Shaping Micarta using hand tools?

[Woodcutter7000]

Hi all,

well, I'm new here, and this has probably been addressed somewhat on the forum but I haven't found what I was looking for so forgive me if I'm asking redundantly.
I bought a Tops Silent Hero a couple of months ago, and while I really like the knife, it comes with the Rocky Mountain tread scales and the handle design is also a little on the narrow side. I'd like to make some canvas micarta scales from thicker stock, and finish them with the "sueded" type texture often seen on canvas micarta (ESEE, etc.). I'm not that crazy about the Rocky Mountain texture - as aggressive as it looks it still feels sort of slippery on the stock scales which are oiled at the factory to make the scales black and fairly shiny.
So now for the shaping dilemmas: The first part went fine - I used my Bosch saber saw with 18TPI bimetal metal cutting blades, running at setting #3. Works great for cutting out the outline shape, didn't burn the micarta at all and cut pretty easily, like a very dense hardwood.
However - to do the final shaping and contouring, I don't have a belt grinder or sander, and I live in an apartment since the divorce, so I'm down to more primitive methods to shape this stuff. I'm limited to hand tools like files or Microplane rasps, that kind of thing - but they are painfully slow. So - anyone else out there who has come up with a reasonably effective and efficient way to shape micarta with hand tools of some sort?
I do have a Dremel, but I'm sort of reluctant to use it because of the speed tending to burn the material, and Dremels can kind of get away from you.
Any ideas/recommendations? Thanks in advance!

 

[Matt River]

Auriou rasps and rifflers will probably work very well, the best. http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/cate..._UtFfLYazGECJd-o5MSOneMc6uuRa7R9_0aAkRC8P8HAQ

 

[Matt River]

My own personal idea outside of hand tools is a small portable type belt sander (not bench type, type with handle). I pick up used ones to profile custom travertine for around $20 to $30 at pawnshops. Noise in daytime is not against the law

 

[Woodcutter7000]

Ah yes! I read about Auriou rasps back when I was doing a lot of woodworking but I never tried them. I have a Shinto rasp (looks like a sort of honeycomb made from hacksaw blades) that might work well for the outside curves, but they are only made with a flat sole as far as I know. I was also thinking about using coarse grit belt sander belts and wrap the belt around a dowel or a block. Had some ideas, just wondered if anyone has tried anything low tech that really works well.
I'll post here what I try that works.
I have nothing against using power tools for this, just don't have them or a budget to buy them, and then there's the micarta dust issue - so probably doing this outside in my breezeway.

 

[Matt River]

Dowel and sandpaper should work great, Harbor Freight has some very economical 40 grit zirconia type belts, around $3 for a pack of 2, cut fast even by hand.

 

[Matt River]

Hmm, can you rig a dowel sander stick onto your bosch saber saw? Split a dowel partially with your blade, drill and rivet or bolt the dowel onto saber saw blade, add some sandpaper and you have a power file.

 

[REVDH]

Orbital sander i think they are called? might do you well

 

[woodwrkr221]

Even with a grinder I prefer to use a double cut half round file and a good vise when I shape Micarta. I'll profile the handle and rough in a 45 degree chamfer down down each long corner using the grinder but from there on it's files and later sandpaper with a sanding block.

The grinder can get me into trouble faster than a Dremel no longer than I've been grinding!

 

[WaltE99]

I don't know if it would fit your budget, but the HF 1 x 30 belt sander has a port to attach a vacuum hose. That really goes a long way toward cutting down on the dust. With a 20% off coupon, you can probably get one for under $40. Until I recently bought a 2 x 72, that's all the grinder I had. Works great for putting handles on blade blanks, or like you, re-handling a production knife.

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[A.McPherson]

Angle grinder with a flapper wheel. Harbor freight sells them pretty cheap and you can often find good quality ones at pawn shops really cheap!


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[Wulf]

I have plenty of fancy equipment in my shop, yet I often still go to round and half round files to shape micarta. Anything you would use on metal will work on micarta too. Sometimes I even leave my micarta handles as is, straight from the file, as it leaves a nice, subtle, grippy texture.

Here's an example of one I did using only files - no grinder or sandpaper whatsoever.

 

[josh81]

I haven't heard anyone mention this but I have an original worksharp that I use to shape handles sometimes. It gives nice rounded edges. Just a thought.

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[C_Claycomb]

Man, do not over complicate things!!!

