Making Micarta

[S.H.Bushcraft]

I'm getting into making Micarta scales and I was wondering if anyone has any experience and could give any tips, tricks and/or advice ?




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[kuraki]

Yes. Don't. You'll never make anything close to as good as you can buy. I know, I've tried.

That said, people told me that and I did it anyway.

Do it the way these guys do it for the best results you can get at home: http://www.cartercrafts.com/micarta.htm

The only other tip I have is to let it finish curing for a few days before trying to shape it. It takes a while for epoxy to reach full hardness where it's easiest to grind.

 

[Lieblad]

Firstly you cant make "Micarta".
At least if you dont have access to & good understanding of hazardous chemicals & highpressure casting equipment.
It not something an average guy can do in their basement.
Secondly, The trademark Police will jump all over you too if you try to make a commercialised product of its name.

Anyway,
Homebrew "Mycarta" Or whatever you want to call it.
Is easy as mixing up your favourite epoxy or polyester casting resins mixed with whatever absorbent filler one can imagine.

Epoxy resins are generally better suited.
A press of somekind is usually needed. Most guys just use clamps. One guy reportedly making rods using a caulkgun & empty tubes. Be sure the resin mix is not too viscous so it will fully absorb the filler. Lay-up in whatever fashion suits, then clamp until cured.

I can make epoxy composites in flat sheets up to 12x12"x1". I made 2 plates of 1" steel, One has a perimeter to hold its mate squarely on top. Each is layered with plastic or aluminum foil so the finished sheet wont glue my pressplates together.
A 10 ton utility press serves me well, But its easy to squeeze too hard.
There is no "wrong" way to do it, But You want to have good compaction of the fillers, But not squeeze out too much resin.
Its much a trial & error sort of process.

Mostly, I just my press to make plywood like sheets of birchbark.

 

[JBC69]

Yes. Don't. You'll never make anything close to as good as you can buy. I know, I've tried.

What he said to the millionth power.

Seriously, just don't do it. Take the money you were going to spend on materials and put it towards professionally made micarta and you will end up with a product that is worlds better in every way.

 

[LARRYZ10]

I think that with the time invested and the money spent you could instead make a couple really nice knives with real Micarta. Some things can make a mess in your shop and cost a lot more than you expect. Just my opinion. Larry

 

[Kevin McGovern]

I have made it, but only to use material with special value for the end user, or to make a color combination I couldn't find. Now I avoid making it at all costs. My time is worth more than the low cost of micarta.

 

[Josh Rider]

It will stink up your house/garage/workshop.
It's really messy and you are probably only saving pennies if everything penetrates and turns out right.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I'll offer my advice:

Buy real Micarta. You can't make it with epoxy/poly and cloth. It is made in a big factory with phenolic resins and huge presses. Canvas micarta is my go-to material for rugged use blades. It is ridiculously cheap when bought by the sheet. Handles end up costing a couple bucks a knife.

If you want unique looking laminates, check out Shadetree. They make a good product with resins and various laminates.

Homemade laminates are usually pretty poor on knife handles. They tend to get sticky with use, and dull fast.

 

[JG Custom Metal Works]

Homebrew micarta is not worth the time and effort IMO. It also doesn't hold up as well as industrial grade micarta. Again imo, the most important thing about a knife is that it doesn't break when being used. I could never send a blade out with homebrew micarta and feel confident that it will hold up. Everytime a knife goes out the door to a customer, your name and reputation is attached to it. Saving a few pennies on handle material
Isn't worth it.

 

[tump]

What others have said, buy it. Been there done that you won't save money, and you will just make a mess and stink up your shop.

 

[Natlek]

Homebrew micarta is not worth the time and effort IMO. It also doesn't hold up as well as industrial grade micarta. Again imo, the most important thing about a knife is that it doesn't break when being used. I could never send a blade out with homebrew micarta and feel confident that it will hold up. Everytime a knife goes out the door to a customer, your name and reputation is attached to it. Saving a few pennies on handle material
Isn't worth it.

I use epoxy , auto safe belts and 50 tons press to make this and I would like to see someone to break this things .............I have around me tons of industrial grade micarta made with phenolic resin and I know that this micarta made by me is at least three times stronger ...............

It s not always about the money , sometimes is pleasure to make something alone :thumbup:

 

[Natlek]

This is micarta I made from balistic kevlar woven fabrics . Epoxy resin is already applied .....only need to baking on 150 celsius for one hour . Was made directly on the knife blank / M35 HSS steel / , picture did not show how it s look in real ...........Too bad it s not yet completed. I need a few more layers to get the required thickness. Bad calculation

This is the tool / press for oven / I made for this project .........

