Why is the black canvas micarta called black when its not??

Strabs said:
The company is not misleading anyone. Research Micarta and you'll understand it's manufacture.

Black Canvas Micarta = BLACK phenolic resin impregnated layers of canvas sheets. The canvas fibers are exposed to more surface area from the tooling giving it the grey appearance.:thumbup:

Wet/oil a slab or take a scale off and look at the back. My guess is that the greener "black" Micarta is either canvas of a greenish shade (I've even seen Busses with a real yellowish canvas showing through) or a kitchen sink of left over resin colors that are used to impregnate it with.
Knife manufacturers are not likely the largest consumers of Micarta...so there is probably quite a few batches of left over colors that get tossed together. I believe Jerry once mentioned that the "Camo" (aka "Snake Skin") was originally a result of such a quagmire blend of resins that is very difficult to repeat consistently. I imagine "Tiger" was a similar fluke.

Canvas Micarta is stronger and more durable (yet probably cheaper) than the paper or linen grades. The denser the fiber and denser the epoxy gives a more visually true color as you see in G10.
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now that I think about it, it wouldn't suprise me if the canvas itself is either grey or white to begin with. with the color mixture being in the resin, whatever canvas is at the surface is actually closer to white.
 
I always thought it looks more green than anything. I really appreciate the fact that when your hands do get wet that the grip seems to improve.
 
Last Visible Canary said:
now that I think about it, it wouldn't suprise me if the canvas itself is either grey or white to begin with. with the color mixture being in the resin, whatever canvas is at the surface is actually closer to white.
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I actually like the canvas showing through heavily. It actually seems grippier and "softer".
I once asked Jerry if the batches of handle materials vary with canvas density or thickness, etc. and told him I really dug the furry handles. Well, I think he then realized that he might be able to get away with stretching dull cutting head life because there are is a breed of "Special Hogs" that get all happy about the furry handles:o;):D
 
Strabs said:
The company is not misleading anyone. Research Micarta and you'll understand it's manufacture.

Black Canvas Micarta = BLACK phenolic resin impregnated layers of canvas sheets. The canvas fibers are exposed to more surface area from the tooling giving it the grey appearance.:thumbup:

Wet/oil a slab or take a scale off and look at the back. My guess is that the greener "black" Micarta is either canvas of a greenish shade (I've even seen Busses with a real yellowish canvas showing through) or a kitchen sink of left over resin colors that are used to impregnate it with.
Knife manufacturers are not likely the largest consumers of Micarta...so there is probably quite a few batches of left over colors that get tossed together. I believe Jerry once mentioned that the "Camo" (aka "Snake Skin") was originally a result of such a quagmire fluke blend of resins that is very difficult to repeat consistently. I imagine "Tiger" was a similar fluke.

Canvas Micarta is stronger and more durable (yet probably cheaper) than the paper or linen grades. The denser the fiber and more complete saturation the resin gives will provide a visually true color as you see in G10.
Click to expand...

Some people have no sense of humor whatsoever. :thumbdn: I was joking when I said I felt misled! I thought that was obvious...but apparently not to some people. :rolleyes:
 
Strabs said:
I actually like the canvas showing through heavily. It actually seems grippier and "softer".
I once asked Jerry if the batches of handle materials vary with canvas density or thickness, etc. and told him I really dug the furry handles. Well, I think he then realized that he might be able to get away with stretching dull cutting head life because there are is a breed of "Special Hogs" that get all happy about the furry handles:o;):D
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I agree 100% about the grippier handles. Very few of my Busses have G10 for this reason. I love it when I pick up a knife and it grabs me back. :D

I never oil my handles either. In fact, when they start getting too full of oils from my hands, I'll wash them to try and get that new Canvas Micarta feel back.
 
jeepin said:
I cant stop thinking about this. Why does Busse call there black canvas micarta black when its not?, the black G10 is actually black.
Im very confused. :confused:
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I blame the French! I am not sure what they have to do with micarta, but I am sure the French are the reason it is not black.

But then, I just like to blame them for everything.


I think a good explanation (aside from those danged Frenchies) is to look at your jeans. Take a dark black pair. The blackest cotton jeans you can find. Now wear them a lot, and rub them on sandpaper. That same midnight black, will eventually turn lighter, and may even get some gray spots. It is the nature of the cotton fabric. You dye it, but it was not "born" black, and it really doesn't want to be black.
 
I like the Busse black micarta color a lot, but must admit, haven't given it much thought at all. I just likes it.
 
I just want to know why snakeskin micarta is called snakeskin when it doesn't have any snakes in it?

Talk about misrepresentation!

Lesson; don't buy snakeskin. In fact, I'll buy all your snakeskin micarta just to rid this misleading filth from the marketplace. But only if it's snakeskin on satin. And also only if it's GenIII handles.
 
Grimspoon said:
I just want to know why snakeskin micarta is called snakeskin when it doesn't have any snakes in it?

Talk about misrepresentation!

Lesson; don't buy snakeskin. In fact, I'll buy all your snakeskin micarta just to rid this misleading filth from the marketplace. But only if it's snakeskin on satin. And also only if it's GenIII handles.
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And here's another lesson I'm willing to help with. :thumbup: For those nasty rope handled Busse's. Just send them my way, because their really hard on your hands.
I'll be more than happy to dispose of them properly just to help you guys out. :)
 
tanto boy said:
I always thought it looks more green than anything. I really appreciate the fact that when your hands do get wet that the grip seems to improve.
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Couldn't agree more. I've had canvas micarta from other manufacturers that was certainly grey when dry but the stuff from Busse and SR in the last year or two has a definite green to it even when wet.
 
Grimspoon said:
I just want to know why snakeskin micarta is called snakeskin when it doesn't have any snakes in it?

Talk about misrepresentation!

Lesson; don't buy snakeskin. In fact, I'll buy all your snakeskin micarta just to rid this misleading filth from the marketplace. But only if it's snakeskin on satin. And also only if it's GenIII handles.
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++++ 1 on what you say....Snakeskin is BAD:D:p


BTW...Just put a little mineral oil on that Black Canvas...or use it and it will get darker










I so wish I would of gotten more of it when I had the chance:grumpy::grumpy:
and I work at Busse.....DRATS:grumpy:
 
the reason there is NO GREEN micarta is because jerry has been using it instead of black micarta and thats why there's a shortage of black paper micarta.




.
 
Black Canvas Micarta takes on an almost translucent sheen when polished up after using a very fine grit sandpaper. Still not as black as Black G-10, but very nice IMHO. This is a Fat Warden I rehandled some time ago. The last pic was taken with a flash to try and show up some of the translucency.

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notsnhoj said:
Black Canvas Micarta takes on an almost translucent sheen when polished up after using a very fine grit sandpaper. Still not as black as Black G-10, but very nice IMHO. This is a Fat Warden I rehandled some time ago. The last pic was taken with a flash to try and show up some of the translucency.
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I've noticed that too, I've been taking to sanding my black Micarta handles with 600 grit sandpaper, then 1500, and finally 2000. it never gets black like the g-10, but the way it ends up, kinda reminds me of a pair of black jeans that have been lacquered.
 
I think someone said to use black shoe polish, but I think that just turns EVERYTHING black. If you use neutral polish it really brings out the depth of the black. You just have to try it to see what I'm talking about.
 
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