gluing up wood handles to steel >>

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paneraica

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Mar 4, 2011
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Have an old boot knife and handles aged and cracked. Made up some new ones and drilled the holes for the pins

Question is. What glue do I use?

I have some crazy glue or water based contact cement

Should I rough up the steel before gluing (wasn't done with the original handles).

Should I used epoxy cement?

Thanks

DON
 
Most any two part epoxy with enough set time will do the job. Devcon is one you can purchase most anywhere. Roughing the steel surface does help. Depending on what handle material you are using binding them to a spacer material such as G10 or vulcanized spacer makes them more stable on the knife. Stabilized wood is preffered as a handle material; it is much more stable than woods that are not treated.
Post us a pic when your finished.

Fred
 
It's entirely possible that no glue was originally used. If the handle has pins, they were probably peened to hold the handles on.
 
Bought some LePage epoxy this morning and glued up the wood. Then added glue in the holes for the pins. Not perfect. Tiny gap on one side against the bolster and one pin not lined up 100% with the other (also near the bolster). Would have been easier if I had a solid block to work with, but only have one flat piece of wood to cut both sides out of. Also hard sticking my head into my small drill press to line up for drilling.

Knife was not mint condition. Obviously used

Not stabilized, but a heavy dense wood. Wenge. Leftover from a piece of furniture I made. Just have to figure out how to sand it down. I have sanding drums to do the edges. But nothing large enough to do the faces.

barboot.jpg


Same model, but in nice condition with ivory micarta handles

kabar10.jpg


Thanks

DON
 
Don,

Someone around you will have a belt grinder; if you were closer I would be happy to take it to a workable size and shape. Nice blade; well worth the effort to repair and finish. The wenge should hold up just fine. It is indeed heavy and dense; I don't think it needs stabilizing because of all the natural oil in it.

Post a pic when you finish the knife, I for one am interested in the outcome. Fred

Well worth searching out someone with a belt machine. It would take maybe a half hour or less to get it close to hand sanding territory. Good Luck!
 
Hi Fred,

Don't know anyone with one. Sanded the edges down, but still have to finish with higher grit paper.

Handles sit about 3 mm higher than needed and can't hand sand that.

Should have waited on the pins and cut some wood off with a small hand saw

Will post a image when I get done. Could be awhile though

Thanks

DON
 
Use a half-round coarse metal file to work it down to the shape you want. Then start with 120 or 220 grit sandpaper to sand out all the file scratches. If you use a rasp, you will get scratches that are too deep to sand out without messing up your handle shape and also risk tear-outs in the wood. Make sure that when you sand over the pins to use a hard backing behind your sandpaper or you will get depressions in the wood around the pins because the wood will sand much easier than the metal.
 
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