I have a block of industrial Micarta that I was considering turning into some pen blanks. Has anyone turned Micarta before? If so, how does it turn? Any watch outs?
depends on the material used it can range from soft to impossible. The commercial stuff is often thin and either paper, linen or canvas based. The harder to work with materials include denim and the like.
the commercial stuff STINKS. I won't use it. Home made stuff, with old blue jeans (I prefer new stuff from Hancocks) and fiber glass resin is really good though.
Threading isn't very clean - so now I use threaded inserts rather than thread the micarta directly. Micarta | Newton Pens
Just saw this note. I have been making Micarta blanks using denim and other cloth. One thing I do once I have tubed them and they are ready to mount on the lathe I soak them in thin CA. Once I have it rounded, I will soak it again just to make sure the layers are still tight.