-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
I want to add a thin "handle" to a blade.
- Thread starter Lavan
- Start date
L
Lavan
Use it with reckless abandon and see how it holds up. You might end up finding it more desirable than conventional slab scales.
I use a leather conditioner on them one time only. The stuff I have is an old bottle of Meltonian which is excellent. I've heard the formula has changed, so no guarantees with the new stuff.
If the gorilla glue comes unstuck, try the contact cement.
Use it with reckless abandon and see how it holds up. You might end up finding it more desirable than conventional slab scales.
I use a leather conditioner on them one time only. The stuff I have is an old bottle of Meltonian which is excellent. I've heard the formula has changed, so no guarantees with the new stuff.
If the gorilla glue comes unstuck, try the contact cement.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,302
I've been using contact adhesive ( like the stuff used to laminate formica counter tops) to glue my leather to my wood handles to make strops.
Apply to both surfaces, let both dry and BOOM! You ain't getting 'em apart.
Apply to both surfaces, let both dry and BOOM! You ain't getting 'em apart.
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,302
Gorilla Glue expands. Contact adhesive doesn't.I went with the leather and used Gorilla Glue. Seems very stuck.
Crappy phone pic doesn't show the grain very well.....but...
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,302
It might need that expansion to make a lasting bond. Contact adhesive does not require any expansion what-so-ever.
Never has.
Never has.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,432
Gorilla Glue does expand to fill small voids. But from what I've seen, it doesn't actually need that expansion to work well as a bond, and likely is stronger if it isn't allowed to expand much, if at all, within the joint . I used it to glue brass tubing into lanyard holes I drilled into the handles of three Opinels of mine, all very snug and perfectly fitted to the 1/4" O.D. tubing I used. The bond is as strong as can be.
In one instance where I used it to glue a brass rod into the endgrain of an oak dowel, the hole I drilled was somewhat loose for the rod. The expansion of the Gorilla Glue to fill the 'slop' in the drilled hole made the bond weak, and I found out later I was able to twist & pull the rod out, when testing it for strength. The glue forms a lot of bubbles and gets very foamy-looking when it expands out of a joint or into voids within the joint, but loses a lot of it's holding strength after doing so.
Woodworkers sometimes use polyurethane glue (generic name for 'Gorilla Glue') for joinery, in connecting surfaces which are jointed or planed flat & smooth before gluing, with little or no gaps or voids to fill. I'd bet that's what makes such joints strong in doing so.
In one instance where I used it to glue a brass rod into the endgrain of an oak dowel, the hole I drilled was somewhat loose for the rod. The expansion of the Gorilla Glue to fill the 'slop' in the drilled hole made the bond weak, and I found out later I was able to twist & pull the rod out, when testing it for strength. The glue forms a lot of bubbles and gets very foamy-looking when it expands out of a joint or into voids within the joint, but loses a lot of it's holding strength after doing so.
Woodworkers sometimes use polyurethane glue (generic name for 'Gorilla Glue') for joinery, in connecting surfaces which are jointed or planed flat & smooth before gluing, with little or no gaps or voids to fill. I'd bet that's what makes such joints strong in doing so.
Last edited:
I....theorized.... that the Gorilla Glue would ...try... to expand and since it was leather, could possibly invade some of the material itself and create an even stronger bond.
I use GG on bonsai when I break a limb. It expands with the growth of the tree and can be trimmed and painted to match the color of the bark.
I use GG on bonsai when I break a limb. It expands with the growth of the tree and can be trimmed and painted to match the color of the bark.
- Joined
- May 6, 2018
- Messages
- 891
... And leather Micarta was invented.
SteelJunkee
A resin-filled leather would be interesting. One could also call it "stabilized" leather.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,432
In looking online, reading more about Gorilla Glue, I found a woodworker's page (link below) with a review of it's gap-filling characteristic, and how that affects holding strength. In short, he confirmed what I'd assumed, that the 'foamy' character of the glue, in expansion, makes it very weak. Of interest in his review, he also quoted a response from the makers of Gorilla Glue, in which they explained it's best-suited to tight & clean joints, with little or no gaps to fill (and they recommended their Gorilla epoxy product for that). They also mentioned Gorilla Glue is designed to penetrate into the material to some depth, making the bond stronger. The quoted reply from Gorilla Glue's mfr is at the bottom of the linked page below.
So, long story short, it looks like your theory is on target.
https://woodgears.ca/joint_strength/gorilla_glue.html
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,432
No idea. I'm interested in woodworking, and like to tinker with it, mostly with power tools. But no expert by any measure. Most of what I see & read about gap-filling in woodworking usually involves either epoxy or some form of wood filler/putty (not sure what binder that's based on). Some use simple white glue or wood glue mixed with sawdust, as well.
One 'off-label' use I've heard about and tried with Gorilla Glue, is using it as a wood finish; it's polyurethane, after all. I used it for finishing the Opinels I mentioned earlier in the thread, the handles of which I'd thinned out & sanded, reshaping them to make them more pocket-friendly. Gorilla Glue leaves a glossy & hard finish and is dead-simple to apply (in very thin coats, the GG 'gel' is applied like wax with a clean cloth wrapped around a fingertip).
Obsessed with Edges
Interesting, I would have thought the "foaming" quality of Gorilla Glue would make a rough finish instead. I read that cyanoacrylate (Superglue) can also be used this way, from Jamie of Mythbusters.
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,432
That's why it's important to apply it very thinly. I did get some fine bubbles on the surface initially, when first trying it. Figured out after that, the thinner the coat is, the less the bubbles are an issue. Might also vary with the moisture content in the wood itself. The bubbles I did have were fairly easy to sand away with some fine-grit sandpaper, after which I applied an even thinner, lighter coat. And using it this way, it's important to note that you don't want to wet/pre-moisten the wood, as is the instruction for using it as glue. That'd likely make it a foamy mess. I guess the 'curing' of the finish relies on moisture drawn from the air instead. It works, and surprisingly well.
My 1st home made knife originally wore electrical rubber and plastic tape for a handle. I used it like that at work every day for 7 years before I finally gave it a proper one.One could also wrap the whole thing in duct tape and call it a handle.
