Micarta experimentation

I used cheep waxed paper. That might have been the problem.
No vacuum bag was used. I used boards, and clamps.
It took around 100 layers, which was 10 yards of denim, and
1 1/4 gallons of epoxy. Layup was done about 1/4 inch at the time,
and it turned out real nice.
 
Well got my 4th block rigged up now, starting to get more fluid at this
149889_1742072674070_1306305885_1949838_3529578_n.jpg

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Wound up forty layers of the green cloth, the thinner material was harder to work with, it would move whenever I touched it. Probably going to be really thin, but Ill I'm going to go for a pin construction so it won't matter as much, 2 days and then we'll see.
 
Very interesting thread. I have made one attempt at this so far - probably about a year ago. I intend to try it again and this is just serving to push me that way.

Not to hi-jack the thread but - that rifle stock is impressive. Beautiful work. How much does that thing weigh?
 
arrow-360 said:
I used cheep waxed paper. That might have been the problem.
No vacuum bag was used. I used boards, and clamps.
It took around 100 layers, which was 10 yards of denim, and
1 1/4 gallons of epoxy. Layup was done about 1/4 inch at the time,
and it turned out real nice.
Click to expand...

That is a great looking rifle stock. That may be one-of-a-kind!
 
Alright, its about time to wrap up my experimenting now, I've found a setup that will work wonders every time. This last slab turned out interesting, what started as an olive colored fabric, when mixed with the brown fiberglass resin, turned into a black color, which when sanded gets a green tint to it until you reach higher grits. Once I get back from running the St.Jude marathon tomorrow I will finish up the KOS I'm testing out my pin construction method on with this slab.

I'm looking at also building a "micarta tree" to make and have multiple slabs curing on at once.
 
here is the second kso made with that last run of micarta, its makes for an interesting color that's for sure.
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i love making micarta. my next trial will be a combo of old grey jeans and black cloth. i compress mine with a 1 ton press, too much pressure though and it will push the goopy mixture out of one side.
 
The general idea is there, but there is more I would like to try, and now that I have my forge built I'll be able to start working some serviceable blades to make handles for. One thing, has anyone tried making micarta around a knife? I'm looking at taking one or two long strips of fabric dipped in epoxy and wrapping em around the handle of a knife with a good distal taper, hopefully I can get a good hidden tang build with that will give unique grind patterns.
 
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