Gorilla super glue (not the foamy stuff)

Bailey Knives

Bailey Knives

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
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I am referring to the actual super glue from the people who make gorilla glue.

Anyways. I have been using it to glue liner material onto my handle slabs, and this stuff is incredibly strong. I got a couple pieces of micarta glued together from just a tiny drop. They were glued on the shiny finished side also, I hadn't even roughed them up. Anyways, I tugged and tugged and finally the pieces broke apart. The glue drop size was maybe 3/8" diameter, and it actually tore the top layer of linen from the micarta off of one of the handle pieces, the glue didnt fail.

I started considering using it to glue handles to tangs instead of epoxy (with pins of course). Anyone know why it wouldnt work?
 
I use it to glue scales on full tang knives and it works good. I would rather use epoxy for bonding the tang inside the handle on a hidden tang knife though because it would take an awful lot of the super glue to fill the gaps inside unlike epoxy but for full tangs, it's what I use.
 
Is that the stuff that is supposed to have rubber particles to make it more impact resistant? How well does it hold up to moisture and temperature changes? (eg., going from freezing temperatures outdoors to indoors).
I guess my concern would be its work time - I may not have time to position large pieces before it sets.
 
God knows I use my share of super glue. Super glue seems to me to bond best on smooth surfaces, it sets up instantly when all the air is evacuated from the joint like fingers:D. The only problem with it is it's brittle and does'nt move with handle material. I like devcon 5 minute epoxy gel
( http://www.devcon.com/products/products.cfm?marketid=2&familyid=176). It does'nt get brittle like super glue or the other epoxies so hopefully no cracking and you can still mix dry pigment with it.
 
I would think epoxy would be better as is also seals between the tang and scales. It would probally require a lot of super glue and I don't know how it would be to work with?
 
when i need a thicker glue i make super glue into a paste and it works great. i tried everything i could think of to mix with the glue but thy all would set off the glue right away except corn starch :eek::rolleyes:. i dont know what it is about in but it will stay liquid for about 5 or so minutes and them bam go hard. it seams very strong like. but acts like an epoxy in that its thick and has a set time.
 
I dont know. The superglue is a gel, and when I glue up the liners, I just scribble all over the liner, when I clamp it, the glue squishes out. I dont think a handle would take a lot more glue than the liner.
I dont think the epoxy I am using has an awful lot of flex to it. the little globs that hang off the bottom of the knife after I glue up the handle snap off like glass when I push on them. I am not sure the superglue would be any different.
I have been planning on making myself a new EDC, maybe it will be the perfect opportunity to see how the superglue measures up. Might be a year or so before I come to a decent conclusion. I kind of want my knives to last forever, and I cant have a handle adhesive that will fail in six months.
 
Matt,
I've been using it on some simulated full tang test knives. I tried to hammer the handle off of one of the test knives and probably 90% of the wood stuck to the tang. I had to chisel the rest of the wood chunks and then sand the blobs of wood/superglue mix. I've used cocobolo, kingwood and stabilized elder burl with the same results. The handle material was also stuck to the copper and SS pins/tubes. I rough surfaces with used 60x belts, wipe them down with isopropyl alcohol then when the alcohol evaporates I glue them up. I basically put a bead around the perimeter of the scale, a couple of lines down the centers, around each hole and put some down the pin/tube holes.

The little drop point SFC I carry in my pocket is assembled using that glue. It's stabilized redwood burl and copper. It gets beat up in my pocket and thrown around daily into our key bucket/holder thing that used to be an old ashtray. 6 weeks and no signs of any issues.

We ARE talking about the Gorrila Glue Impact Resistant Super Glue?

Edited to Add:

I've got model airplanes that have super glued metal/wood bonds that are over 10 years old with no failures. These are impact and vibration areas.
 
I use it with great success gluing insert on my Tacticals. It even has withstand the heat of my powdercoater. I used to glue a couple of micarta like scale on a knife just to drill the handle. I damn near ripped the micarta apart when i tried to pull it off. I swear by the stuff.
 
I used that stuff to temporarily tack the scales for drilling pin holes. Man was it a bugger to get them to release. I only got to try it once though, with this particular tube. When I went back a day or so later, to use the glue again, I couldn't open the tube. It was welded shut! I actually broke the tip off at the base....had to scrap the rest.
 
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