Cheap, do-it-yourself, semi-micarta

M

melt

Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
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I may be wrong, but if I understand it correctly, micarta is linen soaked in resin and then compressed. I'm thinking about trying to make my own version of this, minus the compression stage. I've got a cheap dinky knife Gerber Profile, and I plan to remove the Gator-grip rubber handles, then wrap the metal of the handle in cotton cloth, then dip the handle into some clear polyurethane finish and let it dry. If it works out, great. If it doesn't, I'll just take it off and put the stock handle grips back on. Anyone tried something like this before? If so, how did it work out for you?
 
A search might turn up the perosn who was making their own stuff using blue jeans and camo BDU's. Cut them up, smeared hem with epoxy, put them in a press.
 
What's a dink knife? A knife made by "dinks"? FWIW, the word "dink" is a slur, just like the "N word". Just an observation.
 
moving-van.jpg
 
moonwilson said:
FWIW, the word "dink" is a slur, just like the "N word". Just an observation.
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really?

as far as i ever knew it was "Dual Income, No Kids" a demographic thats always been a favorite target to market.

as close as it comes, its also been tied in with "pink dollar" which is the LGBT slice of the pie.

but these are still no more offensive than Yuppie or WASP.
 
melt said:
..... I've got a cheap dink knife Gerber Profile.....
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In this context the word "dink" is clearly not intended to mean "dual income, no kids". It reads to me "dink" as in "gook, slope, chink, zipperhead etc." (pardon the slurs). I didn't mean to hijack the thread, I'm just pointing something out. Others would do the same if somebody dropped the "N" word in a thread. My wife and many of my best friends are "dinks" so I get irritated when people casually throw around racial slurs.

And I hate being a PC guy, and I hate being a hall monitor, but I believe racist comments are are against the rules of the forums, no matter how innocent the intentions behind them are.
 
or maybe he just meant dinky, which AFAIK has never had any racial definition.

and all this knife bigotry has to stop, we cannot judge a knife on the color of its skin
 
moonwilson said:
In this context the word "dink" is clearly not intended to mean "dual income, no kids". It reads to me "dink" as in "gook, slope, chink, zipperhead etc." (pardon the slurs).
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learn stuff everyday!

well then that makes me a dink then. except for the fact that i have never been called that, or heard anybody else being called that, in my entire life.
 
hardheart said:
or maybe he just meant dinky, which AFAIK has never had any racial definition.

and all this knife bigotry has to stop, we cannot judge a knife on the color of its skin
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I just realized, it might have been a typo. Look at me with my panties all up in a bunch. I was just trying to stick up for my peeps of the asian persuasion. I don't mean to be a jerk.
 
drano said:
learn stuff everyday!

well then that makes me a dink then. except for the fact that i have never been called that, or heard anybody else being called that, in my entire life.
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I think the word's usage in this context is a Vietnam era thing. It's sort of a contraction of "dumb" and "chink", or "dumbass chink", it's not super common. I've heard all sorts of anti-asian slang, having been married to a Korean for many years and getting ragged on for being a "race-traitor" by a lot of different jerks.

Now I'll get off the topic.

Sooo....How 'bout some home-made micarta? Anybody got any pics?
 
Polyurethane probably won't work. Use clear casting resin (epoxy) available at most hobby stores.
Bill
 
Would the 2 part-casting plastic work? I think that stuff is polyester resin, you can buy it at the art supply store and it dries totally clear. If you dunk strips of canvas or linen in it and then stack the pieces together, that might work. I don't know how you would compress it, though, without ruining something. It will stick to anything it touches until it dries. I don't know if it is as tough as epoxy, though.

I think real micarta is made with phenolic resin. I have no idea where one goes about getting their hands on phenol. Sounds pretty toxic.
 
Sorry a thousand times over, folks. I meant to type "dinky", as in "not expensive or overly important". Evidently I did not hit the y key. I guess I should have taken time to proof read. Again, I apologize. I went back and corrected the typo.
Anyway, I ended up tracing the handles of the Profile onto some fabric from an old gray t-shirt, then cutting out the shapes. I stacked ten layers for the right side grip and ten layers for the left side grip, then tacked them down onto a piece of wood to keep them flat after laying pieces cut from a milk jug under them to keep the cotton grips from sticking to the wood when they dried. I then soaked them in polyurethane (clear wood finish, actually). Also, the places the tacks are through are in the exact locations of the holes through the metal of the knife handle. Now I'm waiting for them to dry. I'm still not sure how I will secure them to the blade, but I'll figure something out. I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
melt said:
Sorry a thousand times over, folks. I meant to type "dinky", as in "not expensive or overly important". Evidently I did not hit the y key. I guess I should have taken time to proof read. Again, I apologize. I went back and corrected the typo.
Anyway, I ended up tracing the handles of the Profile onto some fabric from an old gray t-shirt, then cutting out the shapes. I stacked ten layers for the right side grip and ten layers for the left side grip, then tacked them down onto a piece of wood to keep them flat after laying pieces cut from a milk jug under them to keep the cotton grips from sticking to the wood when they dried. I then soaked them in polyurethane (clear wood finish, actually). Also, the places the tacks are through are in the exact locations of the holes through the metal of the knife handle. Now I'm waiting for them to dry. I'm still not sure how I will secure them to the blade, but I'll figure something out. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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Hi Melt,

I'm sorry I misinterpreted your post. I don't usually jump on people like that, without giving them the benefit of the doubt. Didn't mean to hijack your thread. I'm looking forward to hearing how your experiment turns out! I've been wanting to try something similar (that's how I was drawn into the thread into the first place) I'd like to hear how other folks' tinkering goes.

All the best,

Andy
 
Moonwilson
The casting resin is an acrylic epoxy. It works very well. Use waxed paper to keep it from sticking to the press.
Bill
 
To continue the OT: I have always taken the word "dinky" as something poorly made and unreliable, completely independent of the word "dink" which I hear for the first time as meaning anything different than "double income-no kids". Learning something new everyday.

The Webster dictionary translates "dinky" as "unattractively small" (dinky car).
 
When i was a kid "Dinky" was what we called our hotwheels. Hence playing with any toy cars was called playing "dinkies". Also generally meant small or toylike.
 
Wow..........

Anyway, polyurethane used like that would take forever to dry, and probably stay tacky and gummy for a while if not indefinitely. (does a spell check to make sure no one over reacts....)
 
Yeah, it's definitely taking a while to dry. It's been over four days and it is still not dry. Oh well. If it doesn't work, I'm out one old gray t-shirt, a $3.70 can of polyurethane, and a fifty cent foam paint brush. Maybe I'll try it again with a different bonding material instead of polyurethane. Any painters out there who have discovered a paint that soaks into cloth well and dries like glue and doesn't weaken over time or wash out? I'm open to suggestions.
 
Ariel Salaverria posted at least one topic on the subject of making home-made micarta. Judging by his posts there is no need to skip the compression step - why not use some twist clamps (something like those pictured below) holding two planks as your "press" ? Screw them up tightly and presto, you have a cheap press right there.

istockphoto_168461_c_clamp.jpg
 
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