Is devcon epoxy enough to secure the scales to a knife alone (no pins/hardware)?

J

JZknives

Joined
Feb 7, 2013
Messages
204
Im working on a knife right now and have both scales glued on.

The blade was heat treated before i thought to drill the holes for the pins.

Will the epoxy hold for the lifetime of the knife?

Or should I try to drill the pins now that they are on there?

Im using paper (ivory) micarta so im worried it could be discolored by the heat of the drill.
 
In my personal opinion,I would n ot use Devcon with pins.Don't like the stuff.
Put the knife in the freezer for a couple of hours and then tap the scales with a small hammer,they should fall off.Then drill your holes and re attach the handles.If the tang is hardened your gonna have a heck of a time drilling it.And if you try it with the scales on your gonna burn them bad.

Stan
 
SBuzek said:
In my personal opinion,I would n ot use Devcon with pins.Don't like the stuff.
Put the knife in the freezer for a couple of hours and then tap the scales with a small hammer,they should fall off.Then drill your holes and re attach the handles.If the tang is hardened your gonna have a heck of a time drilling it.And if you try it with the scales on your gonna burn them bad.

Stan
Click to expand...
Just to clarify

The devcon wont hold up over the lifetime of the knife?

Or you just dont like using it?

I REALLY dont want to have to rescale the knife if i dont have to :(

But if the scales will just end up falling off then i will have to.
 
No commercial Epoxies will hold up to a lifetime of use without pins or mechanical fasteners. If you can't drill holes in the tang boil the scales or put them in the freezer until the glue softens and then tap them off. Buy some West Systems G-Flex from Alpha knife supply and use that.

Sand both surfaces to 120 grit and drill small dimples on the side of the scales that you are gluing. This gives little areas for the epoxy to grip. you can also take a file and scratch up the tang for extra surface for the glue to grip. Clean the scales and the tang and then dry them. Then go ahead and do glue up. Only clamp with light pressure. G-Flex does not expand as it dries and there needs to be a decent amount of glue in between the tang and scales for it to hold. Let it dry for 24 hours at 70 degrees before doing anything else to them.

If you do this your scales should never come off. Be careful when you use G-Flex and don't get it on your skin. Also wear a respirator if possible or work outside. Epoxy is really bad for you.

I used commercial epoxy on two knives before making the switch to G-Flex and have never looked back. Its really great stuff. Cold does not affect it and I've heated it to 300+ degrees for several minutes and it didn't fail. It also handles shock very well.
 
If you have to rescale you need to get a carbide drill bit, it will cut through the hardened knife, however be careful carbide is very brittle, also a carbide end mill will cut it too but they are very brittle as well, they should only be used in a milling machine...
 
They won't necessarily fall off, but I wouldn't recommend only using that if you want to make sure they'll stay on for a "lifetime". As long as you don't set it in boiling water or take it in freezing temps and bang on it a lot then it should be fine. But if you want it to be able to withstand every element and every situation possible (a true survival type knife), the best solution for attaching scales to hold up for that kind of use would be a good epoxy as well as some sort of mechanical fasteners (peened pins, corby bolts etc etc.) . I use devcon and and pins (not mechanically fastened) on most of my blades, not that I make the best knives there are but they'll hold up for what they're meant to be used for.
That's just my 2 cents tho :)
-Paul

___________________________________________________________________________________

My youtube channel with some of my knives and other related vids.. www.youtube.com/Lsubslimed
 
KalEl said:
No commercial Epoxies will hold up to a lifetime of use without pins or mechanical fasteners. If you can't drill holes in the tang boil the scales or put them in the freezer until the glue softens and then tap them off. Buy some West Systems G-Flex from Alpha knife supply and use that.

Sand both surfaces to 120 grit and drill small dimples on the side of the scales that you are gluing. This gives little areas for the epoxy to grip. you can also take a file and scratch up the tang for extra surface for the glue to grip. Clean the scales and the tang and then dry them. Then go ahead and do glue up. Only clamp with light pressure. G-Flex does not expand as it dries and there needs to be a decent amount of glue in between the tang and scales for it to hold. Let it dry for 24 hours at 70 degrees before doing anything else to them.

If you do this your scales should never come off. Be careful when you use G-Flex and don't get it on your skin. Also wear a respirator if possible or work outside. Epoxy is really bad for you.

I used commercial epoxy on two knives before making the switch to G-Flex and have never looked back. Its really great stuff. Cold does not affect it and I've heated it to 300+ degrees for several minutes and it didn't fail. It also handles shock very well.
Click to expand...
more stuff to buy , it never ends :(

thank you
 
coldsteelburns said:
They won't necessarily fall off, but I wouldn't recommend only using that if you want to make sure they'll stay on for a "lifetime". As long as you don't set it in boiling water or take it in freezing temps and bang on it a lot then it should be fine. But if you want it to be able to withstand every element and every situation possible (a true survival type knife), the best solution for attaching scales to hold up for that kind of use would be a good epoxy as well as some sort of mechanical fasteners (peened pins, corby bolts etc etc.) . I use devcon and and pins (not mechanically fastened) on most of my blades, not that I make the best knives there are but they'll hold up for what they're meant to be used for.
That's just my 2 cents tho :)
-Paul

___________________________________________________________________________________

My youtube channel with some of my knives and other related vids.. www.youtube.com/Lsubslimed
Click to expand...
okay this is good news. Its not a knife that will be going into the wilderness. So i think it will be okay. I should have worded "lifetime" better
 
If you do end up rehandling the knife, you can use the burner on a propane stovetop with a wet rag wrapped around the blade to draw the tang back soft enough to drill.
 
if the knives are staying indoors and out of the dishwasher, I wouldn't worry about it. you didn't say which version of devcon you used. i have used the clear, 2 ton, waterproof and am happy with the results.
 
I have been using a fillet knife for two years now that has no pins, just epoxy. The tang was hollowed slightly on a wheel but the epoxy is holding fine. This knife gets used about 3 days a week all summer, and rides around in the door of my truck 365 days a year. It sees temps of -45C in the winter and probably a sealed cab temp of 55c or better in the summer and has had no issues yet.
 
Here's a secret- If you use properly peened pins, the handle will be permanent.
If you use epoxy, the handle MIGHT be permanent-might not.
 
There is no general consumer grade epoxy that is good enough for this purpose. Epoxy a liner to a piece of wood or micarta, let it sit a few days and try pealing them apart and you'll see what I mean. And when they get hot or wet they're even worse. If you can buy it at Lowes or walmart it is the cheap stuff and has no use in cutlery except for use as a temporary fixturing aid where the low strength and poor adhesion are of benefit.

You might want to look into West Systems or Acraglas or similar.
 
Does cutting a slot through the tang, slotting the inside of the scales and then gluing it biscuit joint style work if you don't want visible fixtures?

-Sandow
 
I read somewhere that Devcon (2 ton), had a designed in 2 year life span. I had two handles fail. Both were right at the 2 year mark give or take a month. I switched to the Gflex too and have had no problems.
 
Sandow said:
Does cutting a slot through the tang, slotting the inside of the scales and then gluing it biscuit joint style work if you don't want visible fixtures? Sandow
Click to expand...

I guess it would depend on what you use for a biscuit. I certainly wouldn't use epoxy alone in that scenario.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top