Is this tang good to go for gluing?

[Ericfg]

It's pretty rough due pitting from moisture. It's a Western carbon blade BTW. I've cleaned it with a few vinegar soaks and wire brushing and I plan on pinning it as well but the question is... is it good to go at this point?
I'll be using wood scales and an epoxy.
PS. Rec me a good epoxy for steel and wood, please.

 

[Heli]

I use this with great results, Amazon is your friend.

 

[Illyria]

T88 is what I use.

 

[cotedupy]

Looks grand to me. The pitting will probably help the epoxy too.

I use Araldite 5 min, which works grand for me on wa handles. Tho another member here said he preferred a longer setting epoxy for scaled handles, to give him time to properly align everything, which makes sense.

 

[billyO]

Part of the answer depends on exactly what you're looking your end result to be. If it's just a functional knife, then that tang should be OK. However, you will most likely see evidence of the pitting in the handle/tang joint after clean up. If you're looking to make it look like 'new', you will have to sand the tang flat on both sides at least enough to remove all pitting around the perimeter of the tang. If you do this, I'd go no finer than 60 grit, because the scratches will provide little undercuts for the epoxy to grab onto. (I'd also sand the scales flat with no finer than 60 grit either.)

As far as epoxy, the general rule is the slower setting epoxies tend to be stronger than the 5 minute stuff. However, I recently came across a thread in another knifemaking forum where a very respected Master Smith (from the ABS) commented that he has used JB Weld and cheap 5-minute epoxy over the years and has yet to experience any failures due to his choice of epoxy. In general, a kitchen knife will probably experience less abuse than a EDC, hunter or bowie, so you're probably good with whatever 2-part epoxy you use. Pay attention to the color of the epoxy, you might not like to see a white line between the tang and scale, but you might like that, but the pitting will be more apparent.

Have fun and make sure you share pics of the final product.

 

[Ericfg]

Hi BillyO, thanks for the detailed and well thought out response, I appreciate the effort.
Yeah, the edge of the tang's nearly as pitted as the surface and I will smooth it out some, but not much. It's a 100 year old blade that's seen plenty of use so I plan on only moderate refurbishing. (Aside from the new handle.)
Thanks for the info on epoxy. I was surprised the first time I used white epoxy; I got free white spacers! Was not expecting that. I'll go clear this time for sure, as well as using a lot less of it.
It's a big tang so there will be lotsa surface area for epoxy to grip on to and then adding pins will make it, hopefully, close to bulletproof. Plus, the knife is so big (13.5" blade) that I doubt I'll ever use it for anything other than showing off.
I certainly plan on sharing images when I'm finished. I've taken pictures after almost every step in the refurb process and plan on uploading them when I'm done.

 

[Ericfg]

Have fun and make sure you share pics of the final product.

Here's a couple shots. Came out as well as I could have wished although only time will tell if my new handle will last another hundred years.
edit: I forgot to add; that dark piece of wood right by the bolster is part of the original handle material. I wanted to keep a piece of the old with the new.

 

[billyO]

Looks good. You did a good job. Congrats!