Forstner Bits / Casting in Handles

[General Specific]

I've had a lot of requests from LEO's here to put badge emblems in knife handles and would like to get some suggestions for the most practical way to do so. I've been eyeing some forstner bits with the idea of maybe using them to drill a nice flat-bottomed hole in handle material and then glue the badge inside (just a drop of super glue), then pour in casting resin and finish with handle as usual.

Does anyone have any experience with a particular casting resin / supplier that they think would work particularly well, or conversely, a type that might present problems? Would the heat from the grinding cause problems with the casting resin? Am I headed for a huge mess? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Dave

 

[TekSec]

Why not just use and end mill of the size you want? It will bite nice and flat with no center hole. As far as casting resin, yup, will work just fine. Just remember that if you buy the hobby store stuff you'll end up mixing more than you need. www.uscomposites.com sells bulk epoxy or polyester resin. get the pumps with it and you can just give a pump or two (self measuring for hardener and resin) into a cup and mix. Let's you make small properly measured amounts. I'm guessing (I'd call and talk to the people there) that polyester resin is what you want with a wax additive. The wax allowed the surface to be polished to a high sheen.
And also, another tip, finish out the handle as much as possible (down to 400) first, that way you will have very little finish work after the resin is set.

 

[sunshadow]

I use colores brand (epoxy "enamel") from RioGrande jewelers supply it's a mix by volume polymer that looks like fired enamel. I would use center cutting end mills to make your circular holes, and if there are bubble probems in the resin ( I haven't had any with the Colores, but your mileage will vary) pull 29 inches of vacuum for 3 minutes and bubbles go away
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[General Specific]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the suggestions. One tip that I heard some time back was to use a heat gun to get rid of bubbles. I'm looking forward to trying this out.

Regards,

Dave