http://www.balisongcollector.com/terminology.html
Actually a trademark of General Electric, but widely misused for similar materials from any manufacturer. Micarta is an engineered plastic material made from layers of paper, cloth, or linen impregnated with phenolic resin, pressed, and cured. It's commonly used to make electrical insulators, which is what I suspect it was originally intended for. It's also widely used to make fixtures and tools and other stuff in industrial applications since it is durable and yet easily worked. However, when polished, it can be very attractive, so it's often used as an insert material for custom balisongs. The layering gives depth and character. It has a "grain" similar to that of wood. Like a
natural material, no two pieces of Micarta are exactly alike. I'm told that it's quite easy to work with. It's resistant to most common solvents. And it can be made in just about any color you want.
Ivory-colored Micarta looks very much like real ivory. To make the resemblance even stronger, because of the layering, Micarta can be scrimshawed much like real ivory.
Pearl Micarta resembles Mother of Pearl but is much more durable.
I have a wonderful balisong with green Micarta inserts. Very unusual. It shows a lot of grain.
Micarta is also commonly used to replace ivory or Mother of Pearl on musical instruments and pool cues.
Micarta is not very expensive. Raw material sufficent to make a typical balisong is less than $10.
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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
