- Joined
- Jun 29, 2011
- Messages
- 750
Sounds like your prep is sound and your using pricey materials. My vote is to take the extra 24hrs for a good cure and use gflex. I have a good feeling your problem will be fixed.
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HELP! epoxy / G-10 adhesion problem!
- Thread starter AndrewC
- Start date
Follow-up (spoiler alert: problem solved... 
- and tool tip/recommendation)
So I scuffed off the old epoxy and made sure to really rough up the G10 (and tang) with some 36 grit. I also took this handy-dandy battery-powered engraving pencil thingy* I picked up on Amazon for $14 and now love, and used that to "scribble-etch" all over the G10 and the steel side. Took care measuring out the BSI 15-min epoxy, applied liberally and clamped lightly, and cured in a warm area overnight. Worked a charm.
For belt-and-suspenders, though, I did order some G/flex (it's apparently their "650", comes in 2 x 4oz/118ml bottles) which I'll try out, but I may well go back to the Bob Smith (BSI) stuff, although switching to their 30min which is a 24h cure. For one thing I like to support what feels like a family/small business, and for another I can buy 2 x 9oz bottles for $17 vs. 2 x 4oz for $26, which works out to under $1/oz vs. over $3. Doesn't much affect my profit margins really, but why pay 3x?
*I absolutely love this little dingbat tool now (link). I am always wondering "now which customer is this one for?", or what steel it is or how thick or what I tempered it at or whatever -- sure I'm the only one out there with that issue, right?!? -- and now I just scrawl it all, including blade/order number, stage/progress stuff, on the tang. Sure I could use a Sharpie, but that won't last through HT or acetone/IPA, or there's quench-grud on it, or whatever, and the fat tips are too fat and the thin ones don't mark well, yadda yadda.... The carbide tip cuts a shiny mark into clean or gruddy metal that's real easy to see. And as a bonus, it leaves more surface area for the epoxy.
- and tool tip/recommendation)So I scuffed off the old epoxy and made sure to really rough up the G10 (and tang) with some 36 grit. I also took this handy-dandy battery-powered engraving pencil thingy* I picked up on Amazon for $14 and now love, and used that to "scribble-etch" all over the G10 and the steel side. Took care measuring out the BSI 15-min epoxy, applied liberally and clamped lightly, and cured in a warm area overnight. Worked a charm.
For belt-and-suspenders, though, I did order some G/flex (it's apparently their "650", comes in 2 x 4oz/118ml bottles) which I'll try out, but I may well go back to the Bob Smith (BSI) stuff, although switching to their 30min which is a 24h cure. For one thing I like to support what feels like a family/small business, and for another I can buy 2 x 9oz bottles for $17 vs. 2 x 4oz for $26, which works out to under $1/oz vs. over $3.
Doesn't much affect my profit margins really, but why pay 3x?*I absolutely love this little dingbat tool now (link). I am always wondering "now which customer is this one for?", or what steel it is or how thick or what I tempered it at or whatever -- sure I'm the only one out there with that issue, right?!? -- and now I just scrawl it all, including blade/order number, stage/progress stuff, on the tang. Sure I could use a Sharpie, but that won't last through HT or acetone/IPA, or there's quench-grud on it, or whatever, and the fat tips are too fat and the thin ones don't mark well, yadda yadda.... The carbide tip cuts a shiny mark into clean or gruddy metal that's real easy to see. And as a bonus, it leaves more surface area for the epoxy.