Black Paper Micarta from Sheffield Supply

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syvmn

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Apr 5, 2009
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Hey everyone. I'm looking at buying a bunch of micarta handle material but I want to make sure I'm getting the right thing. Its hard for me to tell just looking around, but are there solid pieces of micarta as well as laminated paper micarta?

What I want is that "wood grain" effect and I would assume that is the Paper Micarta. I'm just not sure if all micarta is paper micarta.

What I found as Sheffield Supply is "Bulk Phenolic Sheet (micarta)" and "Laminated Phenolic Sheet (micarta)"... under those categories are "Black Paper", "Black Linen", "Black Canvas", etc. What do most people use? I'm lookin at the 3/8" Black Paper but am I looking for the Bulk, or the Laminated?

Thanks for clarifying this for me.

BTW: This stuff is on page 28 and 29 of their catalogue

PS: There is also G-10...what is that?...this post is getting long and involved...sorry
 
Paper Micarta will finish out smoother than canvas. For the "woodgrain" appearance, you want canvas Micarta or G10. Micarta is layers of material (paper / canvas / etc.) held together with resin. G10 is layers of fiberglass held together with resin. G10 is nastier to work with as you have glass fibers when grinding but tends to be grippier than Micarta. Canvas Micarta can be sanded to 400 for a grippier texture or up to 600 or 800 grit for a nice smooth finish.
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

What about the "Bulk Phenolic Sheet (micarta)" vs "Laminated Phenolic Sheet (micarta)"?
 
Sorry, had to download the catalog to take a look. It's the same thing, they just use a difference reference on the second page for some reason.
 
Oh and canvas will be grippier than linen, linen more than paper.
 
Linen will look a bit more like a true wood grain. Canvas will have the "grain" appearance, but with a different look.

FYI:

Black Linen micarta:
IMG_6830.jpg


Tan Canvas micarta:
IMG_0234.jpg


--nathan
 
The layers in linen micarta are finer/thinner than canvas micarta. So if you want a finer wood grain appearance, get the linen micarta.
 
Oh sure, there's always someone that has a fancier presentation, Nathan :D
 
Well, I think I'll get a little bit of both to compare after I've made a few knives. Thanks for all the help guys!

One last thing, is 1/4" a good thickness?
 
syvmn said:
Well, I think I'll get a little bit of both to compare after I've made a few knives. Thanks for all the help guys!

One last thing, is 1/4" a good thickness?
Click to expand...

Depends what you're doing with it -- for a straight knife, with say 1/8" thick steel, this would potentially make a 5/8" thick knife handle - since I really like somewhat slimmer knives, I'd say yes, definitely. For a folder, 1/8" or 3/16" thick micarta would be better.
 
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