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

Definitely looking forward to seeing this in person...now to decide which folder is getting new slabs, probably my Tatanka since it's the newest addition ;)

Thanks again for the opportunity to try this out :D

~Chip
 
I'll second those that have a keen interest. I'm always a fan of new material that can perform well in often demanding situations such as knifemaking and knife use in general.

Thanks for your efforts John!
 
Thanks for everyones patience - samples will be sent this week now that I finally nailed a small void issue (kicked its *** actually). Decided to try interleafing a dichroic borosilicate layer in with this anti-void test lamination. I kinda like it, but it may not be desired in most cases. Let me know once you all get the samples. My creative brain wants to interleaf every wild idea that comes to mind, but I always need to remember that less is more sometimes. The thin, gray line area you see adjacent to the Blue / magenta boro layer is the resin impreg backing paper for the boro which doesn't polish to high gloss like I was hoping. I'll try black G10 liner next time.


BoroTest-21CF.JPG
 
Talk about cool! I want to use this on my folders... The quilted is just insane and the dichro looks just like glass.
 
Getting closer. Last CF panel had voids due to mold shift. Moderately easy fix. Sending these samples til void-free panels turning out.
 
Totally killed the void issue utilizing four separate procedures, including radical change to mold design. This wasn't a problem on thin laminations, but 3/16" and thicker caused the manifestation. Now I'm off to the races with thick laminations and back to real sampling. Included in my tests was the metal interleaf test - totally awesome, great adhesion, and totally tricks your eye as you focus on the damascus effect of the metal, but the surrounding CF moves in its chatoyance like the metal lines were "floating" on the surface of a moving sea of waves. Has to be seen in person.

This test was done with 3/4" wide copper shielding foil tape at .001 thick. Planning to laminate .005" foils in bronze and sterling silver. Silver is still too pricey to just order it for samples. Anyone know of good suppliers for metal foils besides SurePure and BasicCopper dot com? Prices for silver foil at 40 gauge thick interleafed two or three times within the top 1/8" of my CF will add about $450.00 per sq ft per layer added cost for this metal damascus effect option. Not a big deal for scales on thousand dollar knives. Would look better in my Quilt molds for circular, closed loop lines.
Copper-insert-Hview.JPG
Copper-insert-Vview.JPG
 
All I can say is ...wow...that stuff looks amazing:thumbsup:

~Chip
 
Hello John. I believe you have some outstanding material in construction.I won't ask for samples since mailing to Canada is expensive and requires another form from the post office. As well I'm a Very low volume maker. May I suggest you stay with the more affordable materials for you to use which will mean more affordable prices for makers? Very expensive material may have to compete with Timascus and such which will real limit makers able to afford. I will be watching here for more info. Frank
 
Hello John. I believe you have some outstanding material in construction.I won't ask for samples since mailing to Canada is expensive and requires another form from the post office. As well I'm a Very low volume maker. May I suggest you stay with the more affordable materials for you to use which will mean more affordable prices for makers? Very expensive material may have to compete with Timascus and such which will real limit makers able to afford. I will be watching here for more info. Frank
Yes, I totally agree and as a maker myself, and years of not being able use expensive materials due to cost, I am trying to keep this stuff under 400 psf. What is nice is that the basic curly CF makes the majority of my molds, but I always can provide exclusive options like metal interleaf, and different color CF only for top end makers that can stomach the higher $. I am working on a micro-quilt mold, and maybe a snakewood pattern mold for added options at varying pricepoints. Hopefully the higher end $2000.00 + per knife makers will order enough that I will always have cutoffs for smaller makers.

My problem, is that my creative mind is always ten steps ahead of my practical production mind. I still need to engineer submersible diamond surfacing machines before I can get creative with more exotic product variation.
 
Well, I'm hoping that with that approach you can go with "patterns" I will be able to purchase for the particular knife I will want to create.
 
so they are mainly acrylic or epoxy ? you mentioned being a maker, what are your opinions on the wear resistance, possibility of cracking, and deformation or shrinkage over time of each material ? PRS and jens ritter... impressive credentials !
 
Anyone received their samples yet?

Two sample kits from previous "bad" laminations went out over a week ago to a couple of you guys (scales noted that they could have voids), then I waited til I perfected the void free panels over weekend prior to Thanksgiving. Then I cut up those good void free panels, and shipped three kits to more of you guys, and a few high-end makers I contacted on the web. Then made more void-free panels last Monday and Tuesday and am shipping eight kits today, Fedex Gd, so all that requested them should have them all by Thursday. All recent kits have a pair of void free scales 1/8" thick 1.4 x 5". I learned that I have to laminate over 1/4" thick in order to get .135" thick final dimension after surfacing. Planning on 3/16" and 1/4" laminations next couple weeks, and building my diamond surfacing mill to machine this stuff to exact thickness specs.

so they are mainly acrylic or epoxy ? you mentioned being a maker, what are your opinions on the wear resistance, possibility of cracking, and deformation or shrinkage over time of each material ? PRS and jens ritter... impressive credentials !

