Paper micarta?

Gossman Knives

Gossman Knives

Edged Toolmaker
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
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I putting ivory paper micarta scales on the small hollow grind knife I was working on. My question is, can it be worked and finished the same as linen and canvas? Anything special I need to know? I've never used the paper before just the other two. Thanks
Scott
 
Scott-

It's a bit of a biatch.

It works easy enough, but getting the right finish on it might frustrate you a bit.

Last couple times I used it I took it to 1200x hand-sanded finish and steel wooled it.

You can buff it and do other things, but it picks up and hold the color of just about everything you use on it.

I can't remember who to thank for the tip, but here it is. After you get it done, take a tooth-brush and some liquid Ivory soap. Just put water on the tooth-brush, just like if you're going to brush your teeth. Then clean up the white paper micarta with that.

It will lift the dirt/discoloring out of it. It worked really well for me.

Here's a hunter I used it on-

bgknife2759.jpg


close-up
bgknife2759alt1.jpg


pics courtesy of BladeGallery.com :D
-Nick-
 
As said,One concern is the impaction of buffing compound between the laminates, and in the pourosity of the material ,can leave little crack looking ("squiggles" I've heard them called.) lines in the white paper micarta.Hand finishing the white should prevent this, also it should be drilled and worked with care as it can crack.
 
Thanks for the clean-up tip Nick. ;) I know with the brass pins I'll be using they cause the buff to get black and in turn puts it right on the handle material. I've got some 1000 grit paper I can use but that being gray that also will discolor the micarta. BTW, awesome knife you've got there. :)
Scott
 
fuzzyedge said:
As said,One concern is the impaction of buffing compound between the laminates, and in the pourosity of the material ,can leave little crack looking ("squiggles" I've heard them called.) lines in the white paper micarta.Hand finishing the white should prevent this, also it should be drilled and worked with care as it can crack.
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Thanks fuzzyedge, I'll keep that in mind. ;) BTW how have you been?
Scott
 
One thing I've had some success with is masking off the metal when buffing. If you have a nice clean buff with fresh compound you can polish around the metal without smearing - honest! But I really like the look of Nick's handle and I think next time I'm going to take a shot at his method.
 
Thanks Dave. Here's another thought, does it yellow/age like ivory or does it maintain it's original hue? And does it absorb, say like blood if it's a hunting knife?
Scott
 
There is a bit of differance in quality of the white mycarta also. I got some from Texas Knife supply several years ago and nothing I tried would work. Finaly wound up using it as sanding blocks. I got some a while back from Sheffields that would not pic up buffing compound or anything else. Just sand to 600 grit and buff with green, then white compound and not a speck. The scales I got from Sheffield's also seemed a good bit harder than that I got from TKS.

Who know's now though where to get the good stuff. If you've already got it just go ahead and sand a little on a corner and try finishing it and see what happens before ever fitting to a knife, that'll give you an idea of how to go about it.
 
fuzzyedge said:
I'm doing good Scott, you ?
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Couldn't be better. ;) Tell Stan I said hey.

Will, I got this ivory micarta from TKS. It seems to be pretty hard. I radius the ends on the grinder and it was hard to sand on that. I guess I take these tips from you guys and see what develops.
Scott
 
Certainly can't go wrong with what Nick is doing based on pictures. That is pretty much my experience also, but I went through same problems as Will on a couple. I found that after sanding to desired finish, the buffer ruined it no matter the compound. I finally stumbled on white (finest grade) 3M Scotchbrite pads and then Renaissance Wax for very good finish.
 
I hand sand to 1000 then buff with white and a good clean loose wheel, after that I clean it up by applying mother's chrome wheel polish, removes all compound and metal black residue and makes for a great shine.

Bill
 
Thanks for all the help and tips. This stuff seems to be pretty good. It saws and sands just the same as canvas and linen. I think the final finish will be tricky from everything that's been said. I'll post a pic when I'm done.
Scott
 
I managed to get the micarta looking pretty good. Those fine scratch marks are a SOB to get smoothed out. I didn't have an unused loose buff, so I cleaned the one I had as much as I could and went at it. The problem is the brass pins. No matter how you buff the black from them can't be helped. But I've come up with a great clean-up solution. tip of the day: take an old toothbrush, put toothpaste on it and with the handle wet scrub it clean with toothpaste. That worked like a charm. :D It's comepletely clean and mark free. I tried to take a pic but it didn't come out very good. :(
Scott
 
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