Linen Micarta Blades

[Grease]

After cutting down a large chunk of micarta to make a handle, I had a little sliver of the stuff left too small to make a handle. I started just playing around with it on my belt sander, creating neat patterns in the layering, and ground down one side of it so I could count the layers in it. But then I realized I had made a micarta chisel, and that got me curious about how well that would work. Micarta is remarkably tough, after all.

First I tried to make a featherstick using a nice dry piece of 2x6 I had laying there.

It works, but only marginally better than a butter knife would. And the edge started to bend and break, so it wouldn't work much after that.


So what about batoning? I resharpened it, and grabbed a hammer.

So far, so good.


And then I got carried away...

That was a 6 inch piece of 2x6.


Then I decided to try a new shape.

Yep, that works too.

Micarta is some pretty cool stuff

 

[gooeytek]

sure is tough. maybe think along the lines of blunt or structural items, and not so much edged?

 

[TwinStick]

It would make a wicked shank, undetectable by metal detectors too. Glad i don't work in a Max anymore.

 

[gooeytek]

Dude, I just saw a knife by Gerry McGinnis that used G10 or micarta as a pocket clip!

 

[Grease]

Dude, I just saw a knife by Gerry McGinnis that used G10 or micarta as a pocket clip!

That doesn't surprise me. Micarta is a bit too brittle when that thin, but G10 would probably be like a kydex clip.

 

[phillipsted]

They call micarta the "steel of the plastics industry". We used to install large electronics banks for radio communications sites. We installed some of them on large 4" thick plates of micarta that had been drilled and counterbored for the equipment. Impressive stuff.

TedP