How does Micarta age?

It gets darker with age. The hand oils, sweat, and etc all sum up so that it gets darker. I'm pretty sure it can be restored back with soap and water though.
 
Will typically dark a little from the oils & dirt from your hands with my limited experience with the material. It is a very tough and resilient scale though and excellent choice for a hard use knife.
 
Bob W said:
I haven't noticed a color change, but it can shrink and warp.
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I've never run across that problem Bob. Do you have an example that you could post for us to see? Was it linen micarta or canvas micarta?
 
I have a few green canvas micarta handled fixed blades that have gotten darker--almost brownish--with use. A few of my linen micarta handles seem to "fade" a bit with use, time and repeated washing, but if I wipe them down with mineral oil it brings back the color and a bit of lustre. Never had any issues with shrinking, warpage or cracking--one of the main benefits of the micartas is their resistance to such damage.
 
Modoc ED said:
I've never run across that problem Bob. Do you have an example that you could post for us to see? Was it linen micarta or canvas micarta?
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I believe it's paper Micarta. The specific knife I'm referencing is a "DonnieBrook" liner lock knife made in Japan for Effingham-Ek/Blackjack. Sorry, I don't have a picture showing the current condition. In fact I haven't checked it in months.

A quick online search shows other examples of warped Micarta, and I've seen some discussions of shrinkage.

I'm assuming that not all Micarta is the same quality.
 
Bob, you're correct, not all micarta is equal. Generally it should be an incredibly stable material, dimensionally and colour wise. I love it on a hard working knife. No reason to baby a knife with micarta or g10 on it. Slide it across the floor, drop it, whack it, grease and oil it up. Nutin'. Good stuff.
 
This is one made by John Lloyd with Westinghouse Micarta. I've carried it quite a bit for a couple of years and it's darkened slightly in some places. It's great stuff!
 
Greetings!
I have some white micarta grips about 15 plus years old, which have yellowed wonderfully, like ivory would. They have proven to be very tough; no chipping, cracking, shrinkage and impervious to all gun solvents I have used. I think they were westinghouse micarta (now difficult to find; the grip makers I deal with no longer have any westinghouse stock left and are either not offering micarta, or if they are, it's made differently.) I have some newer white micarta that I was told would not age as nicely, owing to it's different formulation. They, too, though, have maintained their condition despite hard use and solvents.
 
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