I know nothing about knife making but I thought I might get started a bit with a premade knife blank and then add the rest.

I ran across an interesting material the other day. My wife and I picked up a bunch of different samples of a flooring called Petrified Bamboo. Looks to me to be some sort of bamboo fibers in a resin. Anyway, some of it is quite interesting in grain pattern and it is tough. Totally impervious to water and most solvent and very hard.

Wondering if anyone had used it before. At $0.25 for a 4" x 5" x 1/2" piece it is certainly cheap enough to experiment with.

Sounds like it would work well, if you like the looks. I'd be careful about grinding, sanding it mechanically without a mask. Who knows what is in the resin?

I came across a post in a different forum discussing alternative types of handle material and what these makers/ artists came up with was fascinating. You can add resin to anything, such as horse manure, shredded paper, etc.
Hopefully someone knowledgeable on this forum will tell us more.

Now that might start a trend. Of course, after the horse shit market was saturated, the makers would go on to more exotic manure. Perhaps bullshit might be a option.

quote:

Originally posted by Karoo:
I came across a post in a different forum discussing alternative types of handle material and what these makers/ artists came up with was fascinating. You can add resin to anything, such as horse manure, shredded paper, etc.
Hopefully someone knowledgeable on this forum will tell us more.

True. Micarta is nothing more than paper, linen or canvas compressed with resin.

I've made my own micarta with layers of burlap and linen soaked in fiberglass resin.

Folks also stabliize wood and other matter by placing such items in a vaccum chamber. Pulling a vaccumn leaches out the air and that is replaced with the resin.

here is an example of "pine cone" scales on the left and micarta on the right.......




coconut husk micarta




cammo micarta



no end to what one can do with a little imagination!

ya!

GWB

An idea how much vacuum has to pull. I have a nice pump out of the OR but don't know if it is enough. Do you know of someplace to look that up? The pine cone is very nice.

Answered my own question. I found Cactus Juice Stabilizing Resin and the information on the vacuum requirements.

There are innumerable vids on youtube on how to stabilize wood etc.








or just google "stabilizing wood"

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/s...ozilla&hsimp=yhs-001


ya!


GWB

also all kinds of youtube vids about making micarta.


ya!


GWB

Without knowing anymore than I do about the videos and stabilizing wood, I recall that knife makers years ago talked at length about how toxic the process was and they preferred to send it out to a "pro" for that reason. Perhaps the epoxy, resin, whatever is different today, but I'd check into it. This is referring to the unhardened chemicals prior to hardening up.

BTW I am talking about stabilizing wood, not making micarta. Don't know if they use the same stuff or not.

I really like Micarta and G2.

Wood is nice, but needs more care. Exotic stuff is nice, but like wood it needs more care.

I have some mammoth tusk I need to make into a knife some day. It is stabilized, I just don't know what I want to do with it.

Jest fer schitz n giggles,


I too like mammoth ivory, but good stuff is getting more expensive by the day.


a sweet little "16 bore" by Rick Menefee






and one more from Rick





ya!

GWB

Wow everything about that 2nd knife is perfection.

Nice stuff.

I'll have to see if I can find that leather working tool he is using to make those squares and circles.

Makes a nice sheath.

The sheath is by Larry Parsons. He is on Facebook and has his own website IIRC
try "Parson's Leather".

GWB

Great, thanks. The edging tool is just called a camo tool. There are quite a few different ones.

Thanks again GW for posting your cutters for all us knife trash. I like it a lot.

A friend and neighbor was one of the best leather tool stamping maker anywhere. Jay Lynn Gore retired a couple years ago. I'm not a leather stamping person, but have several of his tools. I'll post a photo and of the custom box that holds them.

Thanks, probably Tandy Leather stuff. I can't find the stamps he is using on Tandy.

I'll have to ask around and see what I can come up with. Tandy will do custom stamps for people.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Thanks, probably Tandy Leather stuff. I can't find the stamps he is using on Tandy.

I'll have to ask around and see what I can come up with. Tandy will do custom stamps for people.

Tandy leather stuff!! You're joking.
HaHaHaHaHa

I would suggest that you do a little research on leather tooling makers. I think you do that, hopefully, before you commissioning a rifle or knife.



If you ever have a real tool in your hand, you will understand.

A note from Troy West, a known custom saddle maker.

Jay Lynn Gore was the head tooler for Billy Cook for 30 odd years. As a result he really knew what a good stamping tool was, often designing and fabricating his own out of nails or bolts or whatever he could come up with. He is really a very creative guy. I used to call him McGyver cause he could make something out of nothing and could blow up a city block with nothing but a sweet gum ball. When he left Billy Cook Saddles he tooled saddles for me for a number of years. He started making stamping tools in his spare time. His brother in law, Mitch Botts, encouraged Jay to take his tools to the trade shows, so they did. Mitch was really the push in the marketing area and Jay was the brains behind the tools. They went to the trade shows for quite a few years until Mitch was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. Jay hasn't been back to a show but continues to make tools, getting orders from the many people who had purchased from him earlier. He also lives near Greenville, Tx. where all the saddle companies are and they still order from him.

Jay still does a lot of tooling for a saddle outfit near Houston and still makes tools. They used to have a catalog and you may be able to get one still. I'm really not sure about that. You'd just have to give him a call. His tools are great and he knows how to make them well because he knows how to use them well.

He's a great guy too.

Troy West

One more post and I'll let it go. Jay Lynn has been my traveling buddy to benchrest matches from Arizona to Ohio and Georgia. We have traveled to Kansas City, Louisiana, Texas, Okla.,and St Louis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL1YXnRAd-A

I have some sources for more stamps than Tandy. I'll send some links when I get to the house.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Thanks, probably Tandy Leather stuff. I can't find the stamps he is using on Tandy.

I'll have to ask around and see what I can come up with. Tandy will do custom stamps for people.

Here's a few links.

http://www.leathersmithdesigns...ps-for-leathercraft/

http://www.zackwhite.com/Stamp...Craftools_c_358.html

http://www.weaverleathersupply...atalogListing/001/37

Micarta usually refers to Phenolic resin which has been around for about 100 years often used for electronic circuit boards and till used for that. Mixed with a fiber , cotton, linen, paper etc, is used for knife handles .Resin may be dyed.
G10 is an epoxy resin with glass fibers.

Stabilized wood is usually acrylic , vacuum inserted into the wood , sometimes colored. The wood then is mostly waterproof and needs no finish .My favorite for a working knife.