All About Pocket Knives

Hi, I just finished my first re-handle job on a stockman. I used black paper micarta for the job. Here are some pictures of my attempt to work on a knife. I have never tried anything like this before. I really liked it and I plan to do more knives.

Looks good Kurt.
Did you use a hidden pin for the rocker pin?

Dale

Nice work. I like the looks of that black handle against the silver colored bolsters without the pins showing.

Phil

orvet wrote:Looks good Kurt.
Did you use a hidden pin for the rocker pin?

Dale

I used the back spring pin with a hole tapped into the back of the micarta scale and adhesive. Thanks for the positive comments, Philco and Orvet. I thought the micarta would be more glossy than it ended up. I sanded and sanded from 220 grit progressively to 2000 grit and buffed it with polishing compound and finished with carnuba wax. It shines but not as much as I had hoped for. I am going to give the knife to my Brother as a thank you gift.

kurt6652 wrote:I thought the micarta would be more glossy than it ended up. I sanded and sanded from 220 grit progressively to 2000 grit and buffed it with polishing compound and finished with carnuba wax. It shines but not as much as I had hoped for.

Kurt,
Is the micarta, paper micarta? If not it won't shine.

Assuming it is paper micarta, I would suggest you go back through your grits & sand again.
You have to be dead certain that there are absolutely no scratches on the micarta from the 220 grit when you change from 320 to 400 grit.

Let me try & explain that better.

I will usually sand in the following increments (we are talking HAND SANDING here):
220 grit,
320 grit,
400 grit,
500 grit,
600 grit,
800 grit,
1000 grit,
1200 grit,
1500 grit,
2000 grit,
Then I finish up with 4000, 6000 & 8000 3M Micron Paper.

The key is to be sure that each time you move a step finer in your sanding, for example from 320 to 400 grit, that there are only scratches from the last grit on the micarta, i.e. the 320 grit, when you move to 400.
Once you move on to a finer paper it is difficult to remove the scratches that are 2 or 3 steps coarser than the paper you are currently using.

Another trick with micarta:
Go to your local Auto Body Supply house and buy some pads they use on their random orbital air sanders. Those bad boys are way too much for something like a knife, but you can use the pad in an electric random orbit sander to smooth out your micarta. I like the 1000, 2000 & 4000 grit the best. The 500 grit will help get out the deeper scratches & give you a good smooth base to work from.
One word of caution: These pads are a special abrasive and on a sponge rubber pad, they cost about $5 each and you can get about 2 knives per pad. So……they ain’t cheep! Now you know why polished blades cost so much more.

Work the auto body pads in where they go in sequence by the grit.
When you are all finished up through the 8000 grit, move to the buffer.

If you have done a good job with the sand paper, you only need to buff it out with some No Scratch Pink on a loose buff. You should be able to see your reflection in the micarta.

Hope this helps,
Dale

looks good! A word of advise: customizing is, in my opinion, more addictive than collecting in the first place. I bought some blue and black "random" patterned Micarta last week. I can't wait to be able to use it.

Dale, Thanks for telling me the trick to getting it to shine(paper micarta). I am going to start all over again on the finish of my knife. I already started another project with a Remington bullet or moose. I removed the fire orange/red delrin and I am going to put some brown linen micarta scales on it.

orvet wrote:

kurt6652 wrote:I thought the micarta would be more glossy than it ended up. I sanded and sanded from 220 grit progressively to 2000 grit and buffed it with polishing compound and finished with carnuba wax. It shines but not as much as I had hoped for.

Kurt,
Is the micarta, paper micarta? If not it won't shine.

Assuming it is paper micarta, I would suggest you go back through your grits & sand again.
You have to be dead certain that there are absolutely no scratches on the micarta from the 220 grit when you change from 320 to 400 grit.

Let me try & explain that better.

I will usually sand in the following increments (we are talking HAND SANDING here):
220 grit,
320 grit,
400 grit,
500 grit,
600 grit,
800 grit,
1000 grit,
1200 grit,
1500 grit,
2000 grit,
Then I finish up with 4000, 6000 & 8000 3M Micron Paper.

The key is to be sure that each time you move a step finer in your sanding, for example from 320 to 400 grit, that there are only scratches from the last grit on the micarta, i.e. the 320 grit, when you move to 400.
Once you move on to a finer paper it is difficult to remove the scratches that are 2 or 3 steps coarser than the paper you are currently using.

Another trick with micarta:
Go to your local Auto Body Supply house and buy some pads they use on their random orbital air sanders. Those bad boys are way too much for something like a knife, but you can use the pad in an electric random orbit sander to smooth out your micarta. I like the 1000, 2000 & 4000 grit the best. The 500 grit will help get out the deeper scratches & give you a good smooth base to work from.
One word of caution: These pads are a special abrasive and on a sponge rubber pad, they cost about $5 each and you can get about 2 knives per pad. So……they ain’t cheep! Now you know why polished blades cost so much more.

Work the auto body pads in where they go in sequence by the grit.
When you are all finished up through the 8000 grit, move to the buffer.

If you have done a good job with the sand paper, you only need to buff it out with some No Scratch Pink on a loose buff. You should be able to see your reflection in the micarta.

Hope this helps,
Dale

nice job, no turning back now. Welcome to the club

I am glad I could help.

One very important thing to note about micarta: WEAR A RESPIRATOR!
Micarta is resin and paper or linen or in some cases fiberglass (I think that is called G-10).
Be sure you wear a full on respirator and not just a dusk mask.
A dusk mask won't remove smaller particles and it can really mess you up!

You can get a good respirator at Lowe's for about $35.
I am not shilling for Lowe’s, but that is where I got mine & just happen to remember what it cost me.

You have to be careful with the dust you make in a knife shop.
When you grind carbon steel and get some small particles of steel in your lungs, the carbon steel will rust and your body will get rid of the contaminates. However, stainless steel does not rust and so will build up in your lungs.

There are even some wood dusts that are very bad for you. Cocobolo can cause a severe allergic reaction in some people.


Hope this helps,
Dale