Review Carbon Fiber molded into Curly / Quilted "wood" figure for scales / handles

The problem we will run into with interrupting the pattern is depending on the knife in question, or the maker, the depth he's going to contour the handle to from the original face.

For example a "coke bottle" handle from .375 thick scales:

Capture.JPG
 
kuraki said:
The problem we will run into with interrupting the pattern is depending on the knife in question, or the maker, the depth he's going to contour the handle to from the original face.
Click to expand...

Great point. Either make the figured CF thick enough, or, thankfully I tried this - the CF is actually thermoformable. If the order were large enough to justify this trick - is to pre-contour the backing material, then thermoform the 3/16" figured CF to the shape of the contour, epoxy together, then rip the blanks for final machining on your end.
 
I would just stick with the pattern staying the same all the way through. Like mark said 1.5x5.1 for bigger blocks or scales that are 1.5x5x .187 for the smaller handle sizes
 
Another point that is absolutely crucial is the lack of voids. Air bubbles and voids will quickly render an expensive handle material worthless, and usually at the point of approaching the final stages of making a knife - that creates a LOT of stress and work, and commences The Sadness. ;)
 
Matthew Gregory said:
Another point that is absolutely crucial is the lack of voids. Air bubbles and voids will quickly render an expensive handle material worthless, and usually at the point of approaching the final stages of making a knife - that creates a LOT of stress and work, and commences The Sadness. ;)
Click to expand...
Very true.
That's the blessing of my 17 years of experience laminating architectural glass and the steps I take in "de-airing" panels prior to molding. Those steps appear simple, but are proprietary, and few do it. This de-airing stage requires opening of my oven mid-cycle, but it's worth it. I am amazed at the void free core when done - you will all see soon enough.
 
Just a little hiccup in production. I ordered .021 thick CF, (the thickest) hoping it would speed up layup, but its so coarse (surface very uneven - asking for voids) that it did not fully go void free during high pressure laminating. Close, but not enough, so not shipping samples yet. And the gold Kevlar interlayer did not machine well, not look as cool as I thought so I machined it completely off the 1/4" thick final panel. Going to interleaf silver and brass foil instead in future layups. I'm always trying to run before I walk, and pride myself in doing "all up tests" to save time (reference to the aggressive Apollo Saturn V tests that pissed off the German rocket scientists).
So I have a new lamination in the oven now comprising of the original, flatter CF that laminated void free first time - just twice the # of layers. Then there's the issue of machining these bricks of pre-diamond from hell. Fortunately I sharpen all my own carbide. Need to get a bridgeport with coarse diamond with cutting fluid. Check out the heat generated off the 1-1/2" DIA carbide mill I used. Freshly sharpened, and it lasts about five minutes.
No worry - will have stellar handle stock in no time.
SolidCF-roughGrind-badCF.JPG
SolidCF-HotCarbide.JPG
 
mmmm , would love that stuff in 1/8" thick or 3/16" thick in a 5" x 12" sheet size
 
timos- said:
mmmm , would love that stuff in 1/8" thick or 3/16" thick in a 5" x 12" sheet size
Click to expand...
I had my laminating ovens custom made to handle 4.5 x 11.5 ft sheets, so if I get enough orders from the guitar builders, and maybe wholesale to knife supply (or just you guys), then 5 x 12 in 1/8" and 3/16" won't be a problem. Just need to figure out an efficient and safe surface grinding method. Right now these tests are in my flame / curly mold which is 8" x 26". Working on a CAD drawing right now for a "micro-quillt", which is a tighter version of my big 33 x 57" quilt mold. I should be able to press that mold into solid CF, and show the quilted figure well. Will look a bit like Timascus in its pattern. Might call it Blazascus (NOT!!)

Just got off the phone with my new best friend, a composites rep that will hunt down Texalium, which is what "silver carbon fiber" is made with. Imagine that stuff coming out of my quilt molds, then candy coated. Right now the CF is polishing up so brightly, you almost think its silver anyway.
 
This is very cool. I also think that it will make a great-looking synthetic abalone substitute, with even brighter colors than the natural. Looks very visually dominant, but I bet it would make killer accent material- think pocket clips and backspacers.
 
madcap_magician said:
This is very cool. I also think that it will make a great-looking synthetic abalone substitute, with even brighter colors than the natural. Looks very visually dominant, but I bet it would make killer accent material- think pocket clips and backspacers.
Click to expand...

Yeah, well you just described my other product - Dichrolam. Used to make it in glass, but now acrylic and epoxy resins. Acrylic, because it buffs to high gloss, and epoxy for lower expansion / contraction. This stuff will be in the sample kits as well. Looks a bit like Timascus (obviously) but is less expensive and machines with a "lens" effect when polished with roundovers. Left edge of this photo is polished with a 1/8" radius "teardrop" edge. This is a photo of "White Burl", a little different than the "Fire Burl" in my opening post. I think the real potential is in the figured CF material. However, you should see my Dichrolam "Burls" inlayed into the figured CF. Might be a match made in heaven for you guys. Thats were my epoxy version comes in - it can be inlayed right into the CF.


WhiteBurl-Acrylic-Vert-1920.JPG
CF-FretEndPolish.JPG
Red Burl inlays cast into the figured (not solid) curly CF.
 
John Blazy said:
Yeah, well you just described my other product - Dichrolam. Used to make it in glass, but now acrylic and epoxy resins. Acrylic, because it buffs to high gloss, and epoxy for lower expansion / contraction. This stuff will be in the sample kits as well. Looks a bit like Timascus (obviously) but is less expensive and machines with a "lens" effect when polished with roundovers. Left edge of this photo is polished with a 1/8" radius "teardrop" edge. This is a photo of "White Burl", a little different than the "Fire Burl" in my opening post. I think the real potential is in the figured CF material. However, you should see my Dichrolam "Burls" inlayed into the figured CF. Might be a match made in heaven for you guys. Thats were my epoxy version comes in - it can be inlayed right into the CF.


View attachment 794845
View attachment 794847
Red Burl inlays cast into the figured (not solid) curly CF.
Click to expand...

I think those would make killer backspacer accent pieces for otherwise minimalist designs. As pocket clips I'd be a little concerned about the flexibility of the acrylic. No one makes pocket clips out of acrylic as far as I'm aware, but carbon fiber clips aren't super uncommon.
 
Finally nailed it after pulling it out of the oven, and going to war with my router, cuz it decided to puke its retaining nut and spacer for the depth clamp on the plunge base. SPent and hour vacuuming the dust to find the irreplaceable metric nut, and the brass spacer had to literally be cut out of the plastic switch housing that it got stuck into so I could clamp at my milling depth.

Anyway, the new layers fused together great - no voids. Will sample out this stuff in 1/8". Next week will be laminating 1/4" stock when I get more of the thinner CF.
 
image19.jpg

CaribbeanBurl.jpg
 
OK, y'all have inspired me. I decided to inlay some of my new dichroic burls into the Figured CF stock for the samples I'm sending, and tried a better method of patterning the White Burl, as it looks a little like the rainbow colors you get from heated metal oxide layers. So I combined my method to make Gold Burl into the turquoise / magenta patterning of White Burl and came up with Titanium Burl. You wait til you see this.
CF-inlaidSamples.JPG
TitaniumBurl.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top