G-10 and Micarta

A

AKboy

Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Messages
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To all you knife makers where do you get your synthetic handle materials, G10 micarta, ect...
Do you buy a large piece or just handle size?
What kind of handle material do you prefer?
 
I am buying scales from texas knife and USAknifemaker.
Decent pricing and selection generally.
 
Texas and USAknifemaker also. I plan on trying out Alpha Knife Supply after getting recommendations from some of the guys here.

I like USAknifemaker so far for sheets larger than handle size. The 5" X 10" x 1/4" sheets can be had for a pretty good value.
 
Good luck with Alpha. I tried contacting them when I first started working on handles. I sent e-mails and left voice messages for three weeks, and never once got a response. I wanted to do business with them because they are supposedly local for me. Alas, local doesn't always mean responsive.
 
tryppyr said:
Good luck with Alpha. I tried contacting them when I first started working on handles. I sent e-mails and left voice messages for three weeks, and never once got a response. I wanted to do business with them because they are supposedly local for me. Alas, local doesn't always mean responsive.
Click to expand...

That sounds frustrating. I've never had any trouble getting ahold of them.
 
AKS was great to deal with. I got in a 2 hour long convo with Chuck (? I think it was) great business.
 
AKboy said:
What kind of handle material do you prefer?
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Both micarta and G10 are great. G10 is the grippier of the two and comes in more, brighter, bolder colors, (like blaze orange and hot pink! :D) but is a little more difficult to cut. Easy to grind and shape though. Micarta is much less expensive and available in paper (very smooth) linen (medium) and canvas (nearly as grippy as G10). It's personal preference, really, any of them can make excellent handles.

You usually get a better deal when buying a big slab like Johhnymac mentioned. However, I just got a dozen pairs of scales from usaknifemaker for $2.76 a pair... at that point it doesn't pay to cut them yourself.

Wear a respirator when working with this stuff!
 
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tryppyr said:
Good luck with Alpha. I tried contacting them when I first started working on handles. I sent e-mails and left voice messages for three weeks, and never once got a response. I wanted to do business with them because they are supposedly local for me. Alas, local doesn't always mean responsive.
Click to expand...
What is your name and e-mail? I apologize for not responding. I don't know why you were not contacted. Let us know how we can help you and we will do our best to meet your needs.
 
I live in Italy and since some time AKS and Chuck are giving to me an excellent service.
 
If you want something custom there are a few members here who make that stuff like myself and The Sun, I try not to make anything that is offered by the stores....Just another option to go custom or just make it yourself.
 
All of my materials currently comes from texas knife supply. Since I'm not working on many knives at a time yet or have a bandsaw, I only buy handle material already at scale size.

Micarta handles is pretty much my standard atm so I guess you could say I currently prefer that;easy to work, doesn't move with moisture, doesn't need to be sealed, inexpensive and doesn't look that bad either.
 
I just bought some 12"x12"x1/2" brown canvas micarta from K-Mac plastics.I think brown is the only color they have but I needed some thicker material.
 
This photo will give you an idea of what you can do yourself given if you have the space, time and materials...My personal view if your making your own custom knife, make your own scales if you are able to do so:thumbup:

original.jpg
 
Hate to go off topic, sorry:o, but I've done some searches and can't find the thread started by the member who used to make kilts and had tons wool tartan/plaid material who was going to make some plaid homemade micarta sheets. I would love to see if that ever happened. Anybody remember this? It was only a few months ago.
 
Considering the post mentioning plaid homemade "mycarta" is just over four years old, I doubt we're going to hear much about it now ;)

Layering patterned cloth to make a laminate is a lot trickier than it sounds. First you have to get every layer to match/repeat just about exactly, or it will just look a mess. Then there's the fact that the cloth is only printed on one side, so you end up with a pale stripe "between" every layer... which also looks pretty awful.
 
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