Epoxy question

M

mocaba

Joined
Oct 13, 2012
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87
What kind of epoxy should I get for attaching hemp cord to a knife handle.
 
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Hmm, not really sure. I've used superglue in the past but it wore off after a few months of use.
 
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Lt.Col.Vortex said:
Hmm, not really sure. I've sued superglue in the past but it wore off after a few months of use.
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Quoted for posterity! Nothing worse than a lawsuit that wears off after a couple months! Did they want their settlement back??:D

To the OP, Rick Marchand would be a good guy to ask, hopefully he'll chime in. Lots of guys here also do a lot Japanese style cord wrapped handles and can probably help as well. Josh Mason and Pohan Leu come to mind. Mike Snody epoxies some of his paracord wrapped handles. I believe most resins would work but you probably want one that dries clear. Some can dry yellow, such as the West Systems G-flex that I use in my shop. Be sure to check on that. If I recall, Arcaglas dries clear.
 
Any epoxy will seal. Some better than others. Several folks here use West Systems 105 resin with WS 207 hardener. This combo was geared towards low viscosity and good penetration on certain types of fabric. If you do much of this, it would be a good investment IMHO. I warm mine right before application. Hair dryer on all parts and mix.

Do a search man - more info than you want. Or wait for Rick - he will set you straight - Canadian style...
 
West systems is almost universally accepted as the best... just make sure you measure each component by weight. Eyeballing will screw things up bigtime.
 
Look for a slow curing epoxy like 30-minute, it will give you some time to get the handle done. Also, if you find it to be too thick, you can thin it using acetone, just add a very small amount until it's the consistency you want.
 
West system resin (105) and the slow hardener (207) is the best resin mix for impregnating paracord or any other wrap handle. Put it on with a small flux brush, dab it in to get absorption, wipe off any excess, and turn the piece often for an hour ( wiping off drips) as it sets. This will make the resin soak into the fibers and make the handle look almost uncoated, but rock solid and unmovable.
 
West Systems is what I use.

105 resin
207 Special Coating with UV protection

For wooden projects 205 fast cure or the 206 slow.

The 205 fast turns an amber colour with age and imparts a warm glow to natural fibers.

Slop it on, wipe off the excess and check on it periodically as it dries

Rick
 
weinerd said:
West systems is almost universally accepted as the best... just make sure you measure each component by weight. Eyeballing will screw things up bigtime.
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Good points here. Use the pumps that come for the cans for larger batches, or in the small amounts we use, use a small gram scale and disposable medicine cups. You can use the weight or the volume, but make sure that you use the ratio for the units you are weighing...weight and volume are not equal.
 
I don't recommend any cheap epoxy...... Why in the world would you use a lesser quality material to do one of the most important jobs on your knife??????

The tubes you get at the hardware store are probably old, and not the best type for knife assembly.
The catalog knife suppliers, like Jantz, all sell the right epoxies and other resins for knife making. For regular assembly of handles, any of the slow cure structural epoxies work. System Three T-88, Acraglass, G-flex, etc. You can get West System 105 and 207 from them,too. The order comes in the mail in a couple days.
 
^^^Listen to Stacy^^^

Don't cheap out on the very thing that holds your knife together.
 
West System is the way to go. I'm sure any good two part epoxy would work, but I'd imagine it would look kinda shiny/slimy/goopy. The west system soaks into paracord, and flat cord, and dries clear. The finished handle looks like there's no epoxy on it, but it's rock hard. You can get it off, but you'd have to grind or cut it off. I've done a couple of hemp handles too, and the epoxy does well.

West System seems expensive at first, but the 105 and 207 come in pretty decent sized cans and I've had mine for about 2 years. Ive done probably close to a hundred knives with those two cans. $80 doesn't sound so bad if you think about it that way. Go ahead and get the pumps for each can. It's easier and less messy. WORTH IT. A full pump from each can is supposed to be their recommendation for the ratio. Full pumps of that stuff is way too much, so I did a little figuring, and I have a mark on the stem in the middle of each pump that I push down to. That will do a 4-5 inch tsukamaki handle no problem. I tried using little measuring cups, but that was just a disaster for me. Alot of handles came out soft too. The pumps ensure my handles are rock solid. I use old water bottles and stuff to mix in.
 
Lt.Col.Vortex said:
Are there any cheap-ish hardware store epoxies that you recommend??
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If you have to ignore the learned recommendations in this thread (I do understand that a min. ~$80 outlay for west 105/207 when you're only going to do 1 or 2 projects may not be worth it to you) and you want to go smaller/cheaper, places like Texas Knifemaker's Supply includes the Devcon 2-ton clearweld 30 min epoxy in their kits. They also have their own repackaged 2-part epoxy kits for ~$10.
 
206 is the "30 minute" West hardener, right? 207 is the "ultra slow cure" stuff, but if you are showing any epoxy to the sun, the UV protection would be good. Normal epoxy does degrade in UV. That is why boats that are laid up with epoxy are usually painted. IF you buy any of these, you MUST buy the mini-pump setup. These are not the simple 1-1 mix ratio with the filler already added to the hardener. Different hardeners require a different mini=pump as they may be 3-1 or 5-1 mixtures. You shoudl also think about buying some filler like colloidial silica or the microbubble filler.
 
weinerd said:
If you have to ignore the learned recommendations in this thread (I do understand that a min. ~$80 outlay for west 105/207 when you're only going to do 1 or 2 projects may not be worth it to you) and you want to go smaller/cheaper, places like Texas Knifemaker's Supply includes the Devcon 2-ton clearweld 30 min epoxy in their kits. They also have their own repackaged 2-part epoxy kits for ~$10.
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How do you feel about the Devcon epoxy? I still have several tubes, though I have no problem dumping it and getting some West if it's worlds better. I was planning to use it up first, so I'm just curious if I'm spinning my wheels or if it's sufficient.
 
I don't actually know about the Devcon stuff. I just remember seeing it on the TKS site and since they supply it in a kit, I assume that they think it's okay for hobbyists... Give the choice I'd probably try the TKS repackaged 2-parters, which *could* be west, or west-like stuff repackaged into smaller containers, but I don't know either way.
Here's the link: http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/product_info.php?products_id=317
 
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