Micarta vs vintage micarta

M.FREEZE

M.FREEZE

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Can someone give me a history lesson on micarta? Does Westinghouse still produce micarta? Is there a way to date micarta? When I see the words "vintage micarta scales", is that a certain look or is it actually vintage? In other words, if a guy makes a knife in vintage micarta was he lucky to find it or can you still buy old micarta stock?
 
I got some old micarta from Westinghouse years ago, I was looking for Blue, called them and talked to one guy that remembered when they made Blue, he said he thought they had a small piece of it somewhere, said he would look for it, he called me back in a few days and had found a small piece, bought is, he said that they had not made it since 1961, got it from, still have a small piece somewhere, was looking for it last night to go on a small Bait Knife that I am making for myself, never have I seen any blue micarta before or after. Like the Burl Micarta they used to make and I liked for small turkey hunting knives, they don't make it anymore either. Burl or Rag Micarta as I have heard it called, I still have enough of the Burl Micarta for about 4 small knives then it's gone.
 
The older Westinghouse Micarta is typically a lot harder and tougher than modern versions. (at least in my experience). It can be really beautiful stuff.

There is a gentleman on eBay named Kenstix (who may be a member here too) that has a stock of older Micarta. He sells some interesting pieces with history!

TedP
 
According to my micarta supplier, Westinghouse sold the name to one group and the actual presses to a different group. The stuff I use is not micarta, but neither is Micarta. They just bought the name. I get the stuff from the domestic supplier who bought the presses.

Beware, not all fabric reinforced phenolic is created equal. It has gotten to the point it is hard to even find domestic material. A few years ago I got a few hundred pounds of import material by mistake and made fixtures from it and the dimensional stability was not very good. That was enough material to make a thousand knives. A thousand crappy knives, because the scales would have shrunk. Fortunately I didn't use it on any knives, but unfortunately I did use some of it in other work that I later had to rework and or replace at significant costs. In the end I wrote off over $2,000 of material. Beware, and know the country of origin. Have them put it in writing.

The good stuff is fairly stinky when you cut it. If it doesn't properly stink I would be suspicious.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
The good stuff is fairly stinky when you cut it. If it doesn't properly stink I would be suspicious.
Click to expand...

Good point, Nathan. The smell when you grind or sand it certainly gives it away. It isn't entirely unpleasant (not like cutting horn or bone), but it is certainly pungent...

Another good check, as i mentioned above, is the hardness. If you can make a good sized cut in the phenolic with a pocket knife, it is relatively low quality. If it is dense and hard and difficult to penetrate with a pocket knife, it is much better quality. There's a reason that they call Micarta "the steel of the plastics industry."

TedP
 
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