Epoxy problems

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Will Estes

Joined
Apr 25, 2022
Messages
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How do you clean up the epoxy squirting out when you put the scales on a knife? I tried wiping it off but it just smeared all around the blade and made a giant mess. My current method is to just let it dry and then chip it off with a razor blade. That works pretty well but occasionally I will nick the front edge of the scales or get little cut lines in the metal and those don’t look good. I’m sure there is a better way to do this, any tips? I also tend to use more epoxy than not because some of my first knives didn’t get full glue coverage and that caused some big problems, so I usually have quite a bit of excess coming out the front. Not an overly excessive amount, but enough that it doesn’t look good. Thanks!
 
Just wipe it off (you'll have to do this several times) with a paper towel with acetone or denatured alcohol. Been doing it that way for more than a decade. Wear nitrile or latex gloves if you want to keep your hands clean.
 
As Travis says, I have a box of disposable gloves for glue up. Once it is glued, all the pins or fasteners are in place, and your clamps are on, then I do several iterations of wiping with paper towel pieces soaked in alcohol. For some areas you can wrap a piece around a popsicle stick or toothpick. Sometimes areas need to be wiped repeatedly with fresh towel as a residue can remain. Once everything is done I leave it, but check back in 30 minutes and again after an hour in case a little blob has come out.
 
Richard338 said:
As Travis says, I have a box of disposable gloves for glue up. Once it is glued, all the pins or fasteners are in place, and your clamps are on, then I do several iterations of wiping with paper towel pieces soaked in alcohol. For some areas you can wrap a piece around a popsicle stick or toothpick. Sometimes areas need to be wiped repeatedly with fresh towel as a residue can remain. Once everything is done I leave it, but check back in 30 minutes and again after an hour in case a little blob has come out.
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Exactly what Richard said. This is most critical on the front edge of the scales (on a full tang knife) and around the guard on a stick tang. Basically any place you'll hopefully never be grinding again.
 
Fould up bits of coffee filter in alcohol held with a pair of tweezers.
Don't soak your epoxy joint acetone or alcohol can wick between the scales and tang or even get soaked by the wood and give a bad joint and a perfect place for bacteria to live. At the font of the scales a very thin epoxy line is ok
 
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Tape, q tips, alcohol, acetone and do not use so much epoxy.
A thin layer and moderate clamp pressure.
 
Another couple options are to use something harder than the epoxy but softer than the steel to scrape the dried epoxy off the areas where you don't want it. Some folks use a sharpened piece of brass. Some folks do this step in the hours between when the epoxy sets enough that yo can no longer adjust the parts, but before the full cure the next day.
Or you can put something like petroleum jelly on the surfaces you don't want epoxy on, then clean up is simple.
 
once I'm done with q tips, and before the epoxy cures, I move on to these little guys for the final clean up before coffee

byJtMax.jpg
 
For uncured epoxy, the correct solvent is alcohol. Denatured works best, 99%isopropanolwill work, OK.
Once cured the solvent is acetone.

Using acetone to clean up the epoxy before it cures can weaken the bond.

As the others have said:
1) Wear disposable gloves.
2) Wipe off the excess with a paper towel.
3) Clean up the area with a paper towel and alcohol.
4) Let sit until the mix-pot is starting to gel and clean again with alcohol.
5) Check one last time as the epoxy in the mixed pot gets hard, and clean again if needed.
6) After the handle cures OVERNIGHT, check and clean up any needed spots with acetone.

TIP:
Don't clamp the scales on too tight. Just snug is all you want. Too much pressure will squeeze out all the resin and can also curl the scale ends up. Grinding a slight hollow in the tang and well as the scales is an excellent way of assuring there is plenty of epoxy between them. A bunch of holes drilled through the tang are also a good idea.
 
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I dry assemble the scales and wax any area that may have squeeze out, then disassemble and glue up. The wax, or vaseline, will keep the epoxy from adhering to the scales and knife blade. Here's a video showing how easy the dried epoxy comes off after curing.

 
Horsewright said:
I use Qtips with acetone to get in that pesky space right up by the scale. I'll do it several times after glue up. Bout every 15 minutes or so.
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Have you found the acetone to have any etching effects on your Damascus? I'm asking out ignorance, not having used acetone at all for epoxy cleanup.
 
I have never used alcohol so I don´t know if it´s more effective than what I do... I usually just whipe it with a wet sponge with washing-up liquid and rinse it under water before whiping it dry. I have heard of using white vinegar to remove hardened epoxy from skin, maybe that could be something to try?
 
I wrap a utility knife blade with a paper towel with some denatured alcohol on it and use that to get a nice clean joint. Works well on guards too. I use q tips with denatured alcohol for cleaning out lanyard tubes or hollow pins. I use a thicker, faster setting epoxy which means I only have about 5 minutes to do the cleanup, but it doesn't keep squeezing out like slower setting epoxies do.
 
Before you even get that far, wipe Johnson paste wax all over the external surfaces. Sometimes I wrap painter's tape over areas I don't want the glue to stick, then rub Johnson paste wax over that. Painter's tape is good over edges. I think it smart to cover up edges, that way you reduce the chance of a cut! Ouch!

Paste wax is more or less a release agent. There are a number of waxes in the stuff, ceresin is one. The sophisticated release agents come in spray cans and are expensive. If epoxy gets squeezed out, let it cure to a gummy consistency, than pull or wipe. Before the glue becomes rock hard, pull the tape off, use your fingernails, or plastic scrapers, and chip off the almost hard glue.

You can wash the paste wax off with a toothbrush and soapy water.
 
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