|
Working with Micarta
Cornelyj,
Thought I would throw in my two cents on the micarta.
You are right about wearing a repirator. If you can see it when you blow your nose it is probably in your lings also. Yeah, I know you would think it is common sense but most guys will tell you they are not as careful as they should be.The other thing you may want to do is have a vacuum ready. We always try to have the vacuum running whenever we create any dust from micarta. The reason being that the dust gets everywere. Even after you are done working with it can take days or months to get out of your shop or off your machines. This is also a good practice if you are blasting alot of micarta becuase over time your blasting media will end up with a good amount of "Micarta Dust" in it.
If you are used to working with hardwoods you will find that micarta is not much different, and in some ways easier to work with. It does tend to dull your tools faster than wood. Additionally, if you are going to use corby rivets or pins to secure your handles, be careful if you are going to blast the micarta after shaping and attachment. The micarta will blast away faster than most rivets and you will end up with raised rivets that look terrible.
Hope this helps,
Curtis
|