?

[bladsmth]

The ratio of hardener to resin is important. Varying it to affect the cure can lead to improperly cured resin. It may get hard, buy the polymer chains may not be properly formed.

The better resin systems have a range of hardeners that control the cure time. Fast, regular, slow, extra slow. They also have resins formulated for the task desired. Thin, self leveling, thick, etc. That is the main reason they are the industry standard.

West system, System Three, and other engineered resins are the way to go if you want top results.

While a standard repair resin ,like Bondo, will work, it is made to apply a single layer of coarse fiberglass cloth to a surface, not for laminating multiple layers. It is also formulated with a fast hardener.

[jawilder]

I have used Bondo and it does work, but it darkens the fabric/paper. Bright orange isn't bright anymore, now it becomes burn orange, and so on. It is good to start out with b/c of the price, but for better results, pay the extra and get the clear stuff. You could figure one can for two 5x10 projects.