Smoothing micarta?

clampdaddy

clampdaddy

Joined
Aug 31, 2013
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Just curiois if any of you know of a way to slicken up canvas micarts that is a bit (for lack of a better term) fuzzy. My first thought is to burnish it on a polishing wheel but I'm afraid of the black polishing compound getting into the micarta and me not being able to get it out. Also thought about using a flame to burn off the fuzzy ends but I'm not sure if that would give a nice end result either. I have wet sanded paper micarta and that worked very well but I have no clue how it would work one something more fiberous ike canvas. Thoughts?
 
A few months ago Snakebreaker Snakebreaker posted some pics of a few A2 Gemini’s with canvas scales he smoothed out and dyed. The results were nice !

Sand paper works well on canvas micarta.
 
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I went from 100 grit straight to 800 on my ASHBM. I didn't fully smooth it out though. Read your post wrong and thought you wanted the fuzzy texture for grip. I don't have any fuzzies after 800 grit though.
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Agreed on all of the above

Sandpaper by hand or with a Dremel has worked fine for me. That said, be careful if its a user, micarta gets fairly slick quickly in my experience.
 
Thanks for all the replies, fellas. I just sanded a spot on the handle to where mst of the fuzz came off but not so much as to make them slick. It really didn't change the look of it when it is dry. It does stay a bit darker after wiping it down with some fluid film but not by a very noticeble ammount, so I went over the whole handle just to make it even and I'm going to leave it at that. Thanks again.
 
Damn! Nice job Jaxx.
I forgot to mention in my above post to be sure and wear protection (dust mask:eek::D) as the dust from sanding Micarta, G-10 etc. is nasty stuff and breathing it is not a good thing to do.
 
drift draft said:
Damn! Nice job Jaxx.
I forgot to mention in my above post to be sure and wear protection (dust mask:eek::D) as the dust from sanding Micarta, G-10 etc. is nasty stuff and breathing it is not a good thing to do.
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I have heard that before so I kept the handle wet to keep it from making any dust.
 
I sanded down one, made it smooth as G10 - But my question would be, how can we get it back to fuzzy? I'm not sure that's possible. I wanted take out the machine marks, and it did a great job, but now I'd like to have the fuzz back on it's new look. That part I haven't figured out :oops:
 
I would try media blasting or passing in one direction with a coarse sandpaper. Maybe just going one way instead of back and forth would leave the fuzzies.
 
VashHash said:
I would try media blasting or passing in one direction with a coarse sandpaper. Maybe just going one way instead of back and forth would leave the fuzzies.
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aha! I bet you're right, little high velocity abrasive seems like a good idea. :thumbsup: I wonder if Tim has done that?
 
VashHash said:
I would try media blasting or passing in one direction with a coarse sandpaper. Maybe just going one way instead of back and forth would leave the fuzzies.
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I have bead blasted canvas and it does give it a texture but not quite the same. I think the glass is too fine and cuts the fuzz right off. Sand might work though. I think the trick would be dialing back the pressure so it beats up the micarta but doesn't cut off those frayed fiber ends.
 
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