You know you've been grinding too much Micarta when...

CTaylorJr

CTaylorJr

Well-Known Member
You know you have been grinding and sanding too much red micarta when a sweat droplet falls from your nose onto your blade and you think you are bleeding! Yeah, the initial look at the drop on the blade was, "oh crap, my nose is bleeding"! :eek: Just too much dust, but since this was my first experience with the stuff I thought I would post my thoughts on it. I know this stuff is "old hat" to a lot of guys, but I am like a kid at Christmas!

I bought a "box of knife stuff" off of the popular auction site a few weeks ago and inside of it was a red board.

Now, keep in mind that I have been out of the knife world for a good many years and ALL I used in the past was wood for scales and handles. Heck, I didn't even know about stabilized wood until a few months ago when I found this web site and a couple of others, but I digress.

I looked on the net and found out what the "red board" was and then got excited when I saw the specs, how it works, and how it looks once you finish it!

I knew then that I was going to use that for the knife I am now working on (babying?) But, last night I came to the realization that since I have never used this stuff before, perhaps I should play with it a bit and see how it works.

I decided that a little blade I ground out a couple of weeks ago ( to see if I could still do it) would be a good subject that I could toss into the scrap metal bucket if needed, would be a perfect candidate for the Micarta...

I added the scales to the critter at 6:00 PM last night with 5 minute epoxy, inserted the pins, and then let it sit. My plan was to wait until tonight to play with it, but I couldn't stand it and headed to the grinder at 9:30.

I ground it down to the tang edge and as close as I felt comfortable up towards the ricasso before shutting the grinder down. Then I went to work with paper.

Long story short, I sanded to 500 and took the knife over to the buffer. I really wasn't digging the look of the stuff after the initial grind, after sanding it was so so, but after buffing I was IMPRESSED!

The stuff had the same luster as the top side of the finished board I started with and looked pretty darn good IMO! So I kept at it with the buffer, then went back to the bench and polished it with a little Flitz. WOW!

I like this stuff! It will NOT be a substitute for the wood that I love, but it will be great for some of the hard use knives I have in mind for friends and family!

Sorry for the long post, but I feel like I just went from dial up to a T3 with this stuff! LOL

Charlie
 
Micarta is good stuff. As you say, it will never replace good figured wood but it definitely has a place in the knife world. Easy to work with and very durable. Search around, there are lots of different threads here on how to finish it and whatnot.

For goodness sake, wear your respirator when grinding it; as you found out, it throws clouds of very fine dust.

Have fun!
 
A great finish is simple gun oil or WD 40.
Masks are a must. If your boogers match the G10 your sanding, then your too late.

Making knives is fun, but respiratory illness is not so much fun.

Good Luck,
Steve
 
I appreciate the concern folks! 2thumbs

Respiratory, eye and hearing protection are a staple for me. In my day job I'm a safety geek for a manufacturing company and have seen what happens without one or all of the above. It's sad to know that a life changing injury could have been prevented with a rather inexpensive piece of personal protective equipment that we supply!

The sweat incident occurred after I had removed the facepiece and was detailing a bit more on the blade itself. I was clean where the mask had been but quite pink everywhere else! :D

I'll try the gun oil tip this evening when I get home.

Charlie
 
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