CIP Composites - TeroTuf

[amcardon]

Hey guys, I was at the OKCA show this weekend and talked with the crew from CIP Composites that were there. Their product TeroTuf was pretty interesting... Has anybody used them for handle material? I'm looking forward to getting a chance to try it out, picked up some small sheets to test. They can do sheets as thin as 1/16" and as thick as... Well, as thick as anybody would ever need I guess.

Anyway, just wondering if anybody on here could comment on the material. The gentleman at the table (I believe he was the owner) was very nice, informative, and obviously knew his product. Had a couple knives on the table (made by other makers) and the material felt good in hand, very similar to micarta.

For all I know a ton of guys are using this stuff, it was just my first introduction to it... Searched BF and only found a couple references to it, one stating that spyderco used it a couple years back.

 

[lonepine]

I've not heard of it before. I wonder if works with epoxy.

- Paul Meske

 

[amcardon]

I'll find out this week... Gonna give it a go on a couple knives I have ready to handle. I picked up 3 pieces: blue, burgundy and black. I only got some 6"x12" sheets ($10 each) but they had 12"x12" ($20) and said you can order up to 12"x36" if I remember correctly... I'll post pics/review once I cut it up and try it out since nobody is commenting on it.

 

[David Sharp]

I know of one knife supply house that would not carry it because it would not stick on full tang handles that went under any use/abuse.

Looking at the website it looks like it was made mainly for bearing material. The composition maybe to slick/non porous to work over the long hall; just a guess. Maybe a mechanical fastener not 100% epoxy would fix that.

David Sharp

 

[amcardon]

I'll be using corbys (as I do with all my knives anyway) and epoxy... Maybe I should try pins (barstock) instead of corbys on one and test it out with my normal epoxy (black shafting epoxy from Golfsmith) and see how it holds up to some banging around/abuse. Sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon, eh?

David - I totally understand what you mean about the slick surface. The dealer had some sample bearings there that were definitely slick but the TeroTuf seemed to be manufactured slightly differently and feels quite grippy. Maybe they'd be down with sending out a sample piece so you can feel for yourself? I dunno, the main reason I asked on here is because I have VERY minimal experience and didn't want to try something out if it had already been tested by somebody with more knowledge/understanding than myself (which is probably 99% of the guys on here!).

I will try to make something happen with this in the next couple weeks. Wife had a baby on Saturday and they should be home tomorrow, and then turkey opens up this weekend and this term in school is lookin' pretty intense so it might take a minute to get some time to work with it.

 

[lonepine]

I will try to make something happen with this in the next couple weeks. Wife had a baby on Saturday and they should be home tomorrow, and then turkey opens up this weekend and this term in school is lookin' pretty intense so it might take a minute to get some time to work with it.

Well, as long as you have so much free time...

I'm assuming you bought the material at the OKCA show. Do you know if a person can order directly from CIP or is it necessary to go through one of their dealers?

- Paul Meske, Wisconsin

 

[amcardon]

Paul, you can go directly through them, and yes I bought it at the OKCA show. I'm pretty hesitant to buy anything I can't handle before hand and especially something like this where there's already micarta, G10 and other phenolic material that has a reputation and standing as great scale material. I really liked the way this stuff felt and my son thought the blue was the greatest thing ever (not sure if he's ever seen blue G10 in person, he's only 5, but blue is his favorite color) so worst case scenario my son with be more than happy to have the blue sheet made into something for him. I'm really surprised to not hear somebody pipe in that's tried it out before...

I did ask if there was a minimum order and they said absolutely not, they keep most all this readily available and in stock so "onsie, twosie" orders are just fine. Here's the contact info from CIP:

Jessica Leamen
29538 Airport Rd. Unit "A"
Eugene, OR 97402
jessica@cipcomposites.com
541-607-3655

As a side-note I did talk to Jessica and she was able to answer all my questions about the product so it seemed that she wasn't just a hired receptionist or something but really seemed to know what was going on (which was quite refreshing actually).