white micarta ferrules

scdiveteam

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
I have an opportunity to purchase white micarta ferrules from my friend who is a retired known cue maker in the blue book. He bought the material in 1966. There is no question that this material is white micarta. I purchased a 1.00" X .560 ferrule for $ 100.00. I installed it on one of my custom cues that had an ivory ferrule. It plays real soft and quiet and in my opinion it blows away the ivory ferrule I had on my ebony cue. I might have got burned in the price but I am very happy with the change from the hit of my cue.

I have been in the cue repair business for over 5 years and have been building cues for 2 years and this is the first time I have had the opportunity to evalauate this material.

My question is did I pay too much or is that price ok.

Thanks,

Richard Gesch
 
you probably payed too much.i have never seen it go for more than $75 installed,but i guess it could gohigher.but the stuff that brings that big money is the yellow micarta.i don't think the white is very sought after.in fact Atlas sells white micarta right now very cheaply,but it cracks.this is only my opinion and i can't say for sure what you got,but i think only the yellow brings the big money
 
The white micarta use to sell from Atlas for about 2.80 ea. I was under the impression they stopped carrying it because it was know for splitting sideways.
 
I'd say you paid quite a bit too much for it...and that didn't include installing it...did this guy try and hawk it as the much sought after yellow micarta like that this is???
 

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scdiveteam said:
I have an opportunity to purchase white micarta ferrules from my friend who is a retired known cue maker in the blue book. He bought the material in 1966. There is no question that this material is white micarta. I purchased a 1.00" X .560 ferrule for $ 100.00. I installed it on one of my custom cues that had an ivory ferrule. It plays real soft and quiet and in my opinion it blows away the ivory ferrule I had on my ebony cue. I might have got burned in the price but I am very happy with the change from the hit of my cue.

I have been in the cue repair business for over 5 years and have been building cues for 2 years and this is the first time I have had the opportunity to evalauate this material.

My question is did I pay too much or is that price ok.

Thanks,

Richard Gesch
Click to expand...

Richard,

What color was the material when you got it?

About a month ago, someone sold a small block of white
Micarta that he got from an ex-Westinghouse employee,
for $100. That block was NOT the Micarta everybody wants.

Any of the real-deal would be sort of light beige by now.
After you cut and sand it, the color is very close to real,
aged Ivory, and will stay that way if you seal it.

You may have paid just the right amt. I have sold several blanks for
$100 ea - I charge the same $100 to install one, which is more than I
charge for Ivory, and I also prefer the hit of Micarta - I calculate,
there is NO more of this stuff, and there never will be again -
every blank I sell is one less blank I have to use in the future.

White vs yellow.

For those that care, the very much sought after
"old yellow Micarta" when it was still being made, was called
white Micarta. It was extremely popular with knife makers because
it started out off-white, much like Ivory that hasn't been bleached.

As it aged, it turned yellow-ish, much like real Ivory. The first cue I
ever 'made' has an old micarta ferrule that is now nearly brown,
but it has never been sealed.

Dale

............................................................................................
added:

The color in Craig's pic is dead on, after Micarta has been worked.
Note, there is a material some people have that is very similar
to this color - a definate yellow-ish cast, that also, is
not the old Micarta .
 
Last edited:
Dale, Thanks for the info and the education. The material I have looks like ivory when polished. I have seen the yellow stuff at Jim Sickles shop 2 years ago. At that time he told me that stuff was bringing about $ 90.00 installed. The stuff I have is old micarta and the piece I bought will produce about 200 ferrules.

I can't believe how quiet and soft the stroke feels with this stuff and a Morri.

Thanks for the info on sealing after finishing

Rick
 
i was curious how he went from 100 ferrules to 200 ferrules between threads and even more so,i would like to know how to get 200 ferrules out of a 14" rod.
 
BlowFish said:
Inquiring minds ask, you destroyed an Ivory Ferrule to put in a Micarta Ferrule?
Click to expand...

I play with the old stuff, I would toss ivory out everyday for the Yellow Micarta.
 
Yellow Micarta

Where was the micarta used and what was the application? I assume it was a structural insulating material? Was it removed as a hazardous material?
 
it had many uses and applications.lots of electrical insulation applications.it was deemed hazzardous b/c of the asbestos content.i have heard that there is a warehouse full of it unused that they can't sell and can't dispose of somewhere in the northwest states.i would like get access to that supply.
 
masonh said:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=84369&highlight=micarta


how much did you buy?
Click to expand...

Good catch.

I think we can safely conclude that what he has is definetly NOT
the desireable ferrule stock

1. color

2. rods

To continue in MR-know-it-all-mode,
Micarta was the Westinghouse brand name for its product line of
plactics, they made micarta in rods, but that was pheonilics,
not the old yellow stuff. It is not a phenolic, but it is a reenforced
thermoset(? - IIRC)plastic. The target market was as a substrate
for circut boards - and earlier as an insulator.

Schon, in the Runde days, bought sheets, I assume SW did too,
they have been out for years.

Dale
 
masonh said:
it had many uses and applications.lots of electrical insulation applications.it was deemed hazzardous b/c of the asbestos content.i have heard that there is a warehouse full of it unused that they can't sell and can't dispose of somewhere in the northwest states.i would like get access to that supply.
Click to expand...

With all due respect, That is prolly some kind of urban legend.

I was told about, 15 years ago, by the owner of a company that sold
to custom knife makers, that a group of them tried to get Westinghouse
to make one last batch. Offered $50k, W-hse passed.
Of course, 50 grand may not seem like much to a corp of their size.

Dale
 
i have heard it from several fairly knowledgeable people but you may be right.when asbestos based products were made illegal to make buy and sell,don't you think they had some already made up?i was told they are not allowed by law to dispose of it or sell it,so it just sits.
 
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