Solid epoxy handles?

Hello, this post lead me to this forum and I am a new subscriber. I was hoping to see the results of this experiment of casting around a knife tang for solid epoxy handle.

If anyone can direct me to the finished product or anyone else' on this topic I would greatly appreciate it.
 
Welcome Kreg.
If you look at the dates you will see that this is an 11 year old thread. I doubt you will get any pictures of the finished product.

FYI - Cast epoxy does not work well as a handle.
 
I see these stick tang handles part wood part epoxy popping up here there recently. Like people casting epoxy in big voids in the wood then cutting it up for handle material. I don't liie the looks of it at all, and wonder how it would hold up.
 
That is not what he was asking about. He wanted to know about the acrylic resin filled burl pieces. I have found that even though the polymer resins are tough, the dull rapidly with hand wear like a knife will get. Acrylic is useless on a knife handle.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
That is not what he was asking about. He wanted to know about the acrylic resin filled burl pieces. I have found that even though the polymer resins are tough, the dull rapidly with hand wear like a knife will get. Acrylic is useless on a knife handle.
Click to expand...

that is a casting resin that could be used the same way as acrylic. I was just pointing out that not all resin handles would automatically be brittle.
 
More recently I have seen scales done with casting resin and pine cones. Looks sort of cool but now I am seeing a lot of info about the handles failing relatively quickly. It seems like the casting resin doesn't get into the pores of the cone so when things get wet the cone part swells and it all looks terrible and doesn't go back to what it started out like. Also seems like the fails where pieces break off are all around the cone part being the weak link and the crack/fail running through part of the cone.
Maybe if you did the entire handle out of casting resin? Any items in the casting resin not coming to the surface?
I'm no expert here....just my observation.
 
Randydb said:
More recently I have seen scales done with casting resin and pine cones. Looks sort of cool but now I am seeing a lot of info about the handles failing relatively quickly. It seems like the casting resin doesn't get into the pores of the cone so when things get wet the cone part swells and it all looks terrible and doesn't go back to what it started out like. Also seems like the fails where pieces break off are all around the cone part being the weak link and the crack/fail running through part of the cone.
Maybe if you did the entire handle out of casting resin? Any items in the casting resin not coming to the surface?
I'm no expert here....just my observation.
Click to expand...

Yes, thanks everyone for the responses. A couple of clarifications; to your point on the pine cone scales, store bought or pro level products of course are stabilized. When I've seen the fails of the hybrids they've been diy, some not poured well and not pressurized etc.

My particular interest from the 11 yr old post was regarding casting around the entire handle, hybrid material or not, hoping to find results from his original experiment. I will build a mold to try it out on bottle opener and we'll see how it goes. I've observed the concerns regarding wear and tear etc. I am certain someone has done this successfully (or unsuccessfully either way would be good info).
 
Randydb said:
More recently I have seen scales done with casting resin and pine cones. Looks sort of cool but now I am seeing a lot of info about the handles failing relatively quickly. It seems like the casting resin doesn't get into the pores of the cone so when things get wet the cone part swells and it all looks terrible and doesn't go back to what it started out like. Also seems like the fails where pieces break off are all around the cone part being the weak link and the crack/fail running through part of the cone.
Maybe if you did the entire handle out of casting resin? Any items in the casting resin not coming to the surface?
I'm no expert here....just my observation.
Click to expand...
Would flooding the handle with CA after it's finished work? I'd love to know. I like the look of pinecone handles
 
You might have sorted this out, but epoxy is too soft.. and the harder resins require very precise measurements by WEIGHT which is complicated further by the fact that they are not 1:1.

I don't it's going to work- casting the scales separately and then screwing them to the tang is the way to go.

On the upside, if you create a silicone mold (kits available at any craft or hobby shop) then you can make them over and over again.
 
Motega said:
You might have sorted this out, but epoxy is too soft.. and the harder resins require very precise measurements by WEIGHT which is complicated further by the fact that they are not 1:1.

I don't it's going to work- casting the scales separately and then screwing them to the tang is the way to go.

On the upside, if you create a silicone mold (kits available at any craft or hobby shop) then you can make them over and over again.
Click to expand...

Ya I was surprised there was not more recent examples in this forum with the fascination of epoxy/acrylic the last several years. I have been working on a repeatable process when posting this and should have my test pieces done in coming weeks. Thanks for your post.
 
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