Kitchen Knife with Hamon

[ImadSultan]

Kitchen knife I made for the wife. 1095 with paper micarta handle. Let me know what you guys think.

[Wes Detrick]

I need one of those in my kitchen. Very nice looking; shape, hamon, and the handle. That paper micarta is sweet looking!

[Ben Noffsinger]

great profile on that one, looks like a pleasure to use!

[ImadSultan]

@Wes and @ Ben. Thanks guys. I really like how the paper micarta turned out.

[Miles Hebbard]

You make the paper micarta yourself? I'm keen on trying that!

[ImadSultan]

@Miles: I did make the paper micarta myself. Used fiberglass resin from either walmart or lowes (I forgot which store), and the thickest paper I could find at Hobby Lobby. Used off-white and dark blue.

[Miles Hebbard]

Thanks Imad, I was about to try canvas, but now I've changed my mind! Beautifull knife you have there!

[ImadSultan]

@Miles. Denim and Canvas are going to be a lot tougher than paper but you can get all kinds of colors for paper and it's a little easier to make for me.

[Wes Detrick]

Imad, can you explain a little how you make the paper micarta? I would greatly appreciate it.

[ImadSultan]

@Wes. Sure no problem.

 

I used:

Fiberglass Resin from either Walmart or Lowes (forgot where I got it). Used half of the container and still had a bunch left in the "mixing bowl". Paper uses up less resin than cloth.

Some kind of bowl to mix the resin. I used an old baking pan.

SUPER IMPORTANT: Latex gloves

Some thick paper for the micarta from Hobby Lobby cut into I think 7" by 3.5" (make sure you're not using anything water resistant. the material needs to absorb the resin). I cut the paper so that it's as wide as the 2 x 4, and a couple inches longer that what my scales needed to be because after the micarta is made you're going to have to cut off the edges and lose some material. Couldn't tell you how much paper I used. Used enough to go a little thicker than I needed it to be.

About a foot long piece of 2 x 4

2 C-Clamps that I had bought from Harbor Freight

Parchment (waxed) paper bought at walmart

My workbench.

 

The resin doesn't have a long working time so you have to move fast. This isn't the time to take pics. I mixed the resin thoroughly with the proper amount of hardener that comes with the resin using my gloved up fingers. I think I took a good minute to make sure I mixed it right. If you don't mix the resin and hardener thoroughly, the micarta will not get hard. I put down parchment paper on the workbench, dipped the cut up paper in the resin, squeezed any excess resin and placed it on the parchment paper, put the next piece without any resin on it because there's still going to be enough resin left on the last piece, and I kept alternating with one resin dipped piece and one dry piece till they were all stacked up nice and even on all sides. Then I wrapped the material with the parchment paper, placed my foot long 2 x 4 on top of it, placed the two C-clamps evened out toward the center and tightened them a little at a time till they were nice and tight (not too tight as you will squeeze out too much resin). I tried to get them as even as I could because if one of them is tighter than the other you can end up with a slanted block of micarta. I left it there for 3 days I think, took the clamps off, took the parchment paper off, and left it out for another day. At this point it's still going to have a bad smell because of the resin. After 4 days I cut off the edges and put the micarta in the oven for a few hours at the lowest setting, which was 200 degrees F. And that's how I made my paper micarta. It got so hard that I could not remove any material using a file. I had to use my 1 x 30 belt sander to sand it down and then use sandpaper to smooth it out. This was my second successful attempt in a row. The last time I used burlap. Looked nice but paper is easier to work with as it stays flat the whole time. The resin will make your whole work area stink so having windows and/or doors open if you can is recommended. I don't have a band saw. I cut it up using angle grinder. When you cut it and sand it using a belt sander, there's going to be a lot of fine dust all over the place so be sure to wear something over your nose and mouth. Don't forget the goggles of course. Put down the parchment paper or aluminum foil over a larger area than you need because when you tighten the c-clamps the resin will squeeze out. If it doesn't squeeze out right away, it will slowly come out after a few minutes. I've attached a pic of what the set up was like. Hope this helps. I probably forgot to mention a thing or two. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[Wes Detrick]

Thanks for that Imad! That was an incredibly good explanation. I will be absolutely using this process. I have been wanting to mess around with some micarta, and if I can make it that easy, there is no way that I will be buying it. The way you do it seems very easy, and fairly fool proof(so I say now ). Again, thanks Imad. This is great.

[ImadSultan]

@Wes.

It is very easy, especially if you use something that lays flat easily like paper. I haven't made Denim or Canvas micarta, which are supposed to be the toughest material after they've 'cured", but before this one I made some using Burlap and burlap doesn't stay flat so it's a little harder. I also forgot to mention that the wife was putting the cut up pieces in the bowl while I was working on the last piece and then she would give me a dry piece and we would keep doing that till all the pieces were stacked up, so having someone give a hand with the process was a big help. Good luck with your build and PM me if you have any questions.