Need advice on finishing handle material

R

ryansmith9641

Member
I am new to knife making and have tried to figure most of it out myself and come up with my own style. One thing that has me stumped. I have tried useing linen micarta and some G10. The finish in them has come out dull and chalky. The finish I am trying to reach is not for it to be really shiny but atleast have some of the colors and layers to pop more. Any help with this would be great or point me in the right direction of a thread that has already been started. Thank you
 
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You can either go to higher grits when sanding and a light buffing or try sanding to somewhere between 220-400 and a coat or two of Tru-Oil with a vigorous rubbing in between coats. Another alternative is to wipe down the Micarta or G10 with a gun cloth (with G-10) after sanding to whatever grit you choose, that perks it up pretty well.

KnifeShow 033.JPG

Canvas wiped with a gun cloth.

Rudy
 
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I will try both of them. I have tried sanding all the way to 1000 but soon found out i wasnt doing very much. Thank you for the advice
 
Not sure if you have a belt sander but if you go up into the higher grits with a J-Flex belt and go to you lowest belt speed you can get decent results.
 
Thank you all I will try all the suggestions. Hope that I can finish one worthy of posting on here. At least one I feel is ok to post. Lol
 
After I finish with the 1"X42" sander, I go to sandpaper and then to sanding blocks.....It takes some work but that effort gets me to the buffer and I use white jewelers paste to polish the handle. I try to only get the material that will polish to a shine that I like.......
 
Taken directly off my grinder or after a little a little hand sanding (nothing too fine, I don't care for polished phenolics) I apply a liberal coat of WD-40 then wipe it off.
 
Mr.Svinarich said:
Taken directly off my grinder or after a little a little hand sanding (nothing too fine, I don't care for polished phenolics) I apply a liberal coat of WD-40 then wipe it off.
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That's interesting.......doesn't the penetrant (WD 40) darken the antler, wood or other material? Just curious!
 
Dave Broughton said:
That's interesting.......doesn't the penetrant (WD 40) darken the antler, wood or other material? Just curious!
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Yes it does darken most handle material. Some people like it on Micarta because it darkens it up a bit. But it wears away very quickly. There are dozens of tricks to achieve most finishing preferences.
 
Mineral oil! When you get done sanding as high as you want, wash it with soap and hot water, dry it, then coat it with mineral oil. Let it sit for a few minutes, then rub it down with a dry towel and voila dark canvas/linen micarta/g10 still grippy, no chalkiness.
 
I can't use Micarta any more because of the formaldehyde that's present, Bad headaches and G-10 turns into little fish hooks that only come out of your lungs after you have assumed room temp.

SO, its most important that you wear a real respirator when working with all knife making materials. Not one of those flimsy paper masks.
When I used a lot of canvas micarta I would only finish it to 220 grit so that it had a nice grippy feel and then use any of the already mentioned tricks to darken it. I would mostly load up the buffer with white rouge and buff and some times used the true-oil or WD-40.
 
rhinoknives said:
I can't use Micarta any more because of the formaldehyde that's present, Bad headaches and G-10 turns into little fish hooks that only come out of your lungs after you have assumed room temp.

SO, its most important that you wear a real respirator when working with all knife making materials. Not one of those flimsy paper masks.
When I used a lot of canvas micarta I would only finish it to 220 grit so that it had a nice grippy feel and then use any of the already mentioned tricks to darken it. I would mostly load up the buffer with white rouge and buff and some times used the true-oil or WD-40.
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I have quite a stack of different space and side material for my handles however I don't make many full tang knives. I've been wanting to but I can't seem to get away from the antlers and neo-tribal type knives........I am afraid of the Micarta and plastics and even tho the antlers can be toxic I generally stick with them.....
 
BTW, I work with gourds also and they can be dangerous when opening them up and the interior dust comes out. That mold within the confines of a gourd is capable of giving the person breathing the stuff a good case of intrinsic pneumonia......
 
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