Are micarta scales kind of gross?

Danke42 said:
The Crucarta PM2 has scales that aren't like any other micarta I have. The texture is like cloth. Any of the others have a feel that's more like G10.

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Love that copper handle! I have one with a black blade. My favorite PM2!
 
Ewww, gross. My knife is all icky.🙄



Micarta is awesome as a handle material. It’s warm, grippy, has that organic feel without the drawbacks of natural materials. Wood, bone, stag, etc will swell, shrink, crack, and chip. Good luck getting micarta to do any of those.

Yeah, it absorbs oils from your hand but that just gives it character and makes it look better. You can always go back to square one by scrubbing with some dawn.

I would never do that to my knives. It’s like scrubbing all the seasoning off of a well maintained cast iron pan.
 
AntDog said:
Micarta is awesome as a handle material. It’s warm, grippy, has that organic feel without the drawbacks of natural materials. Wood, bone, stag, etc will swell, shrink, crack, and chip. Good luck getting micarta to do any of those.

Yeah, it absorbs oils from your hand but that just gives it character and makes it look better. You can always go back to square one by scrubbing with some dawn.
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Have you ever considered a career in selling s** dolls? I think you would nail it (pun intended) 🤣
 
I don't believe micarta absorbs oil or anything else. It can patina over time from oxidation but that has nothing to do with absorbing oils or grime. Dirt and grime on the surface does not a patina make (in my opinion). That's just...dirty micarta.

Micarta does often have a rough/felted surface and so you just have to deal with surface area and oil adhesion/adsorption. It also happens to make any kind of oil on the surface more obvious (like with anything else, polishing and/or applying oil or water will make the color darker unless it's already polished). I definitely prefer the look and feel of smoothly polished micarta, and (like any smooth surface) it picks up and retains less schmutz.

I think micarta is probably the best synthetic handle material. Extremely durable, many highly pleasing colors, all the variation you could ever want in terms of finishes and textures.
 
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No grosser than wood or leather, although they may have anti microbial tendencies.

There are a lot of variables to consider.

It is the exposed fibers in Micarta that are absorbent. So the coarseness of base material makes a difference, is the base material even absorbent? Also if the fibers run parallel or perpendicular to the surface. Not to mention if the surface is sealed. Pc boards are basically micarta and they are non absorbent.
 
Micarta can and will absorb liquids. I have some water stained vintage Micarta. It's a very slow process and doesn't penetrate very far, but it does happen. I put a few coats of Tung Oil on my Micarta handles. It darkens them up, soaks in a bit and helps keep them looking the same, longer. Tung Oil will harden, so it kinda seals the pores a bit, too and doesn't leave the handle feeling oily. I usually take Micarta up to 320 or 400 grit at least. I have one I carry with homemade micarta; it looks dried out during the summer from my sweat, but darkens back up after I rinse it off. It's more the sweat drying on the outside of the handle that makes it look lighter. I wipe it down and it looks like new again. 2 years as my EDC and it looks the same as when I made it!

Micarta will typically "patina" and darken with age/UV exposure, too; it's not always dirty! This is some Vintage Canvas I used. This is from the same 12x12 square I had, left scale was cut from the outside edge, the right side piece was from the next piece just inside from the first piece. The brighter yellow color is the fresher color (no patina), but in the last year or less, has turned nearly all the way back to match the left side scale.
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More Natural Canvas Micarta. You can see the darker area just behind the red spacer. The outer layer(s) are the darker color from reacting to UV light and air and is the oxidization, the lighter colors are where it was ground deeper into the non exposed/patina'd layers:
CPM 20CV EDC.jpg

And fully darkened:
20CV NCM.jpg

Green Canvas IIRC turns brown pretty quickly, too. Green Linen seems to hold it's color better.

For machined or sand blasted Micarta, the Tung Oil will work to darken them back up, but they will still be grippy. Use an oil that dries, like Tung Oil, Tru Oil, BLO, etc. They will dry and the handle will not feel oily or slippery.

AmeriGrip and SureTouch are G10/Rubber laminated that have rubber layers, so they have the brighter colors of G10, combined with rubber for grip and a softer feel and not as cold feeling. It's a nice material to use. I am considering getting some rubber rods and drilling into G10 scales and trying to glue the rubber into the G10 to give regular G10 more grip to it.

Grip tec scales are something I want to try, too. They seem to have flecks of rubber in the handle material itself, which I believe is some sort of acrylic? I have a set I haven't used yet.
 
I LOVE micarta....there are all different kinds.
Working with and making tools with it gives me a certain perspective.

What I like to do is wipe my scales (both wood and micarta) with Danish oil finish.

It seeps in the pores, and hardenes some. Multiple costs gives a great finish
 
It's generally great stuff, highly versatile. Depending on the composition, may not be my favorite handle material, especially if it comes too close to carbon fiber texture (I personally dislike CF). I've been so used to various composites of nylon and fiberglass for so long that my few micarta examples end up feeling way more natural than they are, and that's ok. But I wouldn't call it gross material. Like anything else, you can be negligent and let it get gross. Clean your knives.
 
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