made some micarta

[AUBE]

I haven't had the yak jerky yet but I've tried quite a few other odd stuff including alligator pizza.

You're not the only one that avoids the beaches. While I was planning my move here our local postal worker was planning a move to Alaska. Each time we saw eachother we would update our progress....I looked forward to the warm weather, he was eager for snowshoes and dogsleds. Actually after a few years of beautiful beaches and hot weather I'm starting to crave alpine forests, remote mountain areas, and changes in the seasons. Eventually we will probably live in the US for a few years, then here for a few years to get the best of both worlds.

Sorry to get off topic. To get back to the subject matter heres some composite I made from canvas/linen material that I dyed myself. In my case dying canvas drop cloth was less expensive than buying dyed canvas. So if you don't have access to the colors you want you can always give dying a try. (the white color in the photo are camera glare..I'm bad at photography)





Slacker, we're looking forward to seeing the finished product, its looking good so far, keep us updated.

[metal99]

Wow Aube, that micarta looks great! and those are some really neat blades! I think I will dye some natural canvas myself. I can get all the polyester or acrylic "canvas" scraps i want for free from an awning shop here but I tried a small sample of micarta with it and the polyester is a definate no go. It delaminated with no trouble at all. The acrylic was actually fairly strong I had to jam my knife into it and pry really hard to get it to peel apart. Compared to the cotton stuff I made it is still weaker. The acrylic sands and polishes alot nicer then the cotton micarta but its not quite as strong. The only thing I dont like about the micarta I made with cotton was the micro bubbles in it, they show up as white dots and it drives me nuts.

Slacker, I cant wait to see your micarta in a larger piece!!!

[AUBE]

Thanks,

The best way to get around trapped air this is to draw a vacuum on the composite to suck the air out, but it takes more equipment to do. A professional pump is about $250-500 then you need special bagging materials, tubing, etc. If using vacuum infusion instead of vacuum bagging you often need special resins with very low viscosity.

Most people just use the hand lay up method. For hand layups what I do is pour a thick line of resin, then place a piece of fabric over top of the resin so the resin line is in the middle of the fabric. I then use a roller or spreader to push down on the fabric so the air escapes out the top and the resin follows and soaks up through the fabric. Then pour another resin line on that piece of wet fabric and repeat the process. When I'm all done I use a hydraulic press to press the fabric to force out excess resin which makes the composite stronger, and usually forces out remaining air pockets.

If you just get the fabric wet with resin and stack it together you will end up with lots of bubbles.

As for polyester/acrylic fabrics...most resins are not made to adhere to them. They do make special resins that stick to plastics much better but they are also much pricier. I use one that I pay $60 for 8ounce. Compare that to the $30/gallon I pay for epoxy or $10/gallon I pay for polyester resin. Using a cotton blend material will make your life easier. If the fabric is very porous without a glossy sheen that really helps too.

[WynnKnives]

Really diggin the green knife, handle, blade, the whole package is impressive. I've done a bit of micarta making myself, but not quite to that extent of success. Looks good, but occasionally end up with air pockets as described above. But now have some different ideas on how to do it.

I've also found you can make some pretty cool designs by twisting/folding etc. to the cavas, basically same idea as damascus

Looking forward to seeing the finished product slacker

[Matt Bufford]

Just an update on this one. I finally got around to slabbing this stuff up.

Really happy with the results, maybe some brighter colors next time.

[WynnKnives]

Thats slick I like the design... I just want to use it, in my book thats a good knife

[metal99]

Right on man! I'm jealous everybody is getting knives finished and I'm sitting here looking at mine wondering when I will be able to finish them lol. I have been kida sick for a while so my energy is gone by the time I get home from work. I cant wait to see that handle polished up man!!!

[Matt Bufford]

I finished that knife up finally. The micarta worked perfect, and I ended up doing a superglue finish over the handle to make it sparkle. The patina on the blade was more accidental than anything. I initially tried using some cold bluing - not even thinking about the fact that D2 wouldnt be very receptive to it. So the coloring was out of whack, so while I was sanding off the bluing, I noticed it was turning into more of a antiqued looking blade - and I liked it, so I rolled with it.

Overall, I'm happy with it. I'll probably give it a little more time with the scotchbrite though.

[metal99]

Looks good man