A comedy of errors almost at an end...

C

Cthulhu

Joined
Mar 23, 2000
Messages
94
Hey, humm, how to start...

About a month ago i decided to start making knives, ive lurked on this forum for allmost half a year now and am just now deciding to post my first message. I started out with a good piece of O-1 toolsteel. (Im am very thankful i live withing ten miles of admiral steel
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) I decided on a simple drop point to start out with, until i whent a little crazy with the file.. SO I made a clip point bowie instead! I than spent about 5 hours trying to get the bevel to somthing close to even. Next I glued on the handle material ( Some really neat grained wood from one of the slats in the really old bed i sleep in) and filed and sanded it to shape. My next step was to come home five hours later, smack myself in the forehead and shout words that were so caustic some fast-black began to float in the surrounding area. I had glued, and allowed to set the handle material, BEFORE I heat treated the blade. YYAARRRGH! So im now at a point where i can either finish the knife as is and hang it on the wall as a showpiece, or, i can find someway to heat treat the blade with the handle, or somemethod of removing the epoxied wood from the tang. I tried putting it in the freezer over night then whapping and trying to twist the handles apart, no go. I dont much fancy filing the wood all the way of of the handle. So, what do I do? Any help would be greatly apreciated
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a propane torch will make the epoxy let go once you get the metal warm/use a screwdriver and pry it off...then clean it off with acetone, or let it dry and sand it smooth.

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
You might try soaking it in laquer/epoxy thinner also. I'm not sure what this would do to the wood. It doesn't hurt the wood when you use it to strip off laquer for refinishing, but soaking is a different story.

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It'll feel better when it stops hurting.
 
Tom's torch method is the best. Epoxy that cures at room temperature softens drastically at 200-300 degrees F. You aren't going to heat the blade up red hot or anything like that. I usually use a sharp putty knife and a hammer to slip under an epoxied slab. While the material is hot the putty knife also scrapes most of the left over epoxy easily. Then soak the knife in xylene for a couple days. At that point use steel wool to remove the remainder.
 
Howdy There....!
Sorry about your problem with the handle, but don't feel too bad because we have all done it or something very simular. I agree with Tom and Jeff, use a propane torch to heat the blade up enough to make the expoy release. As they said you are not going to heat it to red hot, just warm enough to release. Have made expoy release before from shaping a guard of nickel silver that I forgot to do before glueing on the slabs. Good luck and just go at it slow.
"Possum"


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Thomas Clegg
 
I just posted my experience with this under the thread: Thanks Robert: A Tip For Newbies Included. I had to remove the scales (and pins) so I heated the pins and hammered them out. Then I clamped one scale tight in my vice and hammered the other one: It came off right away! Then, I hamered the other scale and it broke right away too. Perhaps heating the whole handle and using a screw driver will be easier, however, I know that a little bit of heat and a ball peen hammer works too!

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"Come What May..."
 
Thanks for the replies! Sorry i didnt reply more quickly ive been busy at the state fair exhibiting. Thanks again for the great input!


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