I shape ALL my handles by hand using hand tools. It is slower than having a belt grinder with all the fancy small wheels, but when you are starting out it is a heck of a lot cheaper, and you are not forced to shape the handle according to the radii of your wheels, with hand tools you have total freedom.

So, what tools. Same as I use for wood.

Those Auriou rasps are lovely, but they are total overkill for Micarta. They are expensive and Micarta is hard. That Japanese rasp made of saw blades will work on the flats but a nice cabinet rasp is better. Not a half round rasp, a cabinet rasp. Same rasp gets used for a lot of wood shaping in my shop, so its not a one-trick-pony.

Square 10" bastard cut file will do a lot of the refining, and a 6" bastard cut will do the rest. Half round files are nice, but you don't need them except where your index finger rides, and you can use a dowel and sand paper, or a Dremel for that area.

Lots of things can be used to provide backing for sand paper to even out your file work.

Results are slower, but every bit as good as anything produced with power.

Whole process I still use...sorry I never posted it here, just so as not to be sending folk to another forum.
https://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtopic.php?t=44349

Very best of luck! Hope it all turns out how you hope. :thumbup:

Chris

 

[Roamad]

Good advice Claycomb ... and beautiful work on that Spydie!

One question, which may also benefit the OP: Do you try to avoid using your rasp on the handle rivets? I find that mine goes tull pretty quick if I try to use it on rivets, even though they are usually relatively soft copper or brass. There's no fix for this with a rasp, as far as i know, so once dulled it has to be tossed.

 

[guyver86]

Iwasaki carving files are great. Wood craft should have some. Even the cheaper ones work really well

 

[C_Claycomb]

Never use the rasp on the rivets! That is the second fastest way to kill the rasp second only to rasping on the tang! In that thread on the Spyderco forum it shows how I work around the handle fixings with the rasp, then change to the 10" square file to cut the bolts and tubing back. Its not a bad way to work, a little annoying, but not a killer unless your have to make money. That problem is one of the places the belt sander scores really high, being able to shape both materials quickly.

I have used the Japanese carving files, but only on wood. Micarta is harder than most woods (box, ebony, cocobolo, and stabilised timber, not tried lignum vitae) and I want to keep the Japanese carver nice and sharp for as long as possible. The Cabinet Rasp is faster, but leaves a much rougher finish. Not such a problem on hard timber, and none on Micarta. On softer wood like Maple and particularly walnut, the rasp teeth can compress the wood below the surface which shows up when you apply a finish, the carver's rasp is a bit better in that regard.

Oh, one thing, I used a Vallorbe cabinet rasp, which is about £28 while a Japanese carver's file in a smaller size is £39, so for where I am there is also a financial factor in choosing one over the other. YMMV

Chris

 

[Woodcutter7000]

I just found my double cut half round file and gave it a try - Works great!
By comparison, I tried the Shinto rasp (hacksaw blade mesh?) but it just wants to skate over the micarta. I also tried a coarse wood rasp (not a fancy Auriou, but very toothy) - it doesn't cut well, I think because rather than cut, the teeth grab and skip off the surface. The file works just right - very good control and not horribly slow (not a belt grinder, but tolerable for doing one-offs). I will probably switch to the next finer cut file to finish it, but very pleased with the results so far, and I didn't have to buy anything new. I'll probably also try the coarse sanding belt wrapped around a dowel, but the file works about as well as I would have hoped for with a non-powered tool. Also - the dust produced with the file doesn't fly around much at all, it just drops to the table. Seems to be coarse enough particles that they tend not to go airborne.
Thanks for all the input - all good stuff! The file just happens to work really well. I'll post some pictures when I get it done, but it might be a while since I'm sort of doing this in spare moments rather than all at once.

 

[Woodcutter7000]

Roamad, good question, but for this one I'm using threaded screw connectors instead of rivets, so I'm shaping the micarta only and not the fasteners. If I was using brass or copper rivets, I think the file would work great - I've done that before with furniture where I've used brass or bronze exposed pins that I filed flush with the wood surface. In those cases I taped the wood around the pins so I wouldn't get too much brass/bronze dust embedded in the wood surface while I was filing. worked pretty well.

 

[Dougluvn]

I have used hand files, 120 grit flap disk on a 7 in angle grinder (makes a huge mess) for getting it to the tough out line. What I found I like the most for sanding handles are the sanding sponges. Just note that fiberglass is ever toxic to humans, so PPE is a must.

 

[Dougluvn]

very nice work sir.