Epoxy or something else?

[FiveAgst1]

Hi All -

I'm very new to fixing up knives. I've done little more than sharpening, cleaning and light refinish on wood handles.

Well now I have one I want to clean up, but there is a VERY small gap between the tang and wooden handle. Can fit a piece of paper in, but doesn't go all the way through. Do I fill with epoxy, clamp and then sand it down or should I be using something else?

Thanks!

 

[cotedupy]

Yep! Epoxy is very definitely your friend here.

If the gap is very small - the warmer epoxy is, the runnier it is. But NB it also sets quicker.

 

[Heckel7302]

If it’s not loose I prefer wax. Beeswax ideally. Fills gaps great and watertight, but isn’t glue so easier to get the handle off if you ever need to.

 

[Olsen]

I would recommend bees wax as well And asn Heckel7302 says you can remove the handle much easier

 

[FiveAgst1]

Will give wax a shot first. Figure if it doesn't work I can remove that and epoxy later. Can't go the other way easily.

THANKS!

 

[M1k3]

If the handle is already secure, use beeswax. If the structural integrity needs some help, epoxy.

 

[Heckel7302]

It the handle wa or western? If western, I put the wax and handle in a bag then put it in a 150 water bath to melt the wax. Once melted take it out and massage it in. Repeat a couple times. Every gap should be filled and the wood comes out nicely conditioned.

 

[cotedupy]

Will give wax a shot first. Figure if it doesn't work I can remove that and epoxy later. Can't go the other way easily.

THANKS!

Might be trickier than you think going the other way... epoxy won't bond to wood that's been waxed. You'd want to clean it very thoroughly and sand back a fair bit. Which mightn't be a bad idea anyway before doing anything if you can get a bit of sandpaper in the gap, as the tang will almost certainly have rusted.

(Though yep - still easier removing wax than than trying to get epoxy off completely! Which is almost impossible).

 

[Bensbites]

I would use thin superglue and accelerator to set it. The accelerator is options.

cover the surrounding area with beeswax/mineral oil, aka board butter. Fill the gap and harden with accelerator. Wipe off the extra, maybe even smooth it out with acetone.

 

[zizirex]

I like to use melt glue to fit a handle and let it overflow, remove excess and it will be tightly fit. if you want to remove it, just put in the oven for 5 minute

 

[P3454NT]

Hi All -

I'm very new to fixing up knives. I've done little more than sharpening, cleaning and light refinish on wood handles.

Well now I have one I want to clean up, but there is a VERY small gap between the tang and wooden handle. Can fit a piece of paper in, but doesn't go all the way through. Do I fill with epoxy, clamp and then sand it down or should I be using something else?

Thanks!

Hey mate, unsure if this has been sorted out now… but I saw that James from Knives & Stones uses silicon? Can be seen at about that 21:30 mark on his video:

 

[Jaeger]

I don't know if silicone is a good choice especially for non stainless blades. It can start rust...

For small gabs and holes in the handle, i prefer CA glue. Dip it in, let it dry and wipe off the excess or sand it. This stuff is like water and flows deep into the gab.

Cheers Fabian

 

[Nemo]

I'm pretty sure James uses hot melt (glue gun) glue rather than silicone.

 

[JoBone]

Neutral bond silicone is a good choice

 

[McMan]

Do you have a pic?

You're talking about an old full-tang western handle with gaps between scale and handle right?
If so, if you use beeswax, you're wed to that. As @cotedupy pointed out, epoxy and way don't play well together. The challenge is getting it to reasonable match. My suggestions is to mix with sawdust. You can buy a pen blank of a similar colored type/color wood for a few bucks on ebay and then make some sawdust. Mix that with the epoxy. I think some people have also used colored wood putty with good results (and that stuff dries hard, sands well, and is waterproof). I haven't tried this, but it seems like it'd be worth looking into.

On western knives, I don't like beeswax in the space between tang and scales. Holding/using the knife wears it away. On a wa handle, it's different and mostly stays put. YMMV.

 

[gregfisk]

If you’re going to use beeswax or maybe better paste wax like minwax you can heat it up with a heat gun. It will flow right into the crack and then harden nicely. Then simply rub off the excess and you end up with a nice finish on your wood handle as well. If you don’t have a heat gun Harbor Freight sells them for cheap.

 

[Jaeger]

This sounds good too