Making Hard Rubber Handle

T

Terry_Dodson

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Jul 10, 2002
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I saw a Buck knife with a molded hard rubber handle this weekend and i liked the way it felt. How can i make a molded Hard Rubber handle? I know i will have to form a handle from something else to make the initial mold, but how do i make the rubber? What do i need to mix together to make a really hard rubber?
 
those are injection molded I'd say but I've been wondering about the alturnative too. any coments guys?
 
I've got some liquid compound for making reusable low-temp molds that I picked up from Dick Blick for a project that I never got around to. I'm not sure, but I think it's rubbery and comes in varying hardnesses. I'll have to give it a closer look. If it's supposed to be reusable (with materials like plaster or epoxy), maybe it's sufficiently wear resistant, too...

And what about polyurethane? Some long-wearing contact wheels and industrial casters have urethane tires. Maybe there's something there, as well.

Just throwing out ideas, cuz I'm actually clueless. :D

-Allin
 
Urethane and poly-urethane are very different things.The mold and all would not be too difficult to make - as long as you have a good understanding of injection molding.The injector would be a bit more challenging,but most of you creative thinkers could conquer that.The hard rubber would be the problem.The RTV compounds that are used for molds are too soft to make handles from.You could try some sort of resin,but that is not the same ad rubber.There are some thermo-plastics that would work,but they require pressure vats to melt them and inject them.Air bubbles are going to be the biggest problem,without big industrial injectors.
An alternative would be to use sheets or blocks of hard rubber (easy to get ) and make a two piece mortised handle or a stick tang and block handle.Vulcanizing the two sheets together would be fairly easy.The supplier should be able to sell you the vulcanizer.There is a thick black compound that Ken at K&G sells called Epoxy-Patch (part # EP11).It would work good on a stick tang insertion in a block of hard rubber. You might even try it for injecting.
The final thought to consider is that your injector is probably going to be a one use device,since the injected compound will harden in it,too.The cost to make one handle could be $50 to $100,maybe not cost effective.
 
i think texas knifemaker supplies has neoprene blocks for sale. these are soft and grippy, but the hold up well. i might make a S.E.A.L. style knife sometime, and thats the handle material im going to be using. you might want to look into it. you might also want to try getting some of that thick black rubber, that they sell for plumbers to cut their own washers from. you could make a stacked handle with it probably. if all else fails just buy a cheap ka-bar knock off with the rubber handle and use that.
 
Terry_Dodson said:
Where do you get the hard rubber blocks? can you grind it like wood/micarta?
Click to expand...
Probably not without chilling it with liquid nitrogen. I know they do that in order to turn rubber on a lathe.

As for rubber blocks, see your if you can find a local gasket making company. The one in my area carries all kinds and thicknesses of rubber. I got some really good stuff (including what you are looking for) when they got rid of thier scrap pile when they moved to a larger, new facility. If I had known how handy it was, I would have gotten more.
 
I buy my neoprene from the shoe repairman, it is about 25% the money if they have sheet. Use a full tang and drill a hole about every half inch. Finish the front of the slabs. Glue one slab onto the tang with superglue. Back drill through all the tang holes through the rubber handle slab. Align and super glue the other slab and back drill the holes. You need to drill through the rubber with very high speed or it doesn't cut. Have o-ring material of the size of holes drilled. Taper the end of the o-ring material and lace it through the handle holes. Pull it all the way to the last inch and coat the back side and pull not quite through the handle, stretch the o-ring material and wick super glue into the holes. Then cut off the material and rethread and repeat process. This gives a 100% rubber handle the can be ground to shape. I find that this is a very durable and comfortable handle, especially for big knives...Take Care...Ed
 
you might also look at your auto parts store they should have a tool dip.
for replacing the rubber handles on pliers and such. the can is resealable. i thought about buying some and dipping one of my handles in it. if you want it thick all you would have to do is dip let the coat dry and dip again repeating this process until you get to the right thickness.
 
i actually have used that type of dip before on pliers, but it isnt very hard, and it peeled easily on the handles of the pliers, at least the stuff i had gotten before. The shoe stuff sounds interesting, i wonder what kind of glue (vulcanizing) they use. I have had a pair of boots resoled before and that glue sure seemed to hold good.
 
well if you drill several holes in the handle it so it could bond solidly through the hanlde it might work and where the end meets the rossco you could drill them in a line to creat a stable locking place for the rubber.
 
MSC has a neoprene sample package with different hardness (durometer) samples for something like $5..........
I bought a 3' section of 80 durometer neoprene, 2" in diameter--it's a mean mutha by itself !!

It's nasty to grind, but makes a decent handle finished to about 220 grit
 
alumite is a 2 part casting resin .you can get smaller volumes to play with at your local hobby supplier. alumite is good for doll heads and bodies,plastic model cars,etc. most likely won't be any more solid than pouring your handle from the basic epoxies that people use.
 
would the 2 part casting resins at the local hobby store be any good for casting a handle directly onto a knife tang? Is it pretty durable? I saw one 2 part casting resing that said it was epoxy based and had 2 equal size bottles, would that be good for a heavy use handle or would it be too brittle and chippy? Are there other resins that would be better that can usually be gotten locally?
 
Might try to get some rubber mat material like they put in horsetrailers, stalls, walkways etc. and make a stacked handle. This stuff is tough as heck and probably alot stiffer than neoprene. Also comes in a lot of different thicknesses.
 
From hunting experience, I don't like hard rubber handles. They get slippery when they get all bloody. Antler and hardwoods get sticky.
 
I had another Idea:
Make the handle out of whatever material you please, but somewhat undersize. Then wrap it with that self fusing silicone rubber tape. Viola!
 
hmmmm, that is an idea. but how does it do when it gets wet? will it be slippery also? I was wanting something grippy when wet, maybe i will just have to use canvs micarta, isnt that the one that gets grippy when wet?
 
forget the slippery synthetics for a handle and go with a stacked birchbark handle. they have been tested for years in the north atlantic fisheries and hunting in the scandinavian countries.

stackbirch2.jpg
 
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