The Little Becks

JWheel said:
Did you make the homemade micarta? If so, I'd love to see your process in a thread.
Click to expand...

I did make it. It's been a few years though, so I might have some of my information wrong- I'll do my best to be accurate (and if I find out I told you wrong I'll edit this post to correct it). It really wasn't that hard. I used old denim from a pair of torn up jeans- just washed them, cut the fabric into rectangles and moved onto the next step, which was laying out a piece of parchment paper on a hard, smooth surface that you don't mind possibly getting resiny, pouring a little bit of fiberglass resin (I used 3M brand according to one of my old posts) onto one piece of denim, rubbing it into the denim until it's saturated with a gloved hand (use latex or nitrile gloves- you'll never be able to reuse them and you don't want resin seeping onto your hand), adding another layer of denim, and repeat the process until you reach the desired thickness. Add another piece of parchment paper on top, some smooth wood that you don't mind possibly spilling resin on (I think I used a few of those half inch thick by inch and a half wide flat gardening stakes), and putting a heavy weight onto the top (my weight was about 30 pounds of steel). Let it cure for a day or two and you've got workable micarta.

The parchment paper leaves the micarta smooth and clean when you pull the paper off. It doesn't stick to everything or become a part of the micarta like normal paper would.

I was told to not wear any jewelry on your hands or arms, for fear of it getting coated in resin and possibly attached to your hand.

Hope this helps!
 
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thatotherguy said:
I did make it. It's been a few years though, so I might have some of my information wrong- I'll do my best to be accurate (and if I find out I told you wrong I'll edit this post to correct it). It really wasn't that hard. I used old denim from a pair of torn up jeans- just washed them, cut the fabric into rectangles and moved onto the next step, which was laying out a piece of parchment paper on a hard, smooth surface that you don't mind possibly getting resiny, pouring a little bit of fiberglass resin (I used 3M brand according to one of my old posts) onto one piece of denim, rubbing it into the denim until it's saturated with a gloved hand (use latex or nitrile gloves- you'll never be able to reuse them and you don't want resin seeping onto your hand), adding another layer of denim, and repeat the process until you reach the desired thickness. Add another piece of waxed paper on top, some smooth wood that you don't mind possibly spilling resin on (I think I used a few of those half inch thick by inch and a half wide flat gardening stakes), and putting a heavy weight onto the top (my weight was about 30 pounds of steel). Let it cure for a day or two and you've got workable micarta.

The parchment paper leaves the micarta smooth and clean when you pull the paper off. It doesn't stick to everything or become a part of the micarta like normal paper would.

I was told to not wear any jewelry on your hands or arms, for fear of it getting coated in resin and possibly attached to your hand.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Very interesting!
 
thatotherguy said:
I did make it. It's been a few years though, so I might have some of my information wrong- I'll do my best to be accurate (and if I find out I told you wrong I'll edit this post to correct it). It really wasn't that hard. I used old denim from a pair of torn up jeans- just washed them, cut the fabric into rectangles and moved onto the next step, which was laying out a piece of parchment paper on a hard, smooth surface that you don't mind possibly getting resiny, pouring a little bit of fiberglass resin (I used 3M brand according to one of my old posts) onto one piece of denim, rubbing it into the denim until it's saturated with a gloved hand (use latex or nitrile gloves- you'll never be able to reuse them and you don't want resin seeping onto your hand), adding another layer of denim, and repeat the process until you reach the desired thickness. Add another piece of waxed paper on top, some smooth wood that you don't mind possibly spilling resin on (I think I used a few of those half inch thick by inch and a half wide flat gardening stakes), and putting a heavy weight onto the top (my weight was about 30 pounds of steel). Let it cure for a day or two and you've got workable micarta.

The parchment paper leaves the micarta smooth and clean when you pull the paper off. It doesn't stick to everything or become a part of the micarta like normal paper would.

I was told to not wear any jewelry on your hands or arms, for fear of it getting coated in resin and possibly attached to your hand.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Parchment paper!
I had read about using plastic wrap and wax paper previously, used the former on my first batch for the 16, and the latter on my second batch for the 24 and 7. Both stuck to the resin and needed to be ground and sanded off.
Otherwise, that's pretty much the deal. I used burlap, and built a hinged press that I clamped shut for 3 days, but the concept is the same.
The Bondo resin at home improvement stores sets way too fast and contains wax, so really isn't ideal. I like the stuff at TAP plastics, but if I were to do it again I'd go whole-hog and get the US Composites 400 series.

Back on topic, I really like the 24, can get a solid 3 finger grip on it (XL hands), and can cut a LOT before the D2 needs to be sharpened. I didn't care for the choil on the 11, or the weak 3-finger grip, so I ground the crap out of it to make it a mini 15. Kept the bottle opener, though. And added wood scales to that one.
 
tjswarbrick said:
Parchment paper!
I had read about using plastic wrap and wax paper previously, used the former on my first batch for the 16, and the latter on my second batch for the 24 and 7. Both stuck to the resin and needed to be ground and sanded off.
Otherwise, that's pretty much the deal. I used burlap, and built a hinged press that I clamped shut for 3 days, but the concept is the same.
The Bondo resin at home improvement stores sets way too fast and contains wax, so really isn't ideal. I like the stuff at TAP plastics, but if I were to do it again I'd go whole-hog and get the US Composites 400 series.

Back on topic, I really like the 24, can get a solid 3 finger grip on it (XL hands), and can cut a LOT before the D2 needs to be sharpened. I didn't care for the choil on the 11, or the weak 3-finger grip, so I ground the crap out of it to make it a mini 15. Kept the bottle opener, though. And added wood scales to that one.
Click to expand...

You got a pic of that modded 11?
 
JWheel said:
That's awesome.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
It was a big project.
Spacers here are .012 red and .020 black G10. The red's so thin it's somewhat transparent. Kinda wish I had just gone .030 red.
And you can see where the citristrip leaked through the blue tape on the "BK&T" side of the 15.
 
You did a sick job of trying your own hand at it. Something tells me you like slicey knives
 
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