Thanks everyone for all the great info. Sorry I have been out for so long. Duty called. I tried to make some micarta not long ago and it turned out OK. I didnt heat it, but pressed it in a vice. I cut and filled it into a shank. It wasnt much good for anything else given its size. The next bit I made i used burlap as the material, it was strong, but burlap doesnt have a tight enough fiber structure to be as strong as some other I could have used. It was fun to play with any how.

JT