New glue for handle work

t1mpani

t1mpani

Platinum Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2002
Messages
5,517
At least, new for me. I always refinish my wooden khukuri handles when they get to me, and have noticed that some of them, no matter how much cleaning of the wood I do/preparing it for finish, absolutely will not take an oil finish. It's not that it won't penetrate them, but parts of their grain will darken and become rough, and you can sand them down all you like, when more oil hits them, they get weird again.

For these, I do a superglue finish that really ends up working very well--and I must give my thanks to Yvsa for his suggestion of this method and Bondini 2. :cool: However, my one problem with this was that the little brush applicator, while doing a good job of putting it on evenly, tended to leave little lines and swirls in the finish that I had to attack with fine sandpaper to get rid of. If I tried smoothing it as it was going on with my finger, I'd have a khuk stuck to my hand.

Enter Loctite Insant Wood Glue which I picked up at Lowe's. Same sized little bottle, same little brush applicator, same smell (no, I didn't linger) but not an instant skin bonder like typical superglue, so after I brush a little on, I can rub a finger over it and smooth it out over the wood, and I end up with no swirl marks or uneven patches. The finish, since it is much smoother and thinner, is also less shiny than my old, thicker superglue finishes were. Brings the color out very nicely and doesn't look plasticy. It will stick to skin over time, and when I finish up I have a fingerpad with a glue coating, but pumice soap removes it in about ten seconds.
I don't know how well this would work on securing buttcaps or fixing cracks in horn (I'll stick to Bondini for that) but for wood finishing I'm very happy with it.
 
Sounds like great stuff T. Next time you do it try wetting your finger in your mouth before you start rubbing. Keep it pretty wet and you may not have any cleanup problems at all. I do that with the latex or vinyl glove with the Bondine 2 but was never able to get a nice smooth finish but I was applying it straight from the bottle without a brush. Actually the Bondini I got never came with a brush or I would've tried it.

The first time I put a heavy coat of the Bondini on anything I thought I had ruined it until I sanded it smooth and polished it. But it does make a beautiful and extremely hard finish!:)
 
I use one of those latex examination gloves to put it on, changing fingers for each coat since it makes the glove rough when it tries. Does a fair job.

I'll try that Loctite, though. Sounds good.
 
How do you guys expect to develope severe allergic reactions if you where gloves all the time?!? ;)
 
I apparently have an allergic reaction to obvious misspellings, since rereading my last post made my skin crawl---that was supposed to be "develop." :grumpy:
 
Yes, but when a friend of mine points it out to me (after I needled him for constantly writing 'nife' just earlier today) it stings more than usual. ;)
 
The place I used to buy my wife's special occasion wear had a latex section, come to think of it. :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top