JB Weld for guard gap

[jux t]

I recently bought some Buck 119's and began carrying one occasionally. I liked everything about the knives except for the gap between the guard and the side of the blade, the ones I received were particularly noticeable, wide enough to slip multiple sheets of paper or heavy card stock in. While it may not be a concern in the long run, it bothered me enough to search for solutions.

I came across posts here by eveled which stated that he JB Welds the gaps. What a great idea! In my infinite wisdom and lack of sleep, I initially used JB Weld "Steel Stick", which is like a thick putty. Well, that turned out as well as you can probably imagine.

Next, I used the standard JB Weld, which is better in all respects to this application. Thinner, higher strength, and more resistant to heat. I didn't do a professional job, but now I don't have to worry about water getting into the handle, which was my concern in the first place. With the 420HC blade and the handle being completely sealed up, it's pretty much an all weather knife now.

It was very quick and easy to do with a few toothpicks, a rag, and rubbing alcohol to clean up the extra JB Weld. The point of this post is to show that it's easy to do. I haven't used JB Weld before, and once I got the right kind it only took me 10 minutes including set up and clean up.

Here are a couple pictures, with the second one showing my comical attempt with the wrong JB Weld:

 

[3fifty7]

Do you have any before pics?

 

[jux t]

Do you have any before pics?

I must have deleted them. The gaps looked as wide as the widest I’ve seen when comparing mine to others online. I searched for a long time using Google images and YouTube videos. Widest gaps I saw were on some S30V models, and they were about equal to them.

To note, the blades were tight against the guards at the top and bottom, just had the side gaps you occasionally see. Structurally sound, but I just didn’t want water getting in there.

 

[bucksway]

If you use it for food prep or game it will be easier to clean.

 

[Jsega51]

The good thing is now you could even tape the blade tang and guard faces off and sand it smooth if you’d like to blend it in. Wrapping some paper around a small dowel would work great to hit that small area.

Lots of makers would solder that joint at one time but they’ve moved away from doing that with how much more precise guard slots can be milled, unfortunately the production side of things still suffer.