Gorilla Glue Knife Handle?

I

Iv@n7791

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Sep 18, 2010
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Has anyone used Gorilla Glue to glue a Knife Handle to full tangs?
Is it possible or does it expand to much?
 
I haven't use it on any knife handles, but I have used it on a couple thousand feet of woodwork. It does expand and would probably leave a visible glue line.
 
if you clamp it well the expansion shouldn't be too bad, although when you grind away the exces you might have some open pores on the edge from half ground away bubles. also you can mix it with another glue (Ive only tried liquid nails, and a ruber cement type glue, but i'm sure it will work with most anything) then you can really cut down on the buble some bubles are good, but big huge ones arnt. ! more thing. it works really well if you drill dozens of 1/16 or similar size holes a couple of 1/16ths of an inch into the scale material. the foam fills the holes and you got allot of small pins.
 
It has been my experience tha gorilla glue doesn't hold up well to moisture. My test scales fell off when soaked in a bucket of water for extended periods. Barge cement out-performed gorilla glue... 5minute epoxy did well (but the bond life sucks, apparently) and West Systems is still going strong. I recently read about Acrylglas and plan on checking into that.

Rick
 
Gorilla glue ended up working out well in the ancient glue wars thread (search).

I've use it on some knife handles.

Key points:

1: clean, clean clean, CLEAN the surfaces

2: you need a perfect fit. it's not gap filling.

3: clamp hard. It's not gap filling.

4: read the instructions. it's a water cure. I lghtly mist surfaces, then wipe with a misted paper towel.

I haven't done the extended soak test Rick has, I should try it out with a really dialed in fit and see what happens. But it turned out very well in the glue wars thread and I haven't had any issues when I have used it. I will say that I only use it when I'm doing a peened pin handle, though. I get the handle finished up nice, then pin it.

Epoxy is, obviously, much more forgiving.
 
me? the regular stuff. as far as I know, the super glue is rubberized or something.
 
Perhaps I didn't set it up right. If I recall correctly, I misted the handle slab but not the steel. The metal surface was roughed with 60 grit and wiped clean with methel hydrate.

Rick
 
nah, looking through the thread there looks like there may be long term soaking issues, but I can't verify either way.

I do 120 to 220 grit finish on the mating surfaces. the water level you have should be fine. I'm wondering if it's a matter of glue line, is all.
 
Rick Marchand said:
It has been my experience tha gorilla glue doesn't hold up well to moisture. My test scales fell off when soaked in a bucket of water for extended periods. Barge cement out-performed gorilla glue... 5minute epoxy did well (but the bond life sucks, apparently) and West Systems is still going strong. I recently read about Acrylglas and plan on checking into that.

Rick
Click to expand...

And this is why I use West Systems epoxy.
Stan
 
Rick Marchand said:
It has been my experience tha gorilla glue doesn't hold up well to moisture. My test scales fell off when soaked in a bucket of water for extended periods. Barge cement out-performed gorilla glue... 5minute epoxy did well (but the bond life sucks, apparently) and West Systems is still going strong. I recently read about Acrylglas and plan on checking into that.

Rick
Click to expand...

Where you find Barge cement?

any local sources ?
 
I use it for blades with guards, but not for non-guard blades. It works great.

Milt
 
12345678910 said:
Where you find Barge cement?

any local sources ?
Click to expand...

Tandy's "Tanner's Bond Craftsman Cement" IS made by Barge for Tandy.... According to Barge, it's the same stuff, with an added tint to blend in better with leather. :thumbup:
 
Nebulae said:
if you clamp it well the expansion shouldn't be too bad, although when you grind away the exces you might have some open pores on the edge from half ground away bubles. also you can mix it with another glue (Ive only tried liquid nails, and a ruber cement type glue, but i'm sure it will work with most anything) then you can really cut down on the buble some bubles are good, but big huge ones arnt. ! more thing. it works really well if you drill dozens of 1/16 or similar size holes a couple of 1/16ths of an inch into the scale material. the foam fills the holes and you got allot of small pins.
Click to expand...

sharpeknives said:
Acra-glas. Never had it fail.
Click to expand...

I'm no expert (or even good for that matter), but I've had the best results with Gorilla Glue of all bonding methods so far in my making career. I've recently had 2 failures with Acra Glas (one my fault) and other handle failures with G2 and superglues. As mentioned before the foam is NOT structural (not for use as pins), but with proper clamping there is no bubbling- that occurs where there is an insufficient joint. My wedding knife has been my primary neck knife for the last 2 years, and while I've not spent excessive time outdoors with it, I have taken it hunting in sub-zero temperatures, in wet conditions, and used it around the house non-stop. I have not soaked it other than while washing it, but it has no pins at all and has not moved one bit, even with some light hammering of the butt. If my next attempt at my hunting knife for this year fails with Arca Glas I'm going back to the Gorilla to see how it handles it (pun intended)
Myweddingknife.jpg


I have no discernible glue line either:
Weddingfilework2.jpg


Your mileage may vary but these are my results with it.
 
As i read in the glue wars gorilla glue will not bond metal to metal or things like g-10 and micarta to metal so be warned there. The glue did very well in the glue wars thread for metal to wood though.
 
I just glued up a small neck knife with gorilla glue. 01 steel with hard maple handles. I clamped it very tightly and will leave it for minimum 12 hours. I did wet the scales before applying the gorilla glue.

Ric
 
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