Removing a handle. Epoxy/corby

[E.Carlson]

Well, it finally happened. Finished a kitchen knife about 2 weeks ago, went to sharpen it today and noticed I had a gap on the butt on one side and the front of the opposite side of scales that wasnt there when I finished the handle. The scale/g10 liner has pulled away from the tang.
In a panic I flooded it with CA, but now that I've calmed down, I've come to the conclusion that the handle has to come off.
The handle is York gum burl, unstabilized, which is likely the cause although I've had the block for quite sometime. Its attached with g flex and corby bolts. Anyone had any luck with boiling till the epoxy fails?
I'll grind it off if I have to but I'd rather keep the re finishing on the blade to a minimum. This was the last of my Christmas orders and now I find myself short on time!

 

[TLR]

I had something similar just happen on a piece with stabilized maple handles with g/flex and carbon fiber pins. The sheath maker left it in a wet sheath and apparently didn't wrap it as well as he should have. It warped away just about the thickness of a piece of copy paper at the worst. It went back just a few mm. Didn't make it back to the pins. I needed to send it off the next morning so was in a panic. I flooded it with CA and it closed it up and you couldn't tell. I figure that was about the worst environment that knife will see so it shouldn't warp anymore.
If it comes back I will grind it away and rehandle it. I suspect it will be fine.

 

[E.Carlson]

I wish that was as the case here but this gap is going to stay visible, plus it's a kitchen knife and if I've got a failure already before it's been used, I won't send it off to a kitchen to fail down the line. Sucks, but its gotta go.

 

[Hengelo_77]

I've used a hot air gun to soften epoxy

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Use a hot air gun or a small torch.

First, drill out the Corby's with a bit a tad larger than the threaded bolt shank. A 3/16" bit is probably good .
Then heat the scales from both sides until good and hot - around 200°F/100°C.
Use a shop knife to pop the scales off.
Cool off and clean up the tang with acetone.

One error people make with Corby bolts is overtightening them. You only run them down snug enough to seat the scales on the tang. Overtightening can cause the scales to lift on the front or back of the handle. I use a short screwdriver and only finger tighten with it. After all the bolts are screwed down, gently snug them down so the scales/liners are against the tang as desired … then stop tightening. Wipe off excess epoxy and check for gaps. Tighten more if needed. Using a slow cure 24 hour epoxy is very helpful, as you can wipe off and check over a period of an hour or two before the resin starts to gel.

 

[AVigil]

I use corbies but I stopped using them in glue up.

Instead I use a bolt and wing nut, waxed, during glue up.

Once the epoxy dries I remove the bolt and shape the handle 80% then install the corbies with CA or epoxy.

This works far better

 

[E.Carlson]

I'll give the heat gun a shot tonight. Thanks guys, I'll report back with details of my success.

 

[weo]

One thing I've done is grind the bolts down to almost the tang, and the heat from grinding will loosen the epoxy enough to pry the rest of the handle off and then push the corbys through the holes

PS-perhaps i should mention that this is one of the good uses for worn out belts.

 

[Horsewright]

I've had really good luck sawing handles off and not having to do much to the blade.

 

[DevinT]

Put it on the anvil and hit it with a hammer, it will splinter and come off easily.

Hoss

 

[E.Carlson]

Thanks everyone. Thought I'd document was hat I ended up doing. First I ground the scales down past the heads of the corby bolts. With both sides flattened it was easy to drill out the remainder using the center hole of the female bolt as my center point.
Then the heat gun and a bit of prying and I'm ready to clean the tang up!