Nightmarecarta

Richlite does provide very smooth surfaces. I hadn't considered flooding the surface while machining. I’ll give that a try next time I work with it.
Thanks!
Jeff
 
I have never run into this problem before. That is until last week. I have some "antique bone" paper micarta I got from Pop's last year which I finally got around to utilizing. That stuff is *horrible*. Gums up belts damn near instantly and burns almost as fast. After I finished that knife I shelved the whole sheet. It looks very nice, but Jesus is it a bear to work with o_O
 
David Mary said:
You know the stuff. Burns easily, loads belts almost instantly, and a fresh belt is no longer fresh after two passes.

What are your tips and tricks for shaping handle with this stuff? I already use rubber belt erasers but I’ve got a few types of micarta that, once it loads, it’s not going anywhere.

I typically shape with 36 grit AO followed by 150 and then hand sanding.

How can I make life easier?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Those properties you speak of are exactly the reason I have all my modern composites made with phenolic resin, rather than epoxy. You sure get some absolutely beautiful colors from epoxy though... And Greg and Mikie are the best in the business!

Jordan Danz has a very nice how to on instagram when it comes to finishing G-Carta in particular.

www.instagram.com

G-Carta Finish = @jd_custom_knives

See Instagram 'G-Carta Finish' highlights from Jordan Danz (@jd_custom_knives)
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I agree the burl micarta's that are out there are nice and hard, easy to use.....idk who makes them? I think they are in USA?
Click to expand...

The burl phenolics are made by Current Composites in Connecticut. There are a couple of different versions of it.

The red/natural/black canvas (columbia valley), green/natural/black canvas (gifford pinchot), yellow/natural/black canvas (goldfinch), orange/natural/black canvas (wildfire), blue/natural/black canvas (bellingham bay) are pre-preg phenolic recipes that can be carried by any distributor (Maker Material Supply carries them under different names). Because they are a pre-preg recipe, they aren't quite as saturated with resin as the others so I typically recommend either leaving them at a fairly low grit, or taking them to a high polish with sand paper, rather than use a buffer.

All of the other recipes are custom material that are exclusives, and use a wider variety of fabrics (linen, canvas, burlap) and colors. Those recipes (Veda, Shadowlands, Carnelian, Black Cherry, etc) aren't pre-preg material and are much denser. They tend to buff/polish much more nicely. I can't have them made in really bright colors, but there are somewhere around 1,500 combinations available to me. :D
 
Last edited:
Fixall said:
The burl phenolics are made by Current Composites in Connecticut. There are a couple of different versions of it.

The red/natural/black canvas (columbia valley), green/natural/black canvas (gifford pinchot), yellow/natural/black canvas (goldfinch), orange/natural/black canvas (wildfire), blue/natural/black canvas (bellingham bay) are pre-preg phenolic recipes that can be carried by any distributor (Maker Material Supply carries them under different names). Because they are a pre-preg recipe, they aren't quite as saturated with resin as the others so I typically recommend either leaving them at a fairly low grit, or taking them to a high polish with sand paper, rather than use a buffer.

All of the other recipes are custom material that are exclusives, and use a wider variety of fabrics (linen, canvas, burlap) and colors. Those recipes (Veda, Shadowlands, Carnelian, Black Cherry, etc) aren't pre-preg material and are much denser. They tend to buff/polish much more nicely. I can't have them made in really bright colors, but there are somewhere around 1,500 combinations available to me. :D
Click to expand...

I'll be on the lookout for more, then, from You.
I really liked the stuff.
I'd like a camo version. Brown, green, black, orange. I think that would look neat
 
Tan works better than brown. Tan, Green, Orange and a bit of black. When the fabrics get wetted out with epoxy, they can darken a lot! Medium blue goes to Navy blue. If you start with most browns, it will be black when it's wetted out.

Camo and Peas and Carrots I did years ago:
peas and carrots.jpg

Carbon fiber:
CFBF3.jpgcf burlap.jpg

Burlap with glow in the dark pigment in the mix and pins:
CPK2.jpg

Pink, purple camo:
Bubblegum.jpg

Orange, black and purple:
opb camo TJ Lam.jpg


Blue Camos:

Green went really dark on this one, I was hoping it would stay more teal. Cobalt sometimes turns purple when wetter out.
fillet aebl.jpgBWC Elmax.jpg
 
Seedy Lot said:
Oh the dreaded blue Ultrex!
Click to expand...

image.jpg
image.jpg

Thank you for all your replies. Especially the gentleman who mentioned coolant. I tried dipping the handle in a bucket of water before every pass. My grinder only goes at full speed but this new strategy worked really well and I don’t burn it anymore.
 
Seedy Lot: "Sure I have lots of blue ahem G10"
 
Seedy Lot said:
The Vibe blue is nice to work with but lacks the grip that people think of when they want micarta.

Click to expand...

Maybe it won't be good for edc pocket knife types? Something to slide around in your pocket
 
David Mary said:
View attachment 2909931
View attachment 2909932

Thank you for all your replies. Especially the gentleman who mentioned coolant. I tried dipping the handle in a bucket of water before every pass. My grinder only goes at full speed but this new strategy worked really well and I don’t burn it anymore.
Click to expand...
I was grinding some of this same stuff yesterday. I’ve worked with it before but I think I learned a few things this go round. If the abrasive loads up it’s going to burn whether you have mist/water or not. The canvas in it is either a brownish/gray color or picks up dirt easily because without any burning it has darker undertones when finished. I had the best luck I’ve ever had with it running a new 36 grit AO belt dry at high speed with a light touch. The belt had no trouble clearing itself like this. Mist or water only seems to cause it to gum up for me. After that I used a felt back 320 grit belt running very slow to knock most of the facets and fuzz off. That helped but didn’t do a great job with the fuzz. Then I actually went over the scales with a 6” half round cut 2 file that I use to cut the pins down. That got rid of the light/fuzzy areas and It was ready for 320 grit hand sanding after that. I had it to 1000 grit within about 30 minutes of filing.
The key is finding whatever combination of belt, speed and pressure that allows the belt to clear itself. I think pressure is more of a factor in burning material than most people realize. I use as light of a touch as possible anytime I’m grinding handles and to do that I generally have to run at a fairly high speed with coarser grits. I don’t press on the belts so much as brush against them.
 
David Mary said:
You know the stuff. Burns easily, loads belts almost instantly, and a fresh belt is no longer fresh after two passes.

What are your tips and tricks for shaping handle with this stuff? I already use rubber belt erasers but I’ve got a few types of micarta that, once it loads, it’s not going anywhere.

I typically shape with 36 grit AO followed by 150 and then hand sanding.

How can I make life easier?

Thanks!

View attachment 2873506
Click to expand...

Anytime belt loading is an issue, ie these garage shop micartas and Ironwood for example, give the running belt a spritz w WD40 before starting. Nomore loading.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top