Finally made it my own - Tweener Mycarta

tjswarbrick

tjswarbrick

Joined
Mar 31, 2011
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I picked up a pre-enjoyed, convexed, etched and blued FPR BK-16.
I trimmed and modded the sheath following what worked for others.
I didn't like the smell or taste the blueing imparted to food, so I sanded lightly with the WorkSharp, and redid the patina with hot vinegar and lemon juice.
I had previously stippled the scales and added some kydex liners. I enjoyed it, but it still didn't feel perfect. So...

I made my own "Mycarta" with alternating layers of oyster and brown jute burlap in Bondo fiberglass epoxy resin.
Shaped it, loosely following the original contours, with my Dremel.
Kept it quite a bit thicker - so much so that liners are unnecessary.
Evened out with 80 grit and smoothed out with 200, 80MX, 150MX, 180MX, and 360MX on the WorkSharp.
Cleaned off with mineral spirits, filled gaps with CA adhesive (loctite professional), sealed up with boiled linseed oil.
Then I made my own alternating brown/tan square-knot lanyard.
This is how it looks now:
micarta_sheath_side_pb.jpg

micarta_side_pb.jpg

micarta_top_pb.jpg

Chunky_Micarta_pb.jpg

BK16_Chocolate_and_Chunky.jpg

Compared to previous stippled scales and liners.

The oil's been dry a day, bit so far it feels worlds better in my XL/XXL mitts.
They are very hard, but still have a bit of roughness to them.
I'm taking it camping soon, and will attempt to compare to my convex-edge but otherwise stock RMD.
I know they are not perfect, but it's a user knife, and they are bound to get beat up anyway.
I got distracted by family obligations during some stages of both glue-sealing and oil-finishing, so I didn't get to smooth them out as much as I would have liked.
Also, fit isn't 100% all the way around the tang, but it is much closer than the stock grivory ever was.

What do you think? Okay for a first mycarta attempt?
Give it up, and buy some from an expert maker?
Wanna try your own and want more details?
Let me know.
Thanks for looking.

- Tom
 
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Looks great, haveing made micarta for one of my knives i can say this" it's not that hard but very time consuming" IMO. I can't imagine doing it for others, but it sure does make a knife personalized!!
 
Guineaman said:
" it's not that hard but very time consuming"
Click to expand...
This!

Thanks for the kind words.
All told, I probably spent some 15 hours on these babies. For a week, my wife kept wondering what I was off to out in the garage.
Great feeling of satisfaction, though.
 
Yeah man, those look good. The more you do the better you'll get. I've gone back and re worked my 1st set twice now. I still spend 8 to 10 hours per set though.
 
I was going to say they kind of look like a rattlesnake aswell. Pretty cool if you ask me. Your first set is always your worst, now there's only room for improvement.
 
Thanks guys!
I showed 'em to some friends on a camping trip this weekend - they said the same thing "Looks like snakeskin..."
If I get a free week I may try to strip and refinish the scales, but for a user, they're better than good enough.

I whittled about a dozen kindling stakes and batoned a 1/2 dozen with one hit (each) - the scales held up, they felt fantastic, and the FPR BK-16 was awesome. I think it was made for batoning 1" boards - worked worlds better than my camp axe!
Hit it with the worksharp tonight, shredded a bunch of foam that's been bugging me foe months, and still shaves the hair off my arm - and my sideburns, too.
 
I love the rattle snake skin looking scales. Anyone know where I might be able to find some premade for a full size becker or some micarta I could shape myself?
 
Thanks guys,
It's still my go-to when there's work to be done.

I don't know where to get tan on brown other than making it yourself, but shadetree phenolics (now forum member fod) does all kinds of cool micarta from time to time.
 
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