epoxy resist for file-worked spacer

clint c

clint c

Joined
Aug 21, 2001
Messages
397
Hello out there. I'm getting close to finishing a damascus Bowie which has a fileworked copper spacer between the guard and antler handle. When I go to glue it all together, what would you guys recommend I use on the fileworked releived areas to keep the epoxy from filling in. I was thinking wax, but that may be a pain to scrape out afterwards. Other than that, I'm out of ideas. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
That's a good one since all you want to cover is the thin exterior part that will show and you don't want the protective coating to contact those parts to be bonded. Although I have not done exactly what you ask about, I have always used the stuff that comes with Brownells glass bedding kits (I forget right now the name of the liquid that is painted onto the metal to protect it from epoxy). I would use it with confidence but would have to temporarily assemble the handle material together and paint the spacer in place, then let dry. This should help keep the coating from getting onto the flats of the spacer. After drying I would use a razor blade, I suppose, to lightly cut the solidified plastic coating about the perimeter of the spacer (at the seams). It will still get between the seams but that can be peeled off after disasembly. Then the parts could be disasembled for preperation to bond. I would apply NO LESS THAN TWO coats to the file work and let cure for about 1 hour between coats. It drys to a very thin - blueish- plastic that peels off or disolves with warm water. The bedding kits (sold for rifle use) are around 12 to 15 bucks as I recall and usually found locally. I always use Brownells Original version.

It will probably be trickey to get it just right and should require patience. If you rub off excess epoxy too vigorously you could comprimise some of the plastic coating. Do not use vinegar to cut excess epoxy because it will find its way between seams and destroy the epoxy where you want it to be and corrode steel.

Roger
 
You could just use hot water and melt it out. Another idea I had would to use cerrosafe to fill the voids and melt that out as well. I'm not sure though how easy that would be to apply. I recently made a full tang with file work on the handle portion (it was a hunter) and afterwards I would have prefered to fill in the file work with a colored epoxy. The file work will become filed with blood and debris overtime. It would be ok on a knife that may not be used much but from now on I will fill it with epoxy. One other route is vulcanizing rubber tape, I,ve used it before to seal off one portion of A handle I was staining and it would seal very well.
 
While not exactly the same thing you described, the principle is the same.

blued.jpg


On this one, I first put everything together (dry fit), and applied a thin coat of Vaseline where the ferrule meets the guard. It was applied with a cotton swap. Cleanup was relatively easy.

In this case I didn't wait for the Epoxy to completely harden before cleanup because I needed to be real gentle cleaning up around the fire blued guard. When it was fairly firm, but not fully hardened, I carefully pulled away the excess with a sharpened Popcicle stick. Use the sharpened stick to just get a piece lifted up, then peel the excess away. When peeling, pull to the side rather than straight up, so that you don't pull any out of the joint.

I've heard of folks using baby oil or paste wax as well. I was concerned about baby oil working its way into the joint, and opted for the thicker Vaseline. You don't have to heap it on there. You just need a thin coat to keep the Epoxy from sticking.

In the case of a fileworked ferrule or spacer, you can use a toothpick if you catch it before it fully hardens, or if it was too hard for that, carefully use a dental pick. If dental picks aren't part of your toolkit, you can sharpen a piece of brass or nickel pin stock and use that.

I'll bet there are some better tips out there and look forward to hearing them.
 
Hey Clint, after I put a handle on and get glue spilling in to places I don't want, I just dip my wife's toothbrush into some acetone and scrub it off while its still wet. I think the problem with a mask over the spacer is that when the glue dries, you may have to cut/scrape the residue off, possibly scratching your hard work in the process.
Hugh
 
I would use white vinager to clean up excess epoxy as
soon as I had it togather using Q tips for the details.
Or wait a hour or so and use aceton and Q tips. A word
about vinager it is great for clean up, it makes epoxy
wash off with water. Gib
 
I would assemble the handle with slow cure epoxy allowing the excess to squeeze out then dissasemble it and clean the exposed parts with wd40 or acetone. Next put it together and clean any more excess with wd40 and q tips and or tooth picks. You cant do this with 5 minute epoxy but slow cure is easy to clean up after its together. I like JB weld the best.
 
Thanks guys. You've given me several options to pick from that all look viable. I think I'll try the vaselin thing that Terry mentioned. The point about using colored epoxy to fill in the gaps of the filework to avoid crap from collecting is a good one. I've done the same on fileworked spines in the past, but this one isn't likley to be an EDC, or be in the chest cavity of any deer. Thanks for all your ideas and experiences.
 
Terry your knives are just beautiful.

Bruce, that's a great idea. Between this and the vaseline I think I'm covered.

When I had this issue recently I merely used very very little epoxy, just enough to sort of stabilize the parts. I don't think anything was really very well sealed from moisture though.

Dave
 
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