Right from the oven...........

 

[Jesenius]

I agree with Natlek. Homemade micarta (TEXLAM © as I named it) is as strong as material is used for. I use 8 tons press and hard wear textiles and results are pretty good compared to real micarta. I am pretty sure You could not break it in hands. About sticky in use, it get sticky only when it get wet so I assume it is plus for this material. In sticky term I mean it does not slip in the hands. There is no residue on hands. I made lot of handles with TEXLAM and My customers are very satisfied...

 

[JGarrison Knives]

These guy are right.
1. It wont be as good as micarta you can buy from retailers.
2. You wont save money.
3. You will spend a lot of extra time on it.

That being said, if you want to give a try you should do it.

 

[Jesenius]

gimmejr: 1. You are right, TEXLAM will be exactly as I want. 2. You are right again. But we Europeans do lot of things "homemade" ... 3. This is based on POV...

 

[LCoop]

Well I don't claim to make Micarta but what I do is exactly like this. http://www.britishblades.com/forums/content.php?189-Micarta-Scales-My-Way

I don't make knives for sale but in giving knives away I've made more than I could possibly ever sell my knives for. Example I bowhunt a 2000 acre farm in Ohio, solo hunter, no lease fee and stay in the farmers house for free. I'm not saying making one knife lead to this but a couple simple homemade knifes made by myself ( neither of which should I could proudly post here) sealed the deal. I could go on and on. My one daughter miraculously received one years free tuition in college after giving her financial advisor one of my knifes . I've made handle scales from jeans of a beloved father, father's favorite flannel shirt, to strips of a canvas tent kids grew up with to fondly remember their dad from. I don't think and neither do they that a boughten micarta knife scale could come close to that. I've personally used a kitchen knife I made from the above thread with blue jeans that gets HEAVY daily usage with nary the first problem. I can't imagine the sticky worries posted above using this method. It's basically a fiberglass block with me supplying the "fiber". Would it be cheaper to buy, absolutely. But sometimes it's not about money, that is all I got to say on this matter.

I'm presently working on a method to make this way more cost productive and inexpensive using my yeas of recurve bow building experience days. IF I get a reasonable quick and reliable way to produce these I will post here first as I've learned a ton of stuff from this forum and feel I owe something back. Problem is there are so many knowledgeable folks here that post regularly I feel like the worthless newbie that I am! lol

 

[Jesenius]

LCoop: Interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[kuraki]

I'm presently working on a method to make this way more cost productive and inexpensive using my yeas of recurve bow building experience days. IF I get a reasonable quick and reliable way to produce these I will post here first as I've learned a ton of stuff from this forum and feel I owe something back. Problem is there are so many knowledgeable folks here that post regularly I feel like the worthless newbie that I am! lol

Don't feel like that. If you have a solution for turning out a higher quality laminated handle material at home, faster and easier than current methods, I'd be all ears.

I like being vertically integrated.

I think the greatest challenge is the resins that are available to us. We can create pressure at home with fixtures and presses. We can create heat. We can't obtain the powdered resin used in commercial production of these products, at least I've never been able to find a source.

But the biggest challenge in producing a top of the line laminated material is the resins available. It's no different that laying up a fiberglass canoe, surfboard, boat, etc, except the density of the finished material required is higher in what we want to use for knife handles. Density is harder to control with a liquid resin because adding pressure past a certain point just starves the material of it.

It can be produced reliably following the method in the link I posted at the top of the page, using quality epoxy, good wet out procedures, and a simple clamping fixture. The result is a tough, durable laminated material. The problem is that it doesn't machine very well, it doesn't finish as easily, it's messy to do, the cure time is excessive, and that you can buy more commercial product for the cost of the resin than you can produce with the resin, if you buy in bulk.

 

[rustyrazor]

I have made it, but only to use material with special value for the end user, or to make a color combination I couldn't find. Now I avoid making it at all costs. My time is worth more than the low cost of micarta.

this was going to be my exact answer, as I know my "mycarta" isn't going to be as strong or devoid of imperfections as if it was done by the pros... and I doubt I'm saving any money between the time setting up my materials, clamp, resins and all that cleanup, I would have to assume it would cost me twice as much to make than it does to buy especially if you value your time at anything whatsoever. I now only make it when the customer has something with some personal value to them that they would like integrated into the knife.