Glues to attach scales to fixed blade

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I'm new to knife making and had questions about different glues. I have seen these three different glues used to attach scales. What are the Pros and Cons of each? They all seem to work for wood to steel attachment.

Epoxy Glue: Pros

Cons


CA Glue: Pros

Cons


Gorilla Glue: Pros

Cons

Thank You
 
Epoxy will help seal the tang from corrosion, but as Bill pointed out nothing beats mechanical fasteners.
 
A good quality 24 hour cure epoxy and Corby or Loveless bolts will never fail.

G-Flex and T-88 are two great epoxies. I use T-88 most of the time.

CA will fail eventually. It doesn't have the longevity that epoxies have.

I personally hate Gorilla glue and the similar poly-urethane glues. For one thing, they will cure in the bottle after opening and using one time.
 
The only thing I really use CA glue for is putting a couple drops between scales when drilling and shaping, to keep them matched and together. I'll then split them apart, clean them and then prep them for a good two part epoxy. I'll also use it for attaching liners to the inside of scales, because it's faster and cheaper then two part epoxy, and the epoxy for me is just a moisture barrier anyway. The only thing I RELY on to keep the scales in place, is mechanical fasteners. I mostly use corby bolts and peened pins.
CA is also good for finishes, and for sealing cracks in certain materials from time to time.

I used to use Gorilla glue (the add water/polyurethane stuff) for around the house, but anymore I find it too messy and more trouble than it's worth. Now, they do make a two part epoxy that I'll buy if it's on sale, and their tape is hard to beat, but other than that, no thanks.
 
I recall one of the cutting comp guys telling me that rubber handle scales are the one type that works better with CA.
 
Thanks Guys
I forgot to mention that the handle has three pins. I will have to get some epoxy and learn how to peen the pins in place. What is the correct method for peening pins?
 
Place the handle, with pins, on your anvil. You should have about 1/16" of pin exposed on each side. Using a very small hammer (tack hammer or smaller) and tap the pin around the edge-using wrist action only. Then tap the center, then tap around the edge-until you have a nice head. Turn the knife over and do the same thing. You want to flare the end of the pins only- do not try to swell the entire pin.
 
jdm61 said:
I recall one of the cutting comp guys telling me that rubber handle scales are the one type that works better with CA.
Click to expand...

That's true, super glue works great to bond rubber to steel. Big problem with CA is it's very hard and has very little if any flexibility but the rubber is flexible so it absorbs the shock.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
A good quality 24 hour cure epoxy and Corby or Loveless bolts will never fail.

G-Flex and T-88 are two great epoxies. I use T-88 most of the time.

CA will fail eventually. It doesn't have the longevity that epoxies have.

I personally hate Gorilla glue and the similar poly-urethane glues. For one thing, they will cure in the bottle after opening and using one time.
Click to expand...

Stacy I ment to ask you about T-88 as I knew you used it a bit.
I noticed thy make cartridges which is what I use. My cartridge gun is made by 3M and I'm wondering if the T-88 cartridges will work with it. I have the 1:1 and 2:1 plungers but thy do make a 10:1. My favort part is the mixing nozzles. Being that I use a lot of antler and filling it is tricky I like to pump it in and the nozzles are the cats pyjamas for that. It's nice only mixing what I need, yeah you waste a nozzle and a tiny bit of epoxy in the nozzle but it's worth it for me. The older I get the less I care about pinching every penny and much prefer simple and easy. I have enough things to wory about and Improper mix ratio is not one I want to be concerned with. Like when I use JBweld. I use the entire tube. Squeeze it all out and mix it up, not worth my time to wory about it not setting up when it's just a few bucks. Here is the applicator I have.

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years ago some maker who I cannot recall posted a large test of many different glues and if I recall the best turned out to be accra-glass (sp?), If you do a search the thread may have been called "glue wars." I have used it on many kitchen knives (along with 1 or more un-peened pins) and they have all held up to daily use for many years so far,
 
I use a lot of acraglas for bedding rifle stocks. It's the best in the gun Industry and it's nice becaus it's rather runny but you can get the gel which is much thicker. It also comes with a black and brown dye.
 
I don't use the cartridge guns, but I suspect if you contacted tech services at System Three they would answer any question about that subject and what guns work. T-88 is a 1:1 product.
 
I thought "glue wars" was on another forum but I haven't been here long. ACRAGLAS and West Systems GFlex are highly respected.


Sent via telegraph with the same fingers I use to sip whiskey.
 
I always used Brownell's Acraglas (not the gel) and have found it meets all my needs. In fact I just ordered some for my current projects.

Basically, almost anything you can buy at Home Depot, Lowes or Harbor Freight would not rise to the top of my shopping list for knife handle assembly (especially scales on a full tang). Mostly the readily available epoxy tends to be "fast curing" (less than an hour, often only a few minutes). While that may seem like a good thing, test results published here a few years ago show they are less suitable than the 24-hour epoxies, like Acraglas.

Whatever happened to that glue wars post, anyway? Has a more recent study been done?
 
I've used gorilla glue with a well fit tang on hidden tang knives. It has to be a gap free fit at the guard to prevent extra foaming. I've never had golilla glue, or west systems epoxy fail. Surface prep is as important as type of glue. I was surprised that jb weld did as poorly as it did in the tests. I've not seen it fail ever in use either.
 
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