Working with white

[guarnera]

:banghead: I'm finishing a few kitchen knives. I used Ivory micata for the handles, but this would apply to working with ivory also. I find when sanding the handle that the dark grit from the sandpaper darkens the micarta. I've only sanded with 240 grit so far. How do you get around this? What am I doing wrong? And what should I be doing instead? Please, I don't want to hear that I should of used something else for handle material. I made a similar knife for my mother many years ago using the old formular ivory micarta, and it held up very well. I just told her never to put it in the dish washer, and always wash it by hand and dry it right away. Unfortunatly, she accidentaly threw it away when cleaning up the kitchen ( she's getting kind of old ). When my sister in law heard that she asked me to make her a new one, she wanted one also ( she had used it while visiting my mom ). Then of course my wife wanted one also. Anyway, the first knife was made so long ago, I don't remember how I got the handle not to discolor. Thanks for your help.

 

Tony G

[CProkopp]

Try the synthetic steel-wool sanding pads. You can usually find them in most hardware stores in amongst the sandpaper, or at fine woodworking supply stores. They come in 5 color-coded grits, look something like green pot-scrubbing pads because that's what the scrubbers are: the coarsest grit. Those will take you through the whole job, but if you want an even finer finish, use micromesh abrasive fabrics from such places as K+G or Woodcraft. None of these leave grit residue behind.

In my humble opinion, Micarta is the best material for kitchen and other heavily used and abused knives.

[Tim Crocker]

I have found that the scratches are what hold the color. As you go down through the grits it should resolve itslef. Dont use green rouge on it.

[Alan Longmire]

I have found that the scratches are what hold the color. As you go down through the grits it should resolve itslef. Dont use green rouge on it.

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Or red rouge. Stick with the white diamond compound for whit materials. I have some corian with a measles-like appearance due to red rouge.

[guarnera]

:banghead:  I'm finishing a few kitchen knives. I used Ivory micata for the handles, but this would apply to working with ivory also. I find when sanding the handle that the dark grit from the sandpaper  darkens the micarta. I've only sanded with 240 grit so far. How do you get around this? What am I doing wrong? And what should I be doing instead? Please, I don't want  to hear that I should of used something else for handle material. I made a similar knife for my mother many years ago using the old formular ivory micarta, and it held up very well. I just told her never to put it in the dish washer, and always wash it by hand and dry it right away. Unfortunatly, she accidentaly threw it away when cleaning up the kitchen ( she's getting kind of old ). When my sister in law heard that she asked me to make her a new one, she wanted one also ( she had used it while visiting my mom ). Then of course my wife wanted one also. Anyway, the first knife was made so long ago, I don't remember how I got the handle not to discolor. Thanks for your help.

 

    Tony G   

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Thanks guys, I'm not going to buff it as I find that the rivets ( S.S. ) oxidize and turn the buffing compound black and cause the same problem. I'll try the Micro Mesh stuff and then polish with the 3M polishing paper. The sanding pads have to much give and would probably take off more micarta then S.S.rivets and leave them sticking up as high spots. I need something I can use with a sanding block so I can keep everything flat. So I guess the Micro Mesh is the way to go. I"m not going to polish the micarta up to much anyway. Thanks for the sugestions.

 

Tony G

[sandpile]

You can stay with your regular sandpaper and just go down through the grits all the way to 1200. The darknest will take care of its self.

 

If you don't go all the way out on the grits---Later the sratches will fill in with darker grime and you will be able to see almost all of the sanding marks. This is how scrimshawing is done.. Filling in the marks with darker material.

 

Then polish it some, to get the rest of the marks out.

 

Chuck

Edited September 7, 2005 by sandpile