Micarta questions

[Bill Bryant]

I've seen a couple different kinds of Micarta (or equivalent material) that I like on knives such as the Coral Rucarta A.G. Russell uses. I also like the "wood grain" micarta found on some Lyle fixed blade knives. Where can I find these "other" micartas? Are they made exclusively for those knife makers? I've contacted several handle material suppliers and seem to only find the "usuals". I use the burgandy linen, black linen, different colors of canvas micarta, but I can't seem to find others beyond those.
Second question. I have had an idea for a micarta-like handle material and am wondering if it's possible to make it and who would I go to to have it made? I'm thinking everyone has pieces of stag they regret buying and will probably never use them on a knife. There's probably a lot of wasted pieces out there that may never be sold for knife handles. Would it be possible to pulverize otherwise useless stag into a powder, mix it with a clear polymer and make slabs of stag colored (off white) micarta-like handle material that would work similar to stag without the outer texture? Maybe even put the layers of linen or canvas in it as well.

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Bill
"There's nothing friendlier than a wet dog"
"The more people I meet the more I like my dogs"

 

[george tichbourne]

Your recipe for handle scales sounds very messy. I would tend to go to Corian rather than make my own handle composite.

The wood grain effect you mention is achieved with canvas micarta or the brown canvas phenolic insulation material. Cutting through the layers when shaping the handle creates a woodgrain like pattern.

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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com