glue ooze from scales

johnnym

johnnym

Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Messages
170
I always seem to get a bit of glue that gets squeezed out of the front of my scales onto the blade. I put some vaseline on the front of the scales so that the epoxy does not take hold and i can usually scrape it off the blade after it hardens, but it sometimes leave scratch marks. Does anyone have a technique that resolves this issue.
 
Put a little acetone on a rag and wipe the glue off. Just be careful with that stuff and read the safety cautions on the can.

Stephen
 
Don't use steel as a scraper, I have some brass rods and bar that I've made some scrapers out of. They will pop the glue off the steel but not scratch.
 
Acetone and an old soft tooth brush wiil do a good job. Check it again later because sometimes a little more epoxy will seep out.
 
Have to agree, acetone is the only thing that has worked well for me. I even stopped using brass, because somehow I was still getting a damn radius arc when scraping the glue around the rounded handle shoulder. Don't know how the devil that could happen, unless the edge of the brass was putting enough pressure on the scratch pattern of the steel to cause deformation.:confused:

Regards,

Dave
 
I use standard alcohol swabs I got at the drug store. Pre-packaged and will take the epoxy right off you and the knife will it is still soft.Never a problem. Dave:)
 
Not to hijack, but I have another question in the same category. How do you guys clean up epoxy from filework? I'd like to start doing some, but that has got me a little stumped. Any easy ways or is it just a lot of tedious work?

Thanks,

Dave
 
I use lacquer thinner BEFORE the epoxy sets. The key is to use a SOFT cloth. Don't use paper towels, they will scratch the snotz out of your blade.

I have had the best luck with pieces of old cotton T-shirts.

If by chance any seeps out later and hardens, Acetone does the trick, but again, a SOFT cloth is the key to not getting scratches. Wet cloth, go slow. Works for me.

Robert
 
I use acetone, but white vinegar will take it off if you get to it before it really sets. White vinegar also desolves Brownell's Acra-glass.
 
WD40 works great to remove the OOZE also. A shot on the blade at the joint wilk keep it from sticking. Removal is best done when semi hard. If you catch it when it no longer smears it will peel right off. I normally use a sharpened tongue depressor. It will still scratch though if you are not careful.
 
I always seemed to scratch the blade no matter how careful I was or what kind of cloth or Q-tip I used, so I came up with something a little different. I hope I can describe this properly without pics..

With the scales off, put a 2" wide strip of blue painters masking tape on each side of the blade, covering the entire blade portion and running partway under where the scales will be.

Then put on the scales (over the tape) and tighten them down (if using corbys) or clamp them (if using pins.)

Using a box cutter with a sharp blade, score the tape right at the front edge of the scales.

Then remove the scales and peel off the portion of the tape that was under the scales.

Epoxy and re-apply the scales. Use a paper towel and rubbing alchohol or acetone to clean excess epoxy off the front of the scales.

Every 15 minutes or so, check to see if more epoxy has oozed out and clean the front of the scales again if necessary.

After about 45 minutes or so, when the epoxy is not fully set but has stopped oozing out, peel the tape off.

Perfect every time!

Note: Don't bother applying tape to the front of the scales as well to keep epoxy off them - it doesn't work well.
 
That sounds like a good idea, although I've had some bad experience using razors around the shoulders before. I'm pretty challenged when it comes to keeping the darn thing under/right at the edge where the scratch won't show. I think I'll try it on the next one. I was also thinking about putting a tiny sheen of renaissance wax on the shoulders to see if it might alleviate the problem with epoxy getting smeared on them during the glue-up. Not sure if that would be risky or not to the bonding. Won't know until I try:) Thanks to all for your answers. These threads help take a lot of the guesswork and false starts out of the learning process.

Regards,

Dave
 
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