Soft Ivory Micarta

[RyanW]

I have almost finished up a small knife for my Mother, I am using "Ivory/White" Micarta for the handle, and the stuff is so soft my Sander just eats it up. So I am hand sanding it, problem I am up against is the Mosaic pins are high spots due to the softness of the Scales. I hit them with a Dremel but it never evens out well... any help would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

 

[ERIK KNIVES]

gorgeous knife.

only thing I can recommend is a flat backing to your sand paper like 1/8" micarta. get everything else where you want it then very carefully work the high pin spots down.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Block sand the handles.

 

[Salem Straub]

I'm gonna go against the grain here and recommend using a hard sanding block of some type when sanding the handle.

 

[RyanW]

Thanks for the replies, I have tried using a 1.5" x 5" x .25" piece of Micarta but it feels horrible in my hand, I think my downfall is the Rubber sanding block I am using. I am going to try to clamp some paper on a stable shelf and move the knife over the sandpaper instead... flattening out the scales & Pins then shaping the Micarta only once scales are flat and even.

 

[SBuzek]

Thanks for the replies, I have tried using a 1.5" x 5" x .25" piece of Micarta but it feels horrible in my hand, I think my downfall is the Rubber sanding block I am using. I am going to try to clamp some paper on a stable shelf and move the knife over the sandpaper instead... flattening out the scales & Pins then shaping the Micarta only once scales are flat and even.

This is basicly what I do but I use my granite surface plate.
Stan