All sample kits contain my acrylic dichroic (color-changing) laminates and my inlay stock in the "burl" line of Dichrolam (which won't appeal to most of you as much as the CF), and then the pair of scales in the Figured CF, and several smaller samples of CF with the dichroic inlays as examples of how the inlay material looks after resin filling (I used non blushing / non yellowing epoxy, but Alumilite or other buffable resins will work as well). The acrylic dichroic laminate samples are 1/4" and 1/2" thick. They are included in the kit, because I think they would look cool in scales, but you guys are the real judges. I won't develop that product any further if there is no interest.

As far as wear / crack resistance of the acrylic, I believe that the thicker 1/4" and 1/2" acrylic will do fine for scales, due to the thickness, and I used cast acrylic rather than extruded (a tad harder). Any thinner, and I think there might be potential for cracking around pins unless flat shoulder countersunk with nylon / rubber washer. If there is interest in this acrylic, then I will laminate some with IM (Impact Modified) sign makers acrylic, or look into casting resins only like Alumilite or try to hunt down the base clear resins used in Kirinite. If there is not interest, then I'll just focus on the CF and put the dichroic stuff on the back burner.
 

I'm finding this thread a bit late... but for me, I'm not too interested in the extreme color swirls, or extra-unique interstitial layers. If I could get blocks a minimum of 5-1/2" long X 2" wide X 1" thick of material that looks like the tightly curled maple (shown in post 27), I would be interested. Best wishes moving forward.
Erin
 
1" thick of material that looks like the tightly curled maple (shown in post 27), I would be interested. Best wishes moving forward.
Erin
Thanks for the encouragement, Erin. I am definitely planning to push the envelope like I always do, but need to walk before I run. I am laminating 1/4" thick next week along with .185 material, and I may have to make new molds for thicker, because I have to layup 1/2" of CF just to machine down to final 1/4" due to the mold contouring. Ramping up to 1" is not a linear ramp up, but an exponential ramp up of much more CF along with heavier topography molds to get the waves entirely throughout the whole thickness. If it is as I think it will be, I will need to layup 150 layers of .010" CF ($300.00 worth of raw material alone per sq ft) to then machine it down to maybe 1" if I am lucky, but might only hit 3/4". Will need pre-orders for that run, as it would exceed a grand per sq ft. But the chatoyance would simultaneously cause both orgasm and sphincter tightening at the same time. Especially if five mil bronze were interleafed every four layers.
 
I'm getting enough interest and actual full sq ft sales, that I am ramping up to my double sided 20 x 52" molds to produce 28 sq ft per oven cycle in only half loaded ovens. Primary sample kits shipped Monday with thin versions, but thicker panels are laminating next week.

John there's a guy on Instagram I've bought carbon and laminate from in the past, he works with colors and could possibly help you out. ks_carbon in IG, or www.kscarbon.com
He's doing amazing stuff, and doing his own layup, but I am afraid of him knowing about my Figured Fiber, as many will try to knock it off, even though I am in patent pending status. Its not hard to reverse engineer it. As far as colors, I am not finding colored Uni right now, just "old hat" woven in colored resins. But my metal foil interleaf opens up worlds of options.

Additionally, there is a lot of knife handle material out there in "standard sizes" like 1" x 1.5" x 5". For guys like me that make Bowie handles with a bit of drop and flare we could use blocks in the 1.25" x 2.25" x 6" range, as well as sheet stock in the 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" thicknesses. I would also like to see a product that is designed to be seen from the edge as opposed to the flat sides, for use a spacer material. Any resins you use should be tough and shock resistant.
I am testing 3/4" thick laminations next week, but it will require pre-order, as its insane investment for full panel laminating. Will likely laminate fine though. The edge viewing of this stuff is as chatoyant as the face. It looks actually transparent as you see the edge transition into the face.

mmmm , would love that stuff in 1/8" thick or 3/16" thick in a 5" x 12" sheet size
Standard 1/3rd sq ft small panel size is 9.7 x 5.5 as minimum size, while standard full sq ft is 9.7 x 15 with bookmatch running down middle of panel for mirror image scales. I don't have a problem making 5 x 12 though, but grain direction will be stipulated.
 
"I am testing 3/4" thick laminations next week, but it will require pre-order, as its insane investment for full panel laminating. Will likely laminate fine though. The edge viewing of this stuff is as chatoyant as the face. It looks actually transparent as you see the edge transition into the face."


I will likely have to wait until sales are brisk enough that you make the sizes I need as standard sizes. 3/4" thick material wouldn't help me much as it would be too much waste for scales and not enough thickness for the kinds of hidden tang handles I make. I will be watching your progress with interest.
 
I got a set of thin scales. I am mounting it on a folder this weekend and will post comments and photos.
 
Back
Top