How do you remove resin soaked cord/ray skin handle material

J

Jiman01

Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Messages
1
I have an older Kwaiken that I'm thinking about restoring. It has a cord/ray skin wrapped handle that has been hardened with resin.

I'm curious how one removes the original handle material, so that it can be rewrapped. I've seen enough tutorials on wrapping and resin application, where I want to give this a try, but haven't been able to find any "how to" on the process of removing the old wrap.

Any tips/advise on how to do this?
 
I don't know if the ray skin would be salvageable.
The resin would cause a pretty serious bond and this is likely stronger than the ray skin itself. Anything used to break down the resin would likely destroy the ray skin (acetone, et al).

You can always buy ray skin and make the handles yours from the ground up. If this is the steps you want to take, just mount the blade in a padded vise (I use clean leather to pad the jaws) and take a razor blade to the handle.
It will help if you weaken the bond of the resin by soaking it in acetone for a little bit. But be cautious as the vapors are very harsh on your system. Do this outside or in a ventilated garage if possible.
 
Thank you very much. Yes, the plan was to start from the ground up. Didn't realize the resin broke down from just acetone. Go to know.

May have to give this a try. Thanks again Bill.

Just realized I have two account?? How'd that happen.
 
You probably signed up once before to ask a few questions. The account without the "01" after it has 25 posts.
------
No problem with the advice.
Acetone may break it down, and it might not, it should though.
There are a few places to look for ray skin, and a multitude of places to locate wrap materials, ranging from silks, paracord, et al.

Just be careful since some synthetic materials can break down if you use things like crazy glue (also known as cyanoacrylate or CA Glue).
 
Also, if you don't want to wrap them, yu can use plenty of other handle materials, wood, micarta, G10, abalone, Trex decking, Horse mat stall, TeroTuf, or a combination of materials.

It all depends on the look and durability you are after.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top