CRK black Micarta in it's natural environment

kidcongo

kidcongo

Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
3,195
I was working today on a 5000Amp / 600Volt breaker made by General Electric. Inside the breaker I found the exact Micarta that CRK uses. Micarta was invented for the electrical industry, but I have never seen the black version in use in electrical equipment. The stuff I usually come across is an amber, brown, or reddish colour. Thought it was cool to find it there.

Anyways....deep in the guts of the huge breaker there is was in the form of a massive 3 foot x 1 1/2" x 3" bar of the stuff. The insulating, mechanical support that operates the three phase poles of the breaker is what was made from the black Micarta. This breaker is worth about $55,000, and this piece of material has to take the full force of the breaker opening under fault current, as well as multiple operations every day (breaker is used to synchronize generators at a power plant) so it is safe to say they are using good Micarta in there. When this breaker opens the room shakes. My conclusion: Nothing but the best for your inlayed Sebenza:

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Very interesting - thanks for sharing.

It's just one thing that is wrong.
The black micarta has been developed for the purpose of a durable inlay on the Sebenza.
When the industry found out about this wonderful material it put it do different uses like the one you showed us. ;) LOL

red mag
 
Awesome. A really neat look into something which I know nothing at all about, but definitely appreciate. And that Micarta looks exactly like what I had on my inlaid Sebenza.
 
lumpy grits said:
Micarta is used for radar adsorption, was developed for that reason.
LG
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Uhhhh.....Micarta has been around since at least 1910. it was invented by George Westinghouse. There was no Radar in 1910, so Georgy was way ahead of his time I guess as far as a Radar blocker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micarta

With this I agree (from the wiki): "the largest use for Micarta industrial laminates is a high strength electrical insulation in power generating and distribution equipment" which is likely what George Westinghouse (of Westinghouse Electric fame) was trying to do with it at first (back at the turn of the century). There are many applications in the manufacture of motors, switches, generators, breakers etc where you have hi stresses, high temperatures, and high vibration, yet still need something non-conductive that will hold up. You need something for structure that has these properties:

-Very Strong
-Not Electrically conductive
-Not shatter-prone (IE not glass)
-Will not absorb moisture (IE not wood).
- Temperature stable

Micarta was the solution. Remember there was no plastic back in 1910, only glass, ceramic, or wood as far as materials that didn't conduct electricity. Micarta was followed much later by G10, which was also developed as an electrical insulator (and is now the most common structural insulator now known as "Glastik")
 
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That is a good few knife handles there ! :p IMO canvas micarta is the best handle material there is. :):thumbup:
 
The micarta used today, is so far ahead of what GW came up with.
The first micarta was not water proof.
It would also would not hold up to sun light.
LG
 
lumpy grits said:
The micarta used today, is so far ahead of what GW came up with.
The first micarta was not water proof.
It would also would not hold up to sun light.
LG
Click to expand...

Sure, but had he not been around... maybe it wouldn't have come about?....

You could argue your "point" with just about everything that was first made... including the first cars... just because they were inferior to what we have today, dosn't mean the creator dosn't deserve the credit for his finding =p.... or at least thats what Im thinking... Sure they're will be advances as with everything, but without that first person coming up with the idea for it ... no advances would come about in that field as it wouldn't exist...! haha...

Besides that, VERY cool thread.... One of the Best threads Ive recently read, really cool ... =D This is why I love BF's community... always learning something new, having to do with the blades we all love.
 
Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

I never heard of the stuff until I came across Chris Reeve knives. I am curious to know how he learned of it.
 
A little disappointed- I thought we were going to see a photo of the elusive Micarta forest
Thanks for sharing
 
tlwood99 said:
Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

I never heard of the stuff until I came across Chris Reeve knives. I am curious to know how he learned of it.
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There is quite a history of making knife handles from the stuff. Not sure when the 1st ones were made, but they've been around a while. If you want to see a lot of the possible Micarta colours you can look at Bark River Knives, that has many Micarta offerings.
 
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"The miracle beauty covering"

Westinghouse marketed this material for many applications after its initial development as an electrical insulator. It would still be used for more things if it were not so expensive to produce. I have a really nice 5x5 foot x 3/4" sheet of amber Micarta at my shop for an electrical project that would make a gorgeous coffee table, but the sheet is around 800 dollars, so a bit too costly for that. CRK uses the exposed rough edge of the Micarta, but the face is typically smooth if not sanded or formed.

Check out this very cool Westinghouse Micarta promo vid! (The kid still deserves a spanking :D )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McT-8K-jmng&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
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