Micarta laquering?

J

jumpmaster

Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
3
Howdy...

I was wondering what particular type of finish folks use on their canvas
Micarta scales. I'm rehandling some knives with Micarta and though I like the rough look of the unfinished Micarta, I prefer the durability and consistent finish of the type I see on production knives with Micarta.

Thanks for any suggestions on this...I've just about got the knives looking alright except for this last bit with the finish...

JM
 
If you want a smooth, shiny finish, just sand to about 600 grit and then buff on a sewn buff with just about any fine compound. I usually use pink "no scratch" or white 312 LEA compound. Avoid green compound if your Micarta is light colored, or you may end up with green color in the handle.
 
If you want the rough look, you can go about it in a several ways.

One would be to just sand to 220 grit and leave it, or you could take it all the way up to 600, and then bead, or sand blast the handle.

If you have some that are polished, and you don't want to sand on then, you can also take a scotchbrite belt, wheel, or handpad to them.

Personally, I've never found even highly polished Micarta to be real slick when wet, so I generally finish my handles out pretty well.

Welcome to Bladeforums! Enjoy!:D
 
Hey, Folks...

Thanks so much for the responses...I grabbed some jeweler's white buffing compound and it shined up my scales very nicely. It's not as shiny as the Microtech scales I've seen but it's a LOT better than it was. I just need to keep working on it, I suppose.

Thanks again for the help!

JM
 
Just like woods, canvas micarta will need pore filling if you want a smooth finish.
Sand it to 320-400. I fill the thread ends with superglue. Just spread it on thin using a latex or nitrile gloved finger. Don't let your finger stop when spreading the glue. Resand the surface, THEN buff.
If you don't seal the surface, it will trap small amounts of compound in the coarse canvas fibers.
On linen micarta, it's easier to seal.
On paper micarta, no sealing is necesary.

Howie
 
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