Micarta handles?

[nff]

so i'v been looking at making some micarta which is essentially fiberglass resin and whatever kind of fabric you can think of even paper. wich allows you to make a bunch of different grain combinations and colors. i know dovo had a micarta handled shaving brush but honestly it was rather boring looking. the black you could barely see the grain and in the tan it just looked like a really boring light wood. so if i could figure out a way to make micarta blanks large enough to use for handle making. there are some inherent advantages to micarta. which are it has nearly zero matinence needed asides from keeping it clean. and as it gets wet the micara actually grips more, the filler material as its exposed through sanding and turning exposes the filaments which will pick up a small amount of moisture and provide more grip. it will also darken the color of the micara and make it pop a bit more. it wont crack or rot. and you can use recycled clothing to make it.

but anyways i was wondering if there is a market for such handles? and if so what styles/colors would be best to make them in? here are some examples of micarta:
canvas

paper

denim

 

[Mike H]

Several members here have made micarta for razor scales. I have used paper, fabric, even coconut. Easy to make and easy to work with. A lot easier than G10. I think a brush handle would be very cool.

 

[cb91710]

Paper and fabric work well. Keep in mind that darker colors will bleed through lighter colors.
I've seen some beautiful Micarta done where the layups were twisted into a spiral before being compressed... gives almost a Damascus effect.

It's going to be tough to make something thick enough for a brush handle though, unless you have a hydraulic press.
What I would do is make multiple layups that might be the right thickness for a set of scales, then laminate them together to get a block that's 50mm or so thick.
That should give you something decent to take to the lathe.

 

[nff]

Paper and fabric work well. Keep in mind that darker colors will bleed through lighter colors.
I've seen some beautiful Micarta done where the layups were twisted into a spiral before being compressed... gives almost a Damascus effect.

It's going to be tough to make something thick enough for a brush handle though, unless you have a hydraulic press.
What I would do is make multiple layups that might be the right thickness for a set of scales, then laminate them together to get a block that's 50mm or so thick.
That should give you something decent to take to the lathe.

yea i was thinking of doing a multiple laminate for the blocks. its just trying to get them as seamless as possible.

hmm twisting the fabric would work well for making micarta rods since i was trying to think of a way of making the rods interesting to look at instead of layers of fabric disks.

 

[cb91710]

"Rods" is going to be a problem since you won't have a way to compress the assembly into a rod.
Remember... micarta is a substrate bound by resin... there is very, very little resin in the finished product... it's all squeezed out. Same with vacuum bagging aircraft parts... the point of pulling a vacuum is to draw the resin out of the composite matrix.

I was thinking vertical laminations... make 6 or 8 pieces that are maybe 3" x 2" and 1/4" thick, then laminate them into a block, then turn.
It will put a vertical striped pattern, rather than looking like stacked discs.

You can still do the twisty thing within each layer... would make for a very interesting pattern when you get into the turning.

 

[cb91710]

Some interesting info....

http://www.fendleyknives.com/LM105.htm
http://www.fendleyknives.com/LM105Pt2.htm
http://www.fendleyknives.com/lm105pt3.htm
http://www.fendleyknives.com/LM105_tough.htm

 

[nff]

"Rods" is going to be a problem since you won't have a way to compress the assembly into a rod.
Remember... micarta is a substrate bound by resin... there is very, very little resin in the finished product... it's all squeezed out. Same with vacuum bagging aircraft parts... the point of pulling a vacuum is to draw the resin out of the composite matrix.

I was thinking vertical laminations... make 6 or 8 pieces that are maybe 3" x 2" and 1/4" thick, then laminate them into a block, then turn.
It will put a vertical striped pattern, rather than looking like stacked discs.

You can still do the twisty thing within each layer... would make for a very interesting pattern when you get into the turning.

i was thinking of using a pvc pipe or something and then using a pipe with a end on it that fits inside to act as a piston and then like lowering the tractor on it or something lol. im sure the tractors heavy enough to squeeze the resin out.