acrylester?? how bad is it really

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sgtking

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Jan 19, 2015
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Ok so a guy I work with bought a knife from some show he went to last week and it didn't look like too great of work. The guy had let epoxy seep into all the spine file work and the steel choice was way too thick in my opinion but anyway.... back on topic. He dropped it yesterday and chipped one of the scales pretty bad so he asked me to put new scales on it and he ordered some acrylester scales to put on it. I've been reading what little I can find and now I'm wondering just what I just got myself into. So my two questions are...
How can I shape the scales with the least chance of chipping them up real bad? And
What do I need to do to keep the epoxy from seeping into the file work when I attach the scales?
Thanks in advance. Any and all input is appreciated!
 
Grind, file, sand and polish the plastic handles.
Don't use epoxy, use mechanical fasteners.
 
Thanks Bill. In your opinion what do think are the best fasteners. I read that this stuff can be pretty brittle
 
Don't you mean "easiest to use?"
Screws or Corby bolts. Just don't crank them down and stress or break the plastic.
 
I have not done scales like you mention, but have done some pretty brittle scales before. You can use epoxy with pins just make sure that you don't use a lot of epoxy. Put on enough to just coat the surfaces with a very thin layer. The scales should be roughed up on the epoxy side prior to gluing everything up. By doing it this way, no extra epoxy should extrude, if any does, wipe it off (carefully) before it drys.

Using fasteners without epoxy is always an alternative but in my mind you loose a bit of the strength in the handle by going that route. Don't know if this helps or not, but it has worked for me.
 
sgtking said:
Ok so a guy I work with bought a knife from some show he went to last week and it didn't look like too great of work. The guy had let epoxy seep into all the spine file work and the steel choice was way too thick in my opinion but anyway.... back on topic. He dropped it yesterday and chipped one of the scales pretty bad so he asked me to put new scales on it and he ordered some acrylester scales to put on it. I've been reading what little I can find and now I'm wondering just what I just got myself into. So my two questions are...
How can I shape the scales with the least chance of chipping them up real bad? And
What do I need to do to keep the epoxy from seeping into the file work when I attach the scales?
Thanks in advance. Any and all input is appreciated!
Click to expand...

Acrylester is why it chipped in the first place. That stuff is Brittle. I use Kirinite. I've never seen it chip and I've used it on a few hundred knives and seen it on more. USA knife maker has Kirinite. It grinds easier too.
 
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