Old Micarta

[Forrest Taylor]

Years ago when I was working as an electrician I came across these. I'm not sure if they were for a compressor or what exactly. If I were guessing I'd say they are probably some form of canvas micarta, but I'm not entirely sure. They are fairly lightweight, extremely rigid, and have a nice wavy pattern to the canvas when viewed from the side.
May put them on a knife before too long


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[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

That looks like the old Westinghouse canvas micarta insulator material. It is highly sought after by knifemakers and knife buyers.

Make a knife with it and see how you like it.

It is a bit of a trick to get a good finish on, but slow hand sanding for the finial grits and quitting at 400 grit works. A lot of folks put a poly finish or baby oil on it, but I don't like that look. What I have done when I wanted a shinier look was to flood the 220 grit sanded handle with thin CA and wipe it off after about 30 seconds with nail polish remover ( not acetone). Sand this down and do a few more times. It will fill the "pores" of the canvas fibers and the handle will finish sand to a nice smooth surface, showing off the wavy grain look.

 

[noseoil]

This was some old stuff left over from 70's aircraft work, probably a Westinghouse type, but not really sure any more. Too much water under that bridge...

 

[Forrest Taylor]

I thought it was probably old Westinghouse, considering where I found it.
Luckily the pieces are large enough, 8 1/2 x 2 5/8 x 3/8, it should be enough for 6 knives.
Good tip on the CA, I will try that.

 

[chumaman]

Years ago when I was working as an electrician I came across these. I'm not sure if they were for a compressor or what exactly. If I were guessing I'd say they are probably some form of canvas micarta, but I'm not entirely sure. They are fairly lightweight, extremely rigid, and have a nice wavy pattern to the canvas when viewed from the side.
May put them on a knife before too long


.View attachment 1570320

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[Signalprick]

I wouldn't assume its Westinghouse just because it's old and came out of electrical equipment. If you can verify the piece of equipment was a Westinghouse product then it would be a safe assumption but otherwise it could easily and most likely be a micarta from GE, IP or others. Regardless vintage micarta is still good stuff. I could line 3 boards up right now of vintage canvas and not one person could definitely tell me which one was Westy or another brand.

It's not a difficult material to finish. Just takes some work. To often I see guys recommend taking it up to only 400 or 600 grit. Thats fine if you want "grippy" or are gonna sand blast to finish. Personally I take canvas up to 1200 minimum and I sand it twice. Start at 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000. Finish sand start at 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200. Then buff. I'll go up to 1500 - 2000 for linen, rag and paper micarta. Generally if you work the grits good you don't need to use CA to fill any voids but after the first run through the grits if you see voids fill with thin CA and work back through to finish starting at 400. Buff when complete.