epoxy scales

[Awesom-o-4000]

im taking a chance making the epoxy scales I asked talked about earlier.

[/IMG] i made these molds with some sculpey over the orginal givory handles. when I baked them i left the scales in to help prevent shrinking. it didnt melt the givory so that was good. i will buy some epoxy to fill the molds with in the next few days and i will post the results.

 

[Nsvens89]

Very cool, I am definitely interested to see how this turns out. Good luck.

 

[Haze240]

Subscribed. I like this idea, it could open up a whole new world of handle mods .

Make sure to post it in DerekH's Handle Mod thread when you're done too!

 

[CamH_16]

Interesting...

 

[thrillbilly]

That is very interesting. What exactly kind of modeling medium did u use?

 

[sqoon]

Gah! You're beating me to it! Looking good so far. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Awesom-o-4000]

What exactly kind of modeling medium did u use?

Its sculpey III oven bake clay

 

[thrillbilly]

Its sculpey III oven bake clay

Thanks. I have an idea of my own involving molds...but not using epoxy, per se

 

[RWT]

tagged to follow

 

[edctac]

I was thinking about making a mold as well, but a bit different approach. Hope yours turn out cool

 

[K9-Handler]

I guess great minds think alike!

I, too, have been thinking the same thing, and this is the result from last weekend. I hadn't posted it because my effort was a fail. Not a catastrophic fail, but a fail none the less. At least I learned somethings...

I used Amazing Crafting Products mold putty to make the mould. It's a two-part clay that you knead together -- when it's an even yellow you've kneaded enough and only have minutes to form it. That puts some pressure on the operator. Since it still has the consistency of modeling clay, you have to press down pretty hard to make it form around the sample -- in this case a pair of the Grivory scales. It's this pressure where I went wrong.

This type of mould material -- the two-part -- does not require heat of any kind. It sets up like a rubber epoxy. When the right time passed I removed the scales (easy) and found that the side with the hex holes had somehow shifted sideways -- probably from the pressure I was applying to make sure the "clay" got around to all the surface details. Note that only the center hole is cocked to the side. This, of course, would show up on any piece cast from this mould, making that cavity fairly useless.

Also, the "clay" had fissures in it from the required kneading. I don't see any way of getting those out, even with lots of pressure. It resulted in "folds" of the clay which showed up in the end of the same scale with the cocked "hole". Seen clearly here:

Of course, these folds showed up on the cast parts.

I had a lot of West System epoxy left over from some wooden kayaks I'd built so I mixed up a batch and added microbeads as a fairing compound to make sanding easier (plain epoxy is a b*tch to sand). That's why the cast scales show up as an off white instead of clear. Since the cast scales were so far off I didn't bother sanding them down and abandoned this method. I have a different system on order which uses a more liquid medium for making the mould which should form over the parts better -- you just have to keep them from floating!
I'll keep you posted on how it works out.

 

[Awesom-o-4000]

Sorry I dont have some super cool scales to show you. my molds failed completely for two reasons. One it was 80 degrees here today, (blazing hot for western WA). and the clay became soft enough to lose its shape making the forms useless. In addition to that I had attempted to use bits of cloth as a medium in the epoxy to help aid in the shaping, so kinda making micarta without the straight formal layers, but it failed to fully impregnate the cloth and left some dry spots on the very inside. All in all i still like the idea of using a mold but i think i need some tougher material to make it out of. final grade B+ for the concept F for execution

 

[RRR1977]

Pretty sure we can get this to work. If temperature and the fabric was the issue, next batch we can put into a refridgerator and use a smaller filler material. Let me see what I can scrounge up.

 

[DerekH]

Here is the section Smooth-On has one moldmaking complete with downloadable how-to pdf:

http://www.smooth-on.com/howto.php

Using Smooth-On silicone casting rubber, I would make a mold of the handle scale. You will need a small shallow container to hold the silicone as it sets up. The pros all use legos. Once that is done, simply mix epoxy, spray mold with mold release, drip in epoxy from about 4 feet high (to avoid bubbles) and let set up. Remove from mold, and sand as needed. Rinse, repeat. Don't touch the mold with bare hands, the oils in your skin will cause issues. Other than that, it is a pretty straightforward method. If you have access to a vacuum chamber, you will want to stick the handle mold in there after pouring the epoxy and degas it so that you have less bubbles.

 

[K9-Handler]

For those that have this thread tagged, checking in that I've had success!!!

I will be making a separate thread rather than hijacking this one any more than I already have.

Keep an eye out...

 

[Awesom-o-4000]

Nice. Don't be suprised if I attempt to steal your intellectual property.

 

[mrn8]

I'd be careful with this process. For your own use, it's probably cool, but if you mold the handles and start selling them, you've basically stolen Kabars design for your own profit.

 

[K9-Handler]

I'd be careful with this process. For your own use, it's probably cool, but if you mold the handles and start selling them, you've basically stolen Kabars design for your own profit.

That is a consideration, and I've intentionally modified the molds with that in mind. If you wanted to stretch that thinking far enough out, the folks making non-factory Micarta scales could fall under that broad net also.

 

[mrn8]

That is a consideration, and I've intentionally modified the molds with that in mind. If you wanted to stretch that thinking far enough out, the folks making non-factory Micarta scales could fall under that broad net also.

Good stuff. Just don't want to see anyone get into a world of hurt. :thumbup:

 

[CCMI]

I'd be careful with this process. For your own use, it's probably cool, but if you mold the handles and start selling them, you've basically stolen Kabars design for your own profit.

Eh, to me this is more like making an after-market replacement part. Happens all the time with auto parts.

Now if you go and use that mold to use on your own custom knife that you sell for profit.... different story (unless of course you've received the blessing of those owning the design).

Of course I'm no intellectual property attorney, so this is just my own speculation.