Secret Stash

Mark Williams

Mark Williams

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Nov 28, 2000
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Most knifemakers have a something on a shelf or in box..............

That secret stash.............

The piece they will bury you with ;)

Mine is a piece of Ironwood burl :D

I know good n'well somebody out there has some rag micarta put away for retirement.

What's your secret stash ?
 
A piece of burl I found in a fire pit. I don't know what it is, but it was to hard to burn. I'll carve it up someday, maybe? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Now that you mentioned it, I remember a piece of rag micarta I bough from the late Bob Engnath and then lended to a "friend" so he could cut a pair of slabs from it and he never send the rest back to me. Great, great friend! :mad:
But back on the subject, possibly the stuff that I have in my shop for mose time and still have not used even a small part of is a human femur. Still have not decided what to do with it.
 
A couple of 3"thickX18'wide, aprox. round sections of 15+ year old Mesquite burl cut as cross sections from a root ball, and one huge 2+year old root ball that weighs about 350# that hasn't been cut up for drying yet.
 
I have some elk tines for hidden tang knives. I only make full tang. Maybe one day I'll get around and make some small patch, skinner knives.
Scott
 
Some mammoth ivory that is so blue it doesnt look real! I keep it in the suit pocket that I will be buried in. :D
 
I have various handle materials that I'm not good enough yet to risk - a couple of hefty Sambar tapers, a serious handful chunk of Seacow bone, a couple of sets of massive sheep horn scales, some small pearl scales, a big piece of not-so-special 'cracked ice' mammoth bark that is so solid and thick that I can't bear to cut another set of scales out of it (except for my own knife, some day), a big log of osage orange. Then there's that stuff that isn't so special but is irreplaceable; about two handles' worth of some 1980s milspec Micarta, some rounds of this odd acrylic stuff - two clear green, two milky white. My problem is I don't want to use any of that stuff cause I just know that as soon as I do I'll have a project that would have been better for it... :rolleyes: I haven't been doing this long enough to accumulate the hoards you guys have. :D

How big of an order would it take to get someone to make a batch of rag Micarta? I wonder if that's worth persuing.
 
ddavelarsen said:
...............

How big of an order would it take to get someone to make a batch of rag Micarta? I wonder if that's worth persuing.
Click to expand...

Roger Gregory, and another person from British Blades were going to look into that a couple of years ago after I put them in touch with Kit, and he sent them some samples. Never heard another thing from it.:confused:

There is a micarta manufacturer over there that expressed interest.
 
Sounds like a great way to get some nice rag Micarta - hey Kit, I know someone who might show an interest in making some rag Micarta, got any samples? :rolleyes:

My guess is someone would have to bankroll a special order, and then anyone who makes the stuff could make it. I just don't know how to determine, or who to ask, what that minimum order would be and what it'd cost. I'm not rich by any means but this seems like a reasonable investment if someone could afford to tie up their money for a few years. You'd have to figure out the opportunity cost of the tied up cash and add that into the price of the Micarta. Seems worth looking into at least.
 
Making a batch of Micarta would entail using phenolic resin.
It's not something you'll find pleasant or easy to work with.
Using acrylic or polyurethane resins has been discussed here on BFC a few times.
Ariel Salaverria had a tutorial on making denim composites.
 
I've got a bunch of pieces of nephrite jade I had cut from a cobble sized piece into 1'' X 4" X 3/16" slices. They are just sitting there waiting for me to get the means to work them into usable shapes. Also have a nice chunk of apple-green jadeite and a cobble sized peice of brown "jade", both uncut.
 
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