Micarta Scales Damage (MUELA RHINO-SV.M)

[John Galba]

Greetings everyone,
I was about to buy a Muela Rhino knife with black micarta scales at my local knife store and while observing it, I saw a little dirt between the blade and the micarta scale. I asked the seller whether it is just a piece of black dirt or something more serious. Then he took out a tin-can from a shelf, probably "Zippo petrol/ gasoline, and poured it on a piece of towel. Afterwards, he rubbed and cleaned off the dirt of the micarta scale with the substance and it was clean.

Then I purchased the knife and went back home. As I observed the knife at home, one of the micarta scales was brighter (whiter) near the blade than the other. I realized that it was the scale which has been cleaned by the seller with the gasoline substance and I think the black color was partially taken off (cleaned off) of the micarta scale. I know that Zippo gasoline is highly aggressive and dissolves almost anything I can think of. In addition, the brighter micarta scale is also more rough on the discolored side than the other one.

Is it possible that this brightness (whiteness) is not a discoloration caused by the seller´s inadequate treatment, but is as his colleague told me, a normal feature of a brighter micarta layering from the factory (to guard his back)? The black micarta is not entirely black, because it has alternating layers of whitish micarta as any other micarta scales. However, this part is too bright compared to the rest of the micarta scales and brought up my suspicion.

Is there a way to do something about it, like paint it black somehow to look more like the other micarta scale? Or is the seller obliged to give me a refund?

Thank you for replying in advance.

 

[Bigfatts]

Have ypu tried to clean it? Could the whiteness be some sort of residue from the fluid?

 

[The Aflac Duck]

Greetings everyone,
I was about to buy a Muela Rhino knife with black micarta scales at my local knife store and while observing it, I saw a little dirt between the blade and the micarta scale. I asked the seller whether it is just a piece of black dirt or something more serious. Then he took out a tin-can from a shelf, probably "Zippo petrol/ gasoline, and poured it on a piece of towel. Afterwards, he rubbed and cleaned off the dirt of the micarta scale with the substance and it was clean.

Then I purchased the knife and went back home. As I observed the knife at home, one of the micarta scales was brighter (whiter) near the blade than the other. I realized that it was the scale which has been cleaned by the seller with the gasoline substance and I think the black color was partially taken off (cleaned off) of the micarta scale. I know that Zippo gasoline is highly aggressive and dissolves almost anything I can think of. In addition, the brighter micarta scale is also more rough on the discolored side than the other one.

Is it possible that this brightness (whiteness) is not a discoloration caused by the seller´s inadequate treatment, but is as his colleague told me, a normal feature of a brighter micarta layering from the factory (to guard his back)? The black micarta is not entirely black, because it has alternating layers of whitish micarta as any other micarta scales. However, this part is too bright compared to the rest of the micarta scales and brought up my suspicion.

Is there a way to do something about it, like paint it black somehow to look more like the other micarta scale? Or is the seller obliged to give me a refund?

Thank you for replying in advance.

That is exactly the case. You are seeing the "fiber layer" instead of the "resin layer", if you put a little oil on a cloth (I like to use mineral oil, but something like olive/vegetable oil can work too) and rub it on the micarta, the black color will come out more.

Some micarta is made with cloth, so the cloth absorbs oils and brings out darker colors in the handle. If you clean the handle with any solvent such as rubbing alcohol, lighter fluid, etc. the cloth will be stripped of the oils and will be more "white".

Here's two linen micarta knives after being cleaned with 99% isopropyl alcohol

And here's the same knives after lightly oiling the handles

Hope this helped:thumbup:

 

[John Galba]

Is flax-seed/linseed/rope oil adequate as well? By just simply rubbing, am I not going to make the texture color more blury and mixed looking? I like the sharp looking finish of the black micarta with the alteranting white micarta layers. Is the rough feeling surface going to smoothen out as well?

 

[RevDevil]

Naptha (Zippo lighter fluid) is used by many peope to clean oil, dirt, and other stuff from many different mechanical parts. One of these uses is cleaning guns and knives. I'd be hard pressed to think the Micarta scale was damaged at all with the Naptha if in fact that is what was used. Use some kind of mineral oil to give the scale the "wet look" and that should take care of it.
Micarta is basically layers of cloth, canvas, or paper that has been epoxied together under extreme pressure and heat to form a solid "synthetic like" material. Just dab the oil on the affected area with a cotton swab or a cotton ball. No need for panic.

 

[pnsxyr]

Do you have pics?

Most of the micarta I have that is the rough/open porous type has some inconsistencies in color intensity. I've never thought about specifically why, but the note from others about how micarta is made and layered makes sense given not every layer will match 100% in coloration to all of the many other (cool to know BTW!)

I agree with the oil. Like G10, cleaning it in a fashion that cleans within the 'pores' with anything aggressive will sometimes result in it looking almost 'dried out', and likewise, rubbing something rough against micarta can do this as well. Damage from usage will do this too. The nice thing with micarta and G10 is that more often than not, this is completely superficial marking. After a good cleaning with hot water, light soap, and a toothbrush to ensure you clean all of it (and let it dry at micarta absorbs water!), a small dab of something like food-grade beeswax or food-grade cutting block oil rubbed in with a toothbrush will fix that. I like beeswax but you can use whatever provided it isn't something highly toxic! (especially if you ever prepare food with the knife!) I find this happens more so to when you have really strong texturing, such as the texturing style on the G10 XM-18 handles, or the micarta on a CRK Pacific, then a lighter texturing or sealed finish. I also like a light soap very diluted with hot water as I think if the cleaning material leaves any sort of residue, it can make the cleaning counter-productive.

On a nasty note, I also find dead skin cells can make aggressively-textured G10 and micarta also appear discolored!

I also agree it is unlikely that the Zippo fluid damaged the handle. While I personally try not to use certain chemicals on handle material held together with adhesives like epoxy (most lighter fluid/gasolines included), I see it as very unlikely that this one-time and brief usage damaged the finish from a single exposure. One of the benefits to micarta is its toughness and that's a major reason it's one of my favorite materials.