Burlap and brass

[Joel]

A swedish maker over at British Blades(Praktis) had shown off a knife with a handle made from burlap and cotton cloth a while back and the idea caught my fancy. I've been making my own Jcarta, as I call it, for about a year now out of canvas and denim. ? had four blades laying around that all shared the same handle design, but each has a different blade(droppoint, semi-skinner, clip and spear) and I thought it would be neat to handle them in some straight burlap Jcarta. Three of them are out of 1/8" 154CM and the semi-skinner is from 1/8" D-2; all HT'd by D'Holder. Blades average 4.5"and OAL's are around 9". These first two still need sharpening and sheaths.

[EdStreet]

quite interesting. i was thinking about burlap the other day when going over micarta and g10 stuff. glad to see someone else is making micarta as well! what resin are you using?

Ed

[fitzo]

Cool stuff. Nice knives!

[Joel]

I've been using Elmer's All Purpose Fiberglas Resin(100% Waterproof) that I get at Lowe's.
I tried the Bondo Marine Rated, but had problems with it de-laminating; although that may have been my fault. Both use hardener in different proportions. Two things are different about using burlap vs canvas or denim. First is it requires twice as much resin. I use 1 cup of resin to layer 22-24 layers of canvas/denim, but need 2 cups to do the same amount of burlap. All those holes, you know. Second; the burlap is more like an organic version of G-10 than canvas micarta. The "fuzziness"you get with canvas/denim isn't present. It's actually at its most grippy at around 120#, although I'm taking these knives up to 320# because of the trim. You're essentially substituting a loosely woven cloth for loosely woven fiberglas cloth in the normal G-10. I've taken some test pieces up to 1200# with some interesting results. BTW I get my burlap at Walmart($1.67 a yard). I started out using old feed/seed sacks, but they're a PITA since you need to wash them, and then cut around all the small holes, stains etc. At that price, I'd rather get the new(I don't wash it,just use as is).

[NJStricker]

Joel,

At 22-24 layers, what thickness are you getting for your handle material? And are you using any colorants with the resin, or are you just using the color of the fabric material?

Nathan

[Don Robinson]

That makes a neat pattern. I like it. It's interesting that it leaves a smooth finish.

[Joel]

Originally Posted by Armory414

Joel,

At 22-24 layers, what thickness are you getting for your handle material? And are you using any colorants with the resin, or are you just using the color of the fabric material?

Nathan

So far, I haven't used colourants, but it's on my agenda. I do dye my canvas micartas using RIT dyes, but in this case I was thinking about just adding dyes right to the resin, since you have all those pure resin holes. Never having done that, I'm gonna have to experiment. BTW, I leave the material clamped for 24 hours before removing them, and then cure the slab for at least 3 days at 70F. The bandsaw with 3/8"coarse blades cuts the excess off, and my grinder with old 50# belts smooths most of the slab. I also run the slabs down my 8" disc sander to get them level. That's why I make them slightly thicker than the usual 3/8".

[jdm61]

so using your formula, you would need about 90 layers and about 2 quarts of resin to get a 1 inch plus thick block suitable for hidden tang knives? How big of a piece ate you making in that 24 layer configuration?

[Joel]

Originally Posted by jdm61

so using your formula, you would need about 90 layers and about 2 quarts of resin to get a 1 inch plus thick block suitable for hidden tang knives? How big of a piece ate you making in that 24 layer configuration?

That's a lot of resin and layers..you'd have to be REALLY quick to put that together before the resin started to harden.
I saw/grind it until I've two pieces that are around you're more- or-less standard 5" x 1 3/4" x 3/8"; although I'm not fanatical about the final measurement.

[Raymond Richard]

That really does make an interesting handle material. Does it have a texture you can feel?

[Joel]

Originally Posted by Raymond Richard

That really does make an interesting handle material. Does it have a texture you can feel?

At 320, it's still sliightly rough; as you head down towards 80 it gets much more texture without being "fuzzy". My next series of blades with it will be without bolsters or all that trim, and I think the sides, at least, will be 120 and the top/bottom 220. Ireally don't like the idea of leaving the tang any rougher than that.

[Alberto]

The knives and burlap look great!!
Alberto

[JADknives]

Thats pretty cool.

[Andrew Garrett]

Too cool!

[skipknives]

I agree,,very cool