Recommendation? Micarta scales shrinking from dye

[Pugsley 138]

To start I have used RIT Dyemore to dye G10 scales and 4 different occasions with no issues whatsoever. This weekend I wanted to dye the micarta scales of two different knives which led to disaster as both sets shrunk to the point of no longer fitting their liners. The first knife is a Petrified Fish PFP03 Victor. I used my Dremel to rework the screw holes and make the scales work, but I'm not happy with the results. You can see from the picture how the scales leave the liners exposed around most of the edges.

I have reached out to Petrified Fish to see if I can purchase a new set of scales but I am awaiting a response.


The second knife is a Kansept Pretatout. I wanted to make the scales a more solid black than they originally came. The results were the same. The scales shrunk. Fortunately I have heard from Kansept and I will be able to buy replacement scales.

Now my question is, what went wrong? I know synthetic resin shouldn't shrink, but I'm guessing the fabric in the micarta shrunk up like blue jeans in the hot dye bath. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[bovice786]

I've had this happen to me a few times. I dyed some Civivi micarta scales and they shrunk quite a bit. I was able to get the knife back together after filing out some of the screw holes. The only cause that I could think of would be heat from the dye bath. On the other hand, I died a Hinderer micarta scale in the same dye bath and that one only warped a little bit, no shrinking at all and was easily bent back to shape. So maybe the micarta from Hinderer stood up to the heat a little better than the Civivi micarta.

 

[Spey]

From your description, I would guess the issue is related to using Polyester Resin vs. Epoxy Resin in construction of the handle scales. Please understand; I am not saying I know what type of resin is used by manufacturer referenced, but ... Polyester Resin is inferior to Expoxy in many aspects that most folks rarely care about until they have an issue (like shrinkage, discoloration, embrittlement, etc.).
Couple example quotes related to my comment taken directly from link below:

"Epoxy is ideal for high performance and light weight parts. It has much more flexural strength than polyester and has little to no shrinkage."

"Another downside is that polyester resin has a lower moisture resistance than epoxy. Polyester is more water permeable which means that over time a polyester laminate will allow more water to pass through it. Polyester also has more shrinkage than epoxy. The larger the part, the more shrinkage there will be."

Polyester Resin Vs. Epoxy Resin

 

[eKretz]

Yeah probably had to do with specific resin and material used in the micarta. I've dyed plenty of scales made of paper micarta and never had any shrinkage.

 

[Havik86]

Yes, recently died micarta from a civivi knife, shrunk enough that i couldnt get scales back on liners and were shadowbox all the way around about 1/8 of an inch, i assumed it was the heat,,, was thinking maybe a more concentrated dye bath so that the scales dont have to stay in so long or maybe a cold process like a leather dye...
Sorry, just realized how old this thread was.. anyway, maybe this might give someone an idea and help them before they make our mistake

 

[navajasound]

Hi

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Hi, recently I bought petrified fish victor in blue micarta,but I found something strange.the pocket clip is reversible and is inserted in a slot on the micarta scales as you know. In the slot on the face side of the knife, where you put the pocket clip if you are a lefty, there is a metal insert fitting in there snugly. What is the purpose of this metal insert? Why is it there ? Have you encountered something like this in your petrified fish knives?

Screenshot-20230116-225550-01 hosted at ImgBB

Image Screenshot-20230116-225550-01 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Screenshot-20230116-225527 hosted at ImgBB

Image Screenshot-20230116-225527 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

It's to make it so you don't have a hole in your scale on the non-clip side. If switching the clip to the other side, you'd put the piece in the hole left by the removal of the clip.

 

[navajasound]

It's to make it so you don't have a hole in your scale on the non-clip side. If switching the clip to the other side, you'd put the piece in the hole left by the removal of the clip.

Thanks for the answer,but as I said no other knife of this model has that insert( I watched many videos). And also the beluga model has the same design of pocket clip attachment and also there is a hole on every model! After I removed the metal insert I put the screws back in and they got deeper than on the other side( whether this is the reason or not I don't know ).

 

[Knives&Lint]

For the sake of future reference and for those who may stumble upon this thread during research, I dyed a set of RGT micarta scales without this problem whatsoever. I tend to run my dye baths fairly hot too, and when I did this one I wasn't even considering shrinking as a potential issue. One thing I did note (especially in comparison to dying frn) is that when they were wet the results looked remarkably darker (I actually thought I ruined them at first), but they dried to the perfect color I was looking for. I adjusted for this by periodically drying with a hair dryer to see if I was happy with the finished product or if I should put them in the bath longer.

natural micarta to "tropical teal"