Made my first batch of Micarta......

Craig, how much did it unravel??? I know when I am roughing mine out, like with a 60 or 80 grit belt, it gets pretty fuzzy looking and I can often pull some fibers out, but once I go to 120 or 220 grit, it's solid. The fuzzies are normal at coarser grits.

I went through 50 pumps (8cc for the resin, 4cc for the Hardener) of epoxy resin/hardener for the 6x11" mold piece, yikes!! A lot squeezed out, and the thick bottom pieces took a lot of epoxy for each layer. It's hard mixing the correct amount that you will need. I did 30 pumps, and then two more batches of 10 pumps each when I saw I would be needing more. Looks like around 20 oz was used. So $170 for 1.5 gallons of mix total (2:1 ratio), 20oz per 6x11 block, I can get 10 6x11 blocks 3/8"-1/2" thick for $170 in epoxy, or $17 per block, plus fabric cost. It's definitely cheaper to buy the store stuff, but for custom colors, it's worth it. $32 cost with fabric and epoxy, but I should be able to get 4 knife handles out of the block easily.
 
Sorry for the delay, been busy!!

Mold with the top plate on the left and the 2 small pieces of wood in the mold itself. These are around 1/2" thick and serve two purposes. One, when taped in place, they keep the fabric from squeezing out and 2, they help me compress the material to 1/2" thick so the slab is more even heightwise. I will eventually get some metal plate cut out, but the plywood is thick enough not to bow under the pressure of 10-12 C clamps:
Mold.jpg


Slab of Camo from this weeks molding:
Camoslab1.jpg


Got a few creases in it from the top piece of parchment paper wrinkling. The slab is thick enough that I should be able to sand out the wrinkles. I put the whole mold into a big ZipLock bag, but the stuff stuck to the bag anyway, so I will be bagging it, then the parchment paper over the bag.

Did a green/black stack this week, too. 4 layers of black bottomweight on the bottom, 2 layers of Kelly green Denim, then alternating black/green. Around 1/2" thick.
greenblack2.jpg

greenblack.jpg
 
Wow! You don't mess around do ya?!!! When you make a batch you really make a batch!! I kinda made something similar but much smaller. I welded two pieces of angle iron together yesterday. I did not put any thing at the ends though, I might wana do that! Thanks for posting the pics!!!

Martin
 
I use the wood at the ends so it's removable. Helps to be able to pop those ends off to get access to the material if it doesn't want to come out of the mold easily. Some scrap wood works well and just duct tape it in place. I figured I used around $40 in material to make the 6x11 which I should be able to get at least 4 handles out of. I have a knife to do up for a friend of mine, and I wanted to have some in stock for other orders. Gotta do up a Blaze Orange Camo batch this week for another order.
 
Taz575 said:
Craig, how much did it unravel??? I know when I am roughing mine out, like with a 60 or 80 grit belt, it gets pretty fuzzy looking and I can often pull some fibers out, but once I go to 120 or 220 grit, it's solid. The fuzzies are normal at coarser grits.

This was my first batch that I made from what I learned on You Tube . I was using the Home Depot brand of resin that they sell. I thought I was running out of time and got in a hurry. I may have not used enough hardener or resin also. When I took it out of the press I was using, it looked great ! I glued the Scales to a knife. Started sanding with 80, 120 and 220. Was looking good when I hit several layers that just peeled up ! I Checked the rest of that batch . I could tell were it was coming loose. Decided to toss that batch. I have made several more batches using Bondo resin that I get from Wal Mart and have not had a problem since!
I think my main problem was just being in a hurry, being afraid to loose the working time I had. Then end up with a big ball of resin and cloth:mad:
Click to expand...
 
I haven't had that issue yet! First batch I used I had the slow hardener and it was like 45 degrees out, which gave me 69 min of work time at 50 degrees and 23 min at 77 degrees. The fast hardener is like 7 min at 77 degrees and 21 min at 50 degrees. I can also mix the slow and fast hardeners to change the times a bit. In the winter, I put the slabs near the wood stove once they are set and I will build a light box for the summer to dry wood and heat up the slabs to cure quicker. In the summer, I will use the slow and the light box to cure it quicker. I let it sit for a few days after unmolding to make sure it's fully hard. Working with it when it's not fully hard is crazy difficult and clogs belts, drills bits, files, etc!

The hardware store bondo stuff is OK, but it's really dark colored. The MAS is clear and will take on some coloring from the materials used. The green/black layered fabric turned the epoxy a bright green where it oozed out from the mold. Once you mix it, pour it out onto a foil tray. It will make a thinner layer and build up less heat and give you more working time, plus the bubbles will be easier to pop, too. I use the trick when putting epoxy on fishing rod guides to extend the pot life before it starts to stiffen up.
 
I am so glad I found this post! I can not thank you guys enough for sharing. I had no idea it could be that easy.
Just had one question, how many pieces of denim did you use to get a usable thickness?
And thanks again!
 
I think 22 pieces of denim gave me 1/2" thick IIRC? 18 or 20 gives you around 3/8" thick, but it will depend on the thickness of the denim itself, too.

In the green/black layered piece, 10 layers of green denim and 10 of black bottomweight (I think??) with 2 layers of green and 4 layers of black made the piece right around 1/2".
 
Green Black Layered shaped out:
BGLam.jpg

bgLam2.jpg


Working the latest batch of Camo today, hope to have pics tomorrow maybe? The blaze orange camo is curing.
 
The layered stuff is pretty simple and quick to do. Do yourself a favor and get a rotary cutter. Makes cutting the strips and pieces so much quicker than scissors!!
 
I shop at Jo Ann Fabrics usually. We get flyers constantly with coupons in them. I wait until the Denim goes on ale for 40-50% off, then bring the coupons for the non sale items that are 40% off. Plus I get the remnants, which are 50% off. Last bill rang out to $173, got it down to like $88 after all of the coupons and stuff.
 
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