blue jeans macarda ?

[skipknives]

Hay guys,,I was looking for some blue-denim macarda,
I saw a knife one of the guys did with this stuff and thought it was great.
I am not in a position where i think i could make it myself so i would like to buy some if it is available.
if i have to buy several sets of scales to make it worth your efforts,,I can do this.
Skip

[Andrew Garrett]

It's supereasy to make--just messy as h-e-double hockey sticks.

-Just cut the denim into 2"X 10" strips.
-Buy a can of that two part fiberglass resin at Lowe's.
-Lay out some wax paper on a piece of steel bar stock. The bar should be at least two inches wide. The wax paper should be wider.
-Use a small paint brush or just your fingers (in rubber gloves) to spread the pre-mixed resin and smush it into the fabric one layer at a time. I like to alternate mine from dark side to light side for good contrast when the handle is done.
-When you get about 20-25 layers, lay more wax paper on top and another flat bar of steel.
-Wrap the whole package in plastic a few times and squeeze the crap out of it in your vice over night.
-After it cures, cut it in half, grind off the rough edges and square the two scales up for easy use.

When I make a batch up, I'll PM you to see if you're still interested. Though, you should give it a try.

This is what my stuff looks like, but it all depends on the donor fabric.

[EdStreet]

indeed that's about all there is to it. I think a press was used on this one.



this is an old pair of wrangler jeans. What would look really good is some of the acid washed or the black and gold stuff from the 80's.

Ed

[Bob Warner]

Andy, what resin is it you are using? What brand? Can't find it on the web www.lowes.com

Bob

[skipknives]

yes Andy thats the picture i put on my screen saver,,i forgot you were the maker but i liked it.
(i diddo what Bob said)
before i try to make it in bulk i wanted to try some first.
And yes i'll buy some from you when the time comes,,thankyou
Skip

Ed,,did you make that pen,,i'm not showing that picture to my wife cuz she is a pen junky
and that one doesn't look cheap.

[Andrew Garrett]

Bob,

I used Elmer's All purpose Fiberglass Resin. It comes in one of those square tin cans like danish oil. The tube of hardener is in the plastic cover. It is 100% waterproof and hard as a rock.

Just be sure to use plenty of resin when laying up the denim. You don't want any dry spots.

[lelserg]

Yesterday I found this link: http://www.northcoastknives.com/nort...nts_tips14.htm
It has a step by step tutorial with pictures. I wish my last jeans did not end up in the garbage can

--
Sergiy

[EdStreet]

the real problem with making this stuff is the time crunch you are under and the pressure needed. The person I bought the denim pen from was saying the resin would set before you were able to put enough layers in place then apply pressure. Then again he was doing thicker materials to.

Here's a few shots he sent me of the workflow.




Also didn't someone mention heat generated?

Ed

[AcridSaint]

I made some of this stuff a couple days ago with bondo fiberglass resin, although it was out of a heavy linen type cloth, not denim. My sheet came out about 3x10" but I haven't cut the sides off and ground it yet, so I don't have final dimensions. It took about 1/3 of the can to make it. If I count the cost of the whole can and both halves of the material I bought, I'm into it for about $12. I still have enough material to make another sheet and enough resin to make two. So, it gets down to less than $5 per sheet, at least when buying cheap fabric.

Anyways, on to the questions that Ed posted above:
About the time, I used this in about 50*F weather and it set up very quickly. By the time I got to the last two or three of the 16 layers the resin was very thick, although it was never particularly thin. I understand that in warmer weather this will set up even faster.

As far as pressure goes, I just used clamps. I will use wood working clamps next time around, as the two C-clamps I used combined with the spring clamps didn't give me an even surface. You can see where the C-clamps could exert a lot more force than even the very large spring clamps. The material still seems to be very sold though, and I'll find out more about that this weekend when I cut it.

As far as heat goes, I didn't notice any significant heat when using it. I think that there is a minimal exothermic reaction in small quantities like the 10oz that I used. If you mixed several cans exothermic reacions might be a bigger concern.

If I had the option, I think I would use boat builders fiberglass epoxy next time. You can get low viscosity boat-building epoxy that has work times in excess of 60 minutes, as opposed to the 15 or so I get out of the bondo. I feel that the lower viscosity will make it easier to work with as well as get better penetration on tight woven materials. Also, the boat builders epoxy seems to have less tint to it. This will help with white or light materials like the white fabric I used, which came out very creme colored after using the amber bondo.

I've looked into this stuff a bit and I would love to use it, but in order for me to get it down to the same cost as the bondo I've got to buy eight times as much, not something the wife is going to approve anytime soon.

Anyways, hope that helps someone.

[Tony Graves]

The very best epoxy system I have ever used is the West System, mostly used by boat builders as noted above.

Try it and you will never look back.

www.westsystem.com

Check out the "User manual"

They have a biannual magazine that is free of cost for USA. The online section has many articles that are related.


Tony

[EdStreet]

there's a HUGE thread here about epoxy testing and it's quite HUGE, something like 17+ pages. they did all sorts of experiments. Because of that I threw all the crap I had away about bought locktite 324 speed bonder and E120HP. also west system was tested but golf shafting ranked higher.

Ed

[Doc Hollywood]

Ed, wasn't that epoxy testing done for attaching handles? I think they are talking about different epoxies for the use of making micarta.

[EdStreet]

doc, yea thats the one. I have some E120HP stuff (takes 2 hours for it to cure) I will try with some denim this weekend and post the results.

Ed

[Joel]

I've been making both denim and canvas micartas for over a year using the Elmer's 100% waterproof resin and it works perfectly. Here's a couple. Ok, three.

[skipknives]

Joel are you selling any of it??
Skip