At 480 degrees and above, phenolic resin chars until it hits its self-ignition point at around 1,000 degrees. Phenolic resin is a thermosetting resin, meaning it can stay virtually unscathed in working conditions up to 480 degrees Fahrenheit (250 degrees Celsius) and is resistant to steam.

When considering the performance of your micarta, the resin is the lynchpin of the operation. Layer the resin-soaked sheets together, tightly clamp the layers, and let them dry. Then, soak sections of your substrate in phenolic resin, which is the glue that holds substrates together. This could be anything in the burlap, linen, or canvas family of materials, or a composite material like fiberglass or carbon fiber.

Making micarta starts with deciding which substrate you want to use. In this article, we use “micarta” as a generic term for all laminates made with phenolic resin. However, since its beginnings as a material for knife handles in the mid-20th century, it’s become the Kleenex or Velcro of the knifemaking world. A caveat before we continue: Micarta is a brand name and only applies to the laminates created by Norplex/Micarta in the United States. From 1912 on, Micarta has been owned by predecessors of its current trademark holder, Norplex/Micarta, by whom it’s produced today. In the beginning, he called micarta “Risienite” but that name was lost in favor of its current name.

The origin of micarta dates back to the year 1912 when a man by the name of George Westinghouse, an American entrepreneur, used a phenolic resin (“Bakelite”, specifically, created by Leo Baekeland) on paper and cotton fabric to make high-performance electrical insulation. When it comes to the outdoors, micarta is ideal and some even argue that it provides a better grip when wet. The fact that micarta can weather extreme temperatures and that it does not become brittle over time makes it the perfect material for things like electrical insulators. For example, when it comes to aerospace, it’s used to make passenger compartments and window frame supports because it’s a good insulator, and it’s lightweight, which are essential in an aircraft setting. As a result, micarta is lightweight, strong, dependable, good-looking, stable, and cost-effective. If you find yourself asking, “What is Micarta made of?” and you notice a subtle woven texture or layering in your micarta knife handle, you are halfway there already! Micarta is a composite formed from layers of a substrate (cloth, paper, and carbon fiber, to name a few) compressed and set in resin.

Gerber micarta knife cci