Storebought epoxy for glueing liners to liners

A

AndyBillipp

New Member
I'm putting together some handles, and need to attach the wood scales to two pieces of plastic liner material. (So it will be: tang, black liner, red liner, wood) I'll use blackened JB weld to attach the finished scale sandwiches to the tang once they're dry, but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a clear epoxy that i can find at home depot or lowes that will be good for gluing the liners together and to the wood. I'm in a bit of a hurry and don't really have the time to order anything.
Thanks
 
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I would not recommend any clear epoxy that you can find at a hardware store but, if you do get some, avoid the store brands and stick with brand names. Loc Tite seems to be good. Each time I've tried to save a little money with the store brands the stuff wouldn't set. I would recommend that you go with Acraglas bedding compound or a marine epoxy. They do not tend to break down over time. You could check to see if there is a gunsmith or gun store locally who sells bedding compound. A boat dealer may carry the marine grade epoxy.

Doug
 
Doug pretty much summed it up. I would not buy clear epoxy from the store, they are designed to break down in around 5 years. The only thing I would recommend would be a gunsmith and get some bedding compound or marine epoxy as he said, but do not buy the normal epoxy from the store, its better to be late on the production of a knife than send out one that will not last.
-Cameron
 
Look for a local West Marine store for the West Systems marine epoxy(not affiliated with each other).

It is usually kind of pricey, but they always have it in stock in my local store if I'm in a hurry.
 
Hmmmm , I've been using Devcon 5 min , 2part epoxy for 8 years now. My customers are my friends and have heard no complaints yet.
Ace Hardware here carries it.
 
+1 on Loc-Tite. I like the pack with two seperate bottles instead of those dang syringes that always seem to leak on the bench.

Plus it's 3 times the price for 5 times as much epoxy (IIRC)

-Josh
 
For micarta liners I use CA glue. It works well foir me. It attatches itself better than most epoxies although I have read many times that West Systems epoxy is a great product. Frank
 
From the hardware, maybe Devcon 2 ton - and not the 5 minute version of this or anything. If you have an Acklands Grainger nearby, Loctitite 330 Depend is outstanding. Made in BC and available at lee valley among others is Industrial Formulators G2. The last was what I used on those steak knives that went through commercial dishwashers for four years.

Rob!
 
I have to dissagree Rob !!!
When I first started out I did some testing with Devcon 5 min , and a store brand 30 min epoxy. I had 2 knives that looked like hell on the blade. I went ahead and finished the handles , bolth Dymondwood ,brass pins. After a 24 hour set time I finished bolth handles an proceded to hit them with a hammer. Very controlled blows, from all directions. I did the Devcon one first , then the store brand one. The store brand one failed in half the bolws that the other one took.
From that point on I have used Devcon 5 min on EVERY knife I have made , not one failure yet , I gona guess at about 250 knives.
I'm sure there are some better epoxies on the market , but I can get the Devcon for about $4 per "syringe" pkg and that will do about 2 -3 knives. I like the syringe better because it is an even amount of each part.

Just my $.04
 
As I recall from the "glue wars" thread first place was a Loctite 2 part instant adhesive. Second place was Gorilla glue. None of the epoxy formulations did well. Wood handles were glued to metal and given harsh treatment like diswashers, freezers, etc then then hammered to see if the wood still stuck.


edit---- I should have mentioned that the Glue Wars were on another knife making forum and the addition of pins changes everything. When you use pins, glue is more of a sealer and is not required for brute strength.

ernie
 
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also from grainger there is loctite depend 2. it works plastic to metal. you have to put in vice and bend 90deg. to brake. do not know about wood to plactic
 
Devcon makes a 30 Min, 24Hr total set that I've used for years,.
Also their 5min version. Gorilla glue is really tough stuff and I haven't had a failure with it ether. Loctite 2 has held it's own but I have only use that the past year or two.

That is the wood, Liner & Tang epoxied or Gorilla Glued then bolted together with Loveless Type Bolts.

No failures in over 15 years except a Hog hunter That purchased one of my knives on the secondary market called and said that he had been hammering on bone with one of my knives with a framing hammer for about the 8th Hog this year and a handle side came off & it broke the blade.

Was that covered under my warranty? My first words were you did what? Ever hear of a Saw?

Please Send the pieces to me so I can see the Damage, And I will contact you about what we can do!
It never can in the mail?
I don't think any Glue or Epoxy will stand up to that for very long?:hammer: :s12201:
Let alone eight Hogs worth of Hammering!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
I stand corrected. I remember reading earlier that most store bought epoxies are designed to break down in 5 years, but I read that a while ago and I'm sure there are parts I don't remember. lol
Well life is about learning. Never would have thought about using gorilla glue for that, good to know if I'm in a pinch sometime.
-Cameron
 
ArtinNC said:
A Qusstion ?? when useing Gorilla Glue they have more than one type , witch one???
Click to expand...

It's the brown stuff for wood and everything thing.
They make a white kind now,I bought some but haven't tried it. There was something in the directions that made me put it aside and just keep using the brown stuff.

A couple of things to remember are that the glue reacts with water and then when hardening bubbles and foams a bit into any crevice.
That's one of the things I like about it, What you have to watch is your front area near bolsters or blade depending on what kind of knife you are making.

So don't don't apply it too heavy towards the recassio and if any does foam out there have a clean cloth and acetone or some other super cleaner to clean the form off the steel. then let stand for 24hr.

I glued up three Paring knives with it yesterday and the will be ready for finishing clean up with a 220G and then up! when I open tomorrow, I used some G-10 scales and Stabilized woods and the Gorilla Glue really fill and seal everything together.

Cheers.

www.westsidesharpening.com/
 
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I have been using the 2 hr clear stuff for about a year. Before that I used the original gorilla glue that takes over night to set.

They also sell Gorilla superglue. It works a lot better than standard superglue. Just don't use it for temporary tasks like drilling scales, you can't knock it loose like regular CA glue.

ernie
 
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