Laminating Paper Between Micarta - Which Adhesive?

redsquid2

redsquid2

Rockabilly Interim Pardon Viscount
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
3,121
I am just a hobbyist, so I don't want to go out and purchase any more adhesives. Here is what I have and what I would like to do with it.

I have two sheets of linen micarta, and I want to put a layer of ivory colored stationery paper between them.

Adhesives that I have are: Loctite Super Glue Gel, Titebond II, and 60-minute epoxy. Other possibilities for a bonding agent: artists clear acrylic medium, and Ace Clear Poly Finish.

I also have some big c-clamps and some 1" slabs of hardwood for clamping the micarta in between.

I am wondering if any of the adhesives or other stuff that I have is suitable for this, and will it make a good strong laminate that won't come apart.

Setting time is not an issue, i.e. I am not in a hurry.

TIA

squiddy
 
The stationery paper itself might not be strong enough. One way wood workers turn items on the face plate of the lathe without leaving any marks on the work piece is to glue a sheet of common paper between the work piece and a piece of scrap and attach the scrap to the face plate. When the turning is done on the lathe the edge of a chisel is inserted into the edge of the paper and with a few taps the sheet of paper will tear leaving glue and a bit of paper on both pieces of wood. A little sanding the you have a turned wood object with no evidence of being attached to the lathe.

The glue and micarta might be strong enough but the paper likely won't.
 
Paper Micarta is made using a thick paper (like a manila folder) glued with epoxy. I would think your 60 minute epoxy would saturate the single sheet of paper well. Better still would be a clear casting acrylic, as it will harden enough to actually enable the edge of the paper to be polished.
 
I don't have casting acrylic, but I do have automotive clear urethane and activator. I wonder if that stuff has ever been used for this.
 
I guess the first question would be "What are you trying to do with this?"

Sorry, I just can't think of what sort of application you are aiming for.

If you just want them stuck together well, the epoxy wins. Sand the smooth off the micarta by lapping it on about 120 grit sandpaper on a flat surface.
 
Micarta is a phenolic resin impregnated product, not an epoxy product.

Laminating the paper in between the blocks will make a weaker joint there, but any slow set epoxy should work fine.

It will only show as a thin line in the micarta after shaping. The problem is that the paper may absorb moisture eventually and the join fail.

A possible alternate is to use fiber spacer material as the stripe. It is a bit thicker than paper, and is a stable product. It also bonds well with Micarta using slow set epoxy.

I would avoid urethane glues on knife projects.

What type of project are you considering?
 
Yeah, I just wanted to create a stripe in my scales: a light-colored stripe to contrast with dark brown micarta.
 
I do that with the fiber spacer material. It looks good with the Micarta. You can get the spacer material from most knife suppliers in many colors.

If using metal as a stripe, make sure there is a strong mechanical bond of some sort, as the scales can easily pop apart at a metal-phenolic joint.
 
Thanks for all of the feedback.

I decided on using woven fiberglass ribbon. It is bright white. I put two layers of ribbon together, for the desired thickness. I then saturated it with epoxy, and clamped it in between two layers of the dark brown micarta. It will be interesting to see the final result; It will be translucent with bright white fibers. For my 1/4" "pins" I could take fibers from the fiberglass ribbon, mix them with epoxy, and pack the mixture in the holes.

I will post pictures when I'm done, assuming I can figure out how to do that with my new computer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top