Wool tartan micarta???

S

scotsmanspride

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Jan 6, 2009
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Well as my screen name would suggest My family is originally from Scotland and believe it or not I made kilts for around 6 years for a living. I have tubs and tubs of scrap remnants that I have Neve found a use for until now. Has anyone ever done micarta from wool. And if so what were the results? I have seen one set of scales but never heard how they held up. And help would be great. About to try a few goes at it in the next week. Here is a bit of the wool i have. More bins packed away...
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I am thinking about using the bottom left brown arizona state tartan for my spyderco bushcraft.
 
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yep, you can definitely make Micarta out of wool. shoot me an email and i can talk with you about it.
 
Like i said i can probably make enough scales for 50 plus knives if i wanted due to the ridiculous amount on fabric i have left in rubbermaid bins. If the first one turns out good these may end up posted for sale. Most people wouldn't use this fabric because it is far from cheap. $60-90 per yard is a big kick in the balls for someone just wanting to make knife scales.
 
The only problem I would expect is the lanolin in the wool keeping the epoxy from wetting out. You might need to do some kind of degreasing step. It's worth a shot though if you've got scrap fabric.
 
artmichalek said:
The only problem I would expect is the lanolin in the wool keeping the epoxy from wetting out. You might need to do some kind of degreasing step. It's worth a shot though if you've got scrap fabric.
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Yeah, I'd agree that might be an issue. Depends on how processed the wool is.
Try rinsing in Naphtha to remove the lanolin if you feel it is an issue.

I would make sure that your manufacturing process included a vacuum step after you have added the epoxy to the wool. This will help remove any air pockets and improve the wet-out of the fibers.
 
I don't have a vacuum sealer, which as much as I hunt is surprising. Maybe I should send the fabric out to someone.
 
i make it from plaid wool material all the time.

what's great about it is if you find where the pattern repeats and lay it up with every layer repeating the pattern under the next you can texture the final product and keep the original plaid pattern intact.

i've made Micarta (i call it A La Carta ;)) out of just about everything, even $1 bills (and of course that was for a custom $nody! :))
 
WOW! As a Scotsman myself:D I think this is a very cool idea!!

I would love to hear how it turns out, and if you successfully make some, I would definitely be interested in purchasing some slabs to make knifehandles out of:thumbup:

Keep us posted.......
 
Ok, do I know this is an old thread, but what was the final outcome? Did someone successfully make tartan scales?
I’m new to knife making and was recently gifted a small pile of off cuts of tartan.
my first knife is a Sgian dubh, and would very much like to put tartan scales on it.
 
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