Making round mycarta?

viral

viral

Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
783
Has anyone ever made round mycarta? I've done some by taking a 1.25x6 pipe nipple and cutting it in half lengthwise and it turns out decent. But what I want is a way to shove my pieces down in a tube or something but be able to get it out again. I want to layer the pieces in there that way so it comes out all funky and it will look mosaic. I haven't figured a way out yet, if someone has please inform me. Or if anyone has an idea.
 
McMaster Carr sells a type of it as Garolite, in "rod" form I think.

I think someone else mentioned it here before.
 
I suppose you could turn a block on a lathe to make the round mycarta. Is that sort of what you had in mind?

Using a round object like your pipe for a mold opens the question of removing the mycarta just like you asked. What about using silicone for a mold the way some objects are cast of plastic?
 
The problem you will encounter is that you are merely casting some sort of material in resin. There is no pressure to laminate it. It won't look particularly good, and won't be strong.

As far as removing it from a mold tube, either make a hinged mold, or use a mold release and press the round from the pipe. But, again, tis won't give you the product you want.

The better method is to make square MYcarta ( you can't make Micarta) and turn or grind it round. If you want a wiggly and random pattern. just put some stuff on the bottom of the lamination box. Rods, balls, nuts, etc. They will displace the layers and make a random pattern when it is ground. This is sort of like making patterns in damascus. Other tricks are to twist a few layers of the laminate cloth while stacking them in the box to be pressed.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
The problem you will encounter is that you are merely casting some sort of material in resin. There is no pressure to laminate it. It won't look particularly good, and won't be strong.

As far as removing it from a mold tube, either make a hinged mold, or use a mold release and press the round from the pipe. But, again, tis won't give you the product you want.

The better method is to make square MYcarta ( you can't make Micarta) and turn or grind it round. If you want a wiggly and random pattern. just put some stuff on the bottom of the lamination box. Rods, balls, nuts, etc. They will displace the layers and make a random pattern when it is ground. This is sort of like making patterns in damascus. Other tricks are to twist a few layers of the laminate cloth while stacking them in the box to be pressed.
Click to expand...

I know it's not really micarta and I've accepted that. I was considering creating some sort of press out of my 1.25 pipe nipple. I will try your other suggestion though, making it flat and thick then grinding it round.
My thoughts on the press with the tube would be to have them welded to plates and them butt Flush to a back piece. I could lock it in place and pack the tube and hammer the material in to create the pressure. Once done just hammer it out of the press which would be hinged.
 
Just thinking out loud here...

What if a person could clamp or run a bolt through both ends of a long strip of "fresh" my-carta, then twist it like a rope and hold it tight that way under some tension until it cures? I'm guessing that would help keep the layers tight, help prevent voids, and give you a nearly round, long piece with a cool pattern. Of course the longer the piece, the more difficult it would be to maintain the pressure/tension evenly. But I think for pieces up to maybe a foot long it might be worth a try... *shrug*
 
Put a cap on both ends of the pipe, coating the threads liberally with grease so they won't get epoxied shut. On one cap, drill a hole and weld a nut to it so you can feed a heavy bolt through.

Line the inside of the pipe with waxed paper. Fill the thing with your fabric of choice and the resin. Place a plywood plug over the end and screw on the threaded cap. With a big wrench, you should be able to put quite a bit of pressure on the stuff. The plywood plug slides down the pipe, pushed by the big bolt. Then when it dries, you simply twist off the non-threaded cap and use the screw to push the plug out.

In my mind, it seems like it would work. The only downside is that you wouldn't have much control over how the fabric bunches up because you're just dumping it in blind.
 
VaughnT said:
Put a cap on both ends of the pipe, coating the threads liberally with grease so they won't get epoxied shut. On one cap, drill a hole and weld a nut to it so you can feed a heavy bolt through.

Line the inside of the pipe with waxed paper. Fill the thing with your fabric of choice and the resin. Place a plywood plug over the end and screw on the threaded cap. With a big wrench, you should be able to put quite a bit of pressure on the stuff. The plywood plug slides down the pipe, pushed by the big bolt. Then when it dries, you simply twist off the non-threaded cap and use the screw to push the plug out.

In my mind, it seems like it would work. The only downside is that you wouldn't have much control over how the fabric bunches up because you're just dumping it in blind.
Click to expand...
I tried greasing and wax paper lining but the resin just oozes past all that and is still impossible to get apart. I was hitting it with a 7/8 rod with a hammer in a vise and it wasn't budging. With the 2 piece one I've Been using, you still have to thump it a half dozen times to get it to release. It's crazy. I think the stuff expands a little when it hardens
 
I considered that. 1.25x6ft is like $2. I've wasted a lot more on a lot less
 
How about a used mastic tube? Fill it with resin and cloth, make up a loose fitting disc to press it down and clamp it up tight in your mastic gun.

Then just grind off the old tube.
 
viral said:
Has anyone ever made round mycarta? I've done some by taking a 1.25x6 pipe nipple and cutting it in half lengthwise and it turns out decent. But what I want is a way to shove my pieces down in a tube or something but be able to get it out again. I want to layer the pieces in there that way so it comes out all funky and it will look mosaic. I haven't figured a way out yet, if someone has please inform me. Or if anyone has an idea.
Click to expand...

How long do you want your pieces of rod to be?
 
Mike Read said:
How about a used mastic tube? Fill it with resin and cloth, make up a loose fitting disc to press it down and clamp it up tight in your mastic gun.

Then just grind off the old tube.
Click to expand...

I like that idea or something using the caulk gun. They are cheap and I wouldn't care if it was all gummed up with resin
 
viral said:
4.5 plus, used for stick tangs. That's the idea.
Click to expand...

Not sure if you're wanting 4.5 inches or mm. If you're using it for pins what if you built a square block like Stacy recommended and use a plug cutter at the diameter you wanted for pins?
 
greenjebadiah said:
Not sure if you're wanting 4.5 inches or mm. If you're using it for pins what if you built a square block like Stacy recommended and use a plug cutter at the diameter you wanted for pins?
Click to expand...
I've tried this before with micarta, g10 and terotuff. I'm not sure if my speeds were off but there was too much run out and I could never get a consistent diameter.

Also when I tried it with micarta it burned the material, because of the pressure needed to get thru. And this was with a 3/8" piece of canvas micarta.

I might give this a try with some wood for some plugs to.see if I can get a consistent 3/8" plug for inlays.

Nick
 
To keep this updated.
I took a 1 1/4" piece of thin walled PVC, not the schedule 40 stop. I bought a cheap caulk gun. Lowes had a nice one that wasn't the ratchet type but the pressure pushing ones. The ratchet type seemed like it would break the components when I put some heavy pressure on it. I took a piece of scrap steel and rounded it to be larger than the PVC but small enough to fit in caulk gun at the end opposite the plunger. I wrapped this with parchment paper quite heavily so it didn't get glued to the gun. I lined the gun with parchment paper as well. Next I took another scrap piece of steel and ground it into a circle that just fit into my PVC, this is going to be the piece the plunger pushes against to compress the fabric in the tube. I wrapped this in parchment paper as well. I then layered my pieces two at a time and would soak them in resin and shove them in the pipe and pack them in each time. I marked on my plunger rod where it should be at to have a 5" pieces of laminate. So i packed it 3/4 of an inch beyond this. Once it was packed i put the circle piece in the tube and compressed it with the caulk gun, which I also covered the plunger with parchment paper. This result in a usable product which looks pretty neat, I will make sure to update this once I finish the piece on a knife.

Thank you guys for your help and suggestions, I hope that this may someday help someone as you guys helped me. Thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top