Linen micarta

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

Had a repeat customer send me two chunks of linen micarta.  One for me, one for him.  He was deployed to Kosovo for the last year so he bought the stuff online when he was there, and he's bought so many calls from me I told him just to send me a chunk and I'd make him a call from it.  Just wanted to give the guy something to look forward to once he got back to the states.  He sent me a chunk for my own use, which I thought was nice. 

This is my new favorite material.  Smells awful and makes a ton of dust.  Hard to work, but look at how cool it looks when done.  I'm wet sanding it, then buffing it, then wiping it with BLO.  The band is stainless, all polished up.  The gutsert and the band are downstairs right now with the JB Weld setting up.  I'll post pics of the completed call in the next couple days.

[MarshRat]

  Nice looking barrel ya got there.

[jcz]

I like that long band ya got on it. Hurry up and get it finished up so we can see all of it.


You know glue dries faster when you hover over it.   

[VECtor Calls]

 

Nice looking barrel man.  That is some REALLY cool stuff!  I hear folks talk about it every once in a while.  WHAT IS IT actually?

Parker

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

WHAT IS IT actually?

Parker

It is a hard plastic of some sort that has thousands of layers of fabric in it.  It kind of looks like really tightly woven denim with tiny threads.  I also got a chunk of paper micarta from the same guy....That didn't go nearly as well. 

[VECtor Calls]

Is there something that it is 'normally' used for?

Parker

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

Not 100% certain, but I think that micarta was developed a long time ago and had similar uses to Bakelite.....Computer motherboards, radio circuitry boards and so on. 

The way I understand it, linen micarta is very tough to get and is pretty expensive. 

[Jon @ JRwoods]

Shot in the dark here but isn't micarta another form of phenolic?  I was thinking phenolic is the material and micarta was the brand name.  Like acetal and delrin?
I used to machine a lot of phenolic when I worked in aircraft.  There's a lot of it in the forward cabin area of planes, panel spacers, electronic mounts, and a ton of little annoying parts that just had part numbers and drove me crazy with the dust. 

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

I think that's right Jon.  The linen micarta, in the dimensions needed for callmaking, is about as rare as unicorn horn. 

[BigB]

Linen micarta isn't that hard to come by.  There are a few folks that make it still today.  The stuff that is rare as a unicorn horn is the Linen Micarta made with asbestos that was manufactured by Westinghouse.

I have heard that paper micarta likes to split apart, so it doesn't lend itself very well to callmaking.  Linen and canvas micarta do make some nice calls.



Brian

[Aaron at Wingerts Woodworks]

Brian if you know a source I'd sure appreciate it.  I'd like to get my hands on more of this stuff. 

Here's the finished call. 

[crookedneck]

Here is a site that sells the Micarta or G10.  The hard part is finding stuff large enough to turn a call out of.    This site has black and natural micarta in blocks large enough for calls.
http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/micarta.htm#G10-Black

Alot of knife makers have started to use this stuff for knife handles.  It is an extremely durable material.  I believe it was developed originally during the WWII time frame by or for the military.  I believe it was first designed for a type of armor.  This stuff is not very Eco friendly..... according to studies it can be emersed in the ocean for years and pulled out with no sign of break down.

I hope this helps a little.  Other knife making sites might have more options.  The color combos on some of this are awesome.  Just a thought you may be able to laminate some of the thinner pieces together.  Not sure how that would turn out on a lathe though.  I'll hit my Dad up as he uses this stuff alot.

Mike

[Ulrich's Custom Calls]

Great looking call. Always love seeing what you come up with and really like your call shape.

[Honk1493]

Nice looking call Aaron!!!!     Mark

[Andre's Wood Works aka: TheDecoyDude]

I know this must be one of the worst newbie questions, but I can't figure it out... What is BLO? Also where do you get it and is it easy to apply? I know this isn't in the right section so if you want move this message to where it belongs. Whatever the case that is a sweet looking call!