the best way of finishing white linen micarta??

J

jrpsycho

Joined
Mar 16, 2000
Messages
71
I finished working my first knife with white linen micarta and as it stands i am not very happy with it. sanding and buffing just caused the color of the belt/buffing compound to become impregnated in the material. i eventually sanded by hand with natural color sandpaper but the handle still picks up a lot of dirt/grime from daily use... is there a way to finish the handle so that it stays white (sealer or something else???)
thanks
james
 

Personally I think you might as well give up on white linen micarta(R). It is terrible for picking up any contaniment. I had some problems with bolster material bleeding into it when sanding and there seems to be nothing you can do about it
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Sorry I couldn't be any more help and good luck.

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KSwinamer

Atheism....A non-prophet organization
 
This works. Wash it with soap and water then Use some Acetone. Get it clean. Next use some Rennasance wax or you can use just about any kind of good quality wax. Buff on a loose clean buff or do the shoe shine thing.

Almost forgot, try this on some scrap FIRST or you may be cussing me later. It worked on Natural and Black linen micarta for me
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The acetone opens the micarta a little and the wax will help prevent it from picking up as many stains. Trade off is the handle will be a little slick. Not a good choice for a user. Post a pic and you may get a buyer.
Hope that helps.
Bob Hankins

[This message has been edited by bobH (edited 11-24-2000).]
 
Been there, shared your frustration. I had about 6 of these to do for a customer. Here's what finally worked for me:

Hand sand to 2000 grit. (It goes pretty fast after 400.)

Polish by hand using diamond paste compound on gauze pads. I used the green and yellow compounds (forget what the grits were). The stuff come in little jars or in syringes. It isn't cheap (about $7.00 for enough paste to polish 4 handles), but it works, and its the only thing I found that would give a high polish and wipe off clean. Save the gauze pads as long as you can, you'll use less paste. The stuff is available in most industrial supply houses (MSC, etc.). It's used by toolmakers to polish molds by hand.

I agree with bobH on using Rennasance wax as a final finish. It's what I used as a final finish.

Good luck,
Bob Couture (old_engineer)
 
I panicked when I polished my first White Micarta handled knife.The polishing compound turned black in every small unsanded part of the handle.I called my teacher, R.W. Wilson.He said to keep polishing (slowly) on a slow speed stitched buff with his white compound.Amazingly, in a few minutes, the scratches dissappeared and the handle turned white.Any brass, such as a guard or pins, will "bleed" over into the handle,turning it black.Wiping it off with an alcohol soaked cotton ball will clean it up nicely.
R.W Wilson can be reached at 1 304 723 2771.He sells the same products he uses on his own knives.
 
thanks for the input guys, i have a 6"x4" chunk left so i will give these methods a whirl.
 
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