Clean up epoxy during knife creation

I've never made knives but when doing woodwork I carefully and strenuously wipe off any glue overflow from the join using baby wipes while it's still wet and before it has a chance to set or go too gloopy and sticky.
 
Pomsbz said:
I've never made knives but when doing woodwork I carefully and strenuously wipe off any glue overflow from the join using baby wipes while it's still wet and before it has a chance to set or go too gloopy and sticky.
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I never thought of that but it sounds like a solution. I'll try it, thanks.
 
Wipe with acetone while everything is clamped. Use 24 hour cure and wipe excess off after 15 minutes and again after 30 minutes to one hour.
If you are using 5 minutes you will be scrambling, but it’s doable.
 
Before applying the epoxy, put your scales on, then wipe a thin layer of Vaseline around the tang where you don’t want squeeze out to dry
 
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Don't use 5 min. cure - it is not strong enough. IMHO, West System is the best because it has a small amount of flexibility built in. Wood and metal expand and contract at different rates with temp. changes and West System G-flex has enough flexibility after curing to absorb the different rates of expansion and contraction.
 
I thought horsewright used wd40 on qtips to wipe?

Ditto on the “check back several times during cure”. Extra will always seep over time, that time depending on how much epoxy you use, and how had you clamp
 
Cushing H. said:
I thought horsewright used wd40 on qtips to wipe?

Ditto on the “check back several times during cure”. Extra will always seep over time, that time depending on how much epoxy you use, and how had you clamp
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I do use WD 40 on JB Weld in front of bolsters. No bolsters, just a regular handle and glue, I use acetone. Never tried WD 40 on regular epoxy. Got me a thinking now buddy.
 
I like to use slower epoxies and mostly use West Systems 105 resin with 205 hardener. It makes glue-up stress-free if you have fifteen minutes or more before the epoxy kicks off. I wipe away squeeze-out with alcohol. Acetone works as well if not better, but I try to avoid it. I set myself a timer to check for additional squeeze-out after 15 minutes. Another benefit of slow-cure epoxy is that you have a pretty long green stage where it is not fully cured and easy to remove mechanically, e.g., with a brass rod ground at an angle. So if I miss a spot on the ricasso it's no big deal as long as I remember to check within a few hours. Another thing that helps with the cleanup is not to use way too much epoxy to begin with, which seems to be a popular thing to do on youtube.

The following is not really what you asked about, but I thought I'd mention it since many youtubers handle epoxy with bare hands. There is a risk of sensitization through repeated skin exposure to hardener, as well as exposure to sanding dust from green epoxy either through inhalation or skin contact. Cleaning uncured epoxy off your skin using solvents like acetone appears to be particularly harmful as solvents can carry some chemicals into your blood stream according to what I've read. I'm not really an expert on this, but a college friend of mine got sensitized and had to quit using epoxy because of severe allergic reactions. Think poison ivy all over your body. Being a boat builder, he used a whole lot more epoxy than a hobbyist knife maker would, but I would be careful regardless and minimize exposure. When he developed the allergy, I started using gloves and bought a respirator instead of using the disposable masks... I always wear gloves now when using epoxy and let it cure at least 24h (some epoxy manufacturers recommend 2 weeks) before sanding even though I wear a respirator.
 
Horsewright said:
I do use WD 40 on JB Weld in front of bolsters. No bolsters, just a regular handle and glue, I use acetone. Never tried WD 40 on regular epoxy. Got me a thinking now buddy.
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Hmmm. My little shop is inside, the fumes from acetone are kind of overpowering in that little space so I stay away from it. Ever since you taught me about wd40 on bolsters I guess I just reach for it for cleaning up the front side of everything (bolsters or scales). Seems to work fine, and has kind of a nice floral scent. 😊
 
Cushing H. said:
Hmmm. My little shop is inside, the fumes from acetone are kind of overpowering in that little space so I stay away from it. Ever since you taught me about wd40 on bolsters I guess I just reach for it for cleaning up the front side of everything (bolsters or scales). Seems to work fine, and has kind of a nice floral scent. 😊
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I agree on the acetone smell, even in a large space I find it unpleasant. I'll try WD40 on the next wa handle instead of alcohol.
 
tim37a said:
Don't use 5 min. cure - it is not strong enough. IMHO, West System is the best because it has a small amount of flexibility built in. Wood and metal expand and contract at different rates with temp. changes and West System G-flex has enough flexibility after curing to absorb the different rates of expansion and contraction.
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Have you ever tried 5 min epoxy? It is strong enough. Do you really think you can tell the practical difference between the measured psi ratings?
5 min epoxy is used on thousands of knives made every year. Howver I don't recommend 5 min epoxy for the occasional user/hobbyist, it's too fast and unless you have experience, you will have a mess on your hands.

Acetone is nasty stuff, you can use denatured alcohol or even 90% alcohol to clean up the epoxy before it's cured.
 
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Alcohol is the recommended solvent for uncured epoxy. Acetone is the solvent for cured resin.

Using acetone to clean up uncured resin may weaken the joint slightly, as it dissolves into the uncured resin and makes it weaker. This isn't a big deal, but may result in a slight gap at the front of the scales if overdone. Alcohol does not seem to do it as much.

Whatever you use, first remove the excess with a dry paper towel. Then clean up with a paper towel dampened with alcohol. You don't want to use a paper towel so wet it floods solvent all over the knife.
 
Next time, wipe Johnson Paste wax on everything you don't want the glue sticking too. Then, as it cures, carefully break or cut the glue while it is rubbery. Once it hardens, removing it gets difficult.

Best of luck.
 
I prefer NOT to add any wax (potential contaminant). I use 2 layers of painters tape at the very edge of where the epoxy needs to stop. A narrow layer topped off with a wider layer.

After I do the glue up I do quickly swab out the over flow with a flexible putty or palette knife, give a quick wipe with a bit of acetone. Then when all is dry I then cut right along the edge between the tape and the handle with a utility knife. I break out any epoxy clumps but leave the tape for the sanding phase.

Sanding the underside of the bolster/handle is done with a stiff stick about 3/4" wide by maybe 1/4" to 3/8" thick, on which I have adhered sandpaper (self stick is excellent). The stick is shaped to a wedge (a knife blade profile) with the sharp edge being the edge that is always against the tang. This way I am not sanding the taped tang but just the flat of the bolster.

When all the shaping is done I remove the tape and finish cleaning up with a utility blade and my sanding stick as needed. This results in good clean up with no scratching of the knife steel.
 
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