Micarta materials?

Joined
Jul 12, 2014
Messages
8
How's it goin guys? I'm rather new to knife making and have watched multiple videos on how to make micarta but I am unsure where so buy the resin and which kind to use. I also am not sure what material works best. Any tips or information would be great. Thanks
 
Welcome to Shop Talk. This is the BF search engine. It will find the hundreds of older threads on making home made Micarta/MyCarta.
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra

Micarta is a product that can't be made at home. Besides being a registered trademark, it is a phenolic resin impregnated material. You can't do that without a factory setup.
The stuff that people make in their shops and garages I like to call MyCarta, and is made with epoxy resin and cloth materials. The resin should be the proper type for the end result to be of any use on a knife. Using cheaper resins will give a handle material that gets sticky or wears down and gets cloudy easily. The resin you want is West System 105, and the hardener is 209 (slow cure). 207 extra clear hardener is also good. System Three and a few other resin companies have similar products, but don't skimp on quality in the resin choice, or you are just wasting your time. Mix exactly according to the instructions.

As for materials in the laminate, any open weave cloth or material that will absorb the resin works. Burlap, canvas, old denim jeans, etc. are all used.

Fill out your profile with all the info. Age, location, hobbies and occupation, etc. will all help us give you better answers, as well as possibly let a near by maker give you an invite for a shop visit.
 
Buy it from any boat shop, fiberglass supplier, West System, Knife suppliers, many woodworking suppliers, etc. A google search will get thousands of hits. Your profile info location is pretty vague, but I typed in Phoenix, Arizona and hit search on this link and got lots of dealers around Phoenix:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/where-to-buy/
 
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