Manmade Materials

See Accompanying Color Chart Below

Delrin (Acetyl Resin, Acetyl Plastic)

Delrin was created by DuPont as a metal substitute. It is a friction reducing, tough, lightweight, wear resistant plastic, and is approved for use in the food handling industry. I've used it before for chef's knives, where high temperatures, water resistance, and sterility are an issue. It is very tough, and has replaced other more brittle cellulose based plastics, and is used to make many things, including guitar picks. It's great for dive knives, as it cannot absorb gasses under pressures. The issue is bonding. Delrin has to be chemically etched before being bonded by epoxies or cyanoacrylates, but adhesive bonding with mechanical fasters can be effective. It is available in white, natural, and black.

Micarta (Phenolic)

This is the mainstay for the custom knife manmade or synthetic handle material industry. Micarta is a phenolic plastic, originally developed as an electrical insulator. It is a great material, and is often called the “Cadillac of Plastics.” It is moderately hard, though metals and abrasive compounds will scratch it. It is very tough (resistant to breakage). It does not bend easily. It can be injected into many fibrous materials, like woods, linen, fiberglass cloth, canvas, paper and just about any fiber and  I imagine that you could make a micarta with dead bugs as a substrate if you wanted (hey, neat marketing idea!). The fibers reinforce the phenolic, making it even tougher and more resistant to breakage, though in knife handles, particularly if supported by the metal tang of the knife handle, this is probably overkill. So the fibers, arrangement, and color are chosen mostly for two other reasons: appearance and texture.  

My most commonly used Micarta is black canvas, and when bead blasted, takes on a gray appearance, going well with bead blasted stainless steel blades. Here are some examples:

Here are some other colors and textures I commonly use. When bead blasted, they take on a much lighter tone:

There are obvious appearance properties of color choice, like a blue or red paper line in an ivory mass of micarta that looks neat. Camouflage colors or bright colors also have their appeal. Micarta comes in just about any color, and here's a list of some that are available. The color is followed by the name of the reinforcing material (paper, fiber, linen, etc.) Not all colors come in all sizes.

See Accompanying Phenolic Color Chart Below

Though there are a whole rainbow of colors available, you won't see many on my site used in custom knives. My clients simply do not request odd colors that often. The most popular choice is black canvas, which is then bead blasted for a rough, gray color, and some "tooth" that can aid in gripping the knife in slimy environments, the most often being seawater (not blood). Micarta that has been bead blasted will darken with the oils of human hands, but can be restored by a cleaning with denatured alcohol, lacquer thinner (use carefully and sparingly) or even brake cleaner aerosol spray.

Micarta is waterproof, resistant to heat, a pretty much "zero care" plastic.

Please note: Micarta is usually used on my tactical knives, and not used on knives with elaborate construction, destined for collector's grade finishing and accoutrements. Knives of this higher caliber usually include gemstone handles and exotic skin inlaid leather sheaths. I've had to limit the amount of micarta handled knives I make during a year. So if you insist on a micarta handle, you may have a longer wait time.

See Accompanying Color Chart Below

Phenolic Impregnated Woods

Sold under the brand names Pakkawood®, Dymondwood®, and Staminawood®, these are actually plywood products, usually constructed from birch. Dyes are vacuum impregnated into the wood, then the wood is pressure impregnated with polymer or phenolic resin at very high pressures, then highly compressed into plywood blocks. With the high compression rates and solid massing of the material, this creates a very dense, solid wood product, that is pretty much waterproof when wet. They can be a bit brittle when used in thin cross sections, though hold up well on knife handles. They're warp free and stable. Though I don't use these often (some of the colors are quite garish), some clients request them and I'm happy to accommodate them. These stabilized laminates are very durable, polish brightly, and are long lived, some of the only waterproof wood products available. Great for clients who wish for a wood look, but require high moisture and exposure resistance typical in combat arms, kitchen knives, and hunting and specialty knives.

Dymondwood:

See color picture below this chart

Nylon

Nylons are a group of plastics, and thermoforming synthetic polymers. Nylon can sometimes outperform metals in applications like gears and rub plates, where high abrasion must be considered. Nylon 6/6 is the strongest over the widest range of temperatures, and has the highest melting point. Nylon has very high impact resistance, is very stable at a wide range of temperatures, and has good chemical resistance. A special use knife handle material, Nylon is available mostly in black, white, and natural.

Pyralin and Cellulose: Alternative Mother of Pearl: (mother of toilet seat!)

Pyralin is one of the names for a manmade material that is used to imitate mother of pearl, or nacre. It is essentially celluloid. Celluloid evolved from nitrocellulose and DuPont and the explosives industry in the early part of the 20th century. Naming cellulose "pyralin" was an attempt to portray it as a more natural, not manmade material. DuPont pushed Pyralin in their use for "modern, stylized toilet ware" in the early 1930s, so many toilet seats were made of this material. After all, it looked pearly and expensive, and who wouldn't want to be reminded of the ocean while they're in the bathroom? Craftspeople would later cut up the toilet ware and use for musical instrument inlays, knife handles, and artwork to imitate the limited and expensive real mother of pearl. It is still used in some forms today for knife handles, mainly to imitate natural materials, and sometimes to create visual interest with garish colors and patterns. I do not, nor will I ever use the stuff! No good maker in his right mind would; it is a cheap, valueless material typically found on foreign or poorly made knives. I just thought you might like to know the history.