Epoxy Issue ...

N

nailcreek

Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Messages
76
Here's my issue ... I glued my scale to one side of the blade, using a 2 part Devcon 60 minute set epoxy. I did glue a fiber spacer to the wood scale using contact cement, which had dried for a couple days. The temp in the basement workshop was probably around 60 or so.

I was careful to mix the epoxy 1/2 ~ 1/2 as best I could tell. I clamped the scale to the knife and let it sit ... My issue is that when I checked it tonight, the epoxy was still soft :mad: So, what do I do?

1. Pry the scale off the knife and start over?
2. Stick the knife in the oven at ~145F to heat it up to try and set the epoxy?
 
I would take it into the house so that it can warm up a bit. If I remember rite the Devcon is suposed to be used at around 75 deg. and colder makes cure time longer. I use a 100 watt light as a heat lamp when it's cool in the shop to speed up cure times. Then again you may have a bad batch of epoxy. If all else fails I'd try cooking it for an hour or so at around 100 deg and see what that does, but it'd be a last resort before redoing the scales.
 
Throw away the devcon and buy a good epoxy, such as accra glass, tap plastics marine or 4to 1 or one of the loctite adhesives. Devcon just does not cut it for quality work. Clean & sand both surfaces with quality acetone or alhocol, do not touch mating surfaces with you hands. Clamp lightly, just enough to sqeeze out the exces adhesive. Wait till it tacks up good, then clean up with acetone.

Leon
 
warm it up. Its a chemical process and th eheat will "Kick" start it. Just heat for a short time. a heat gun will work but not too hot. Devcon is fine to use.
 
blgoode said:
warm it up. Its a chemical process and th eheat will "Kick" start it. Just heat for a short time. a heat gun will work but not too hot. Devcon is fine to use.
Click to expand...
Devcon has very very poor adhesion qualitys on steel, been there done that, and will not survive long term use, dish washers, setting on the dash of the car in the heat, etc. A very poor decision to use it on a quality custom knife. I am metacoules about prep work for installing scales, and tried devcon a few knives at one time for testing it, I installed the scales without pins and cured for a few days. In all cases i could knock the scales off with a mallet. It would realease from the steel, the rougher the steel was preped the better it would hold. The products I mentioned above held very well and the only way I could remove the scales was with the milling machine or grinder. Try a experiment, applie both products to a prepped knife tang and let it cure for 4 days, then try to scrape it off with scrapper, the devcon will come off so easy you will be convinced, the other products will be very difficult to remove. Just trying to help you avoid making the same mistake I have.

Leon Pugh
 
even at 60F the devcon should have hardened after that long of time...in this case it sounds like it didn't mix right or it was DOA. Do yourself a favor and throw away your devcon 2 ton stuff.
 
Well, the Devcon sh*t is toast. Threw it out. Lesson learned!

I "cooked" the the thing in the oven last night at 145F, and it never did set up. Next step will be to soak the metal in acetone to get the unset epoxy to clean off, then make up a new scale with liner and then use acraglas.

I'm also making up some mosaic pins ... we'll see how this turns out! :rolleyes:
 
In an previous post I mentioned that I tested adhesives without pins, I allways use at least 3 pins in my knifes. they may show or be hidden but they are there and thay do add a teremendous amount of strength to the knife. For hidden pins I use 10-32 set screws. The threads offer the ultimate bite for the pins.

Leon Pugh
 
Absolutly Positive, I even take the time to weigh my mixes vs. measure.
Houseknives said:
I have never had any trouble with Devcon..are you sure it is not your glue up prep..
Click to expand...
You will, a little time, heat and abuse. You will probally get buy with it if the prep work is perfect and they are pinned well, at the best though, a few years later at best close inspection will show it will have released from the steel. Use it if you so not have any desire to build the best product that you can.

Leon
 
Nail, I like your tag line :"Veni, Vidi, Velcro..." It reminded me of one my Daughter (of all people :eek: ) found when studying Latin: "Cys, Cide, Cid".... (Cut, kill, destroy :D )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top