What is thge strongest epoxy to hold scales to the tang and where to buy it?

LARRYZ10

LARRYZ10

Joined
Feb 6, 2010
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which epoxy gives the best hold on steel with wood or micarta? Where do you buy it? Thank you!
 
I used Loctite E120HP for several years and still like it. Lately I've been using West Systems G/flex
successfully.
 
I think as long as you get the slow cure and let it set long enough you will be ok with about any brand. I have used devcon for years not on knifes but pool cues.
reason for devcon was I can get it in bulk. other than that I don't think its any better than any other slow cure brand.
 
Definately go with a slow set epoxy.
I switched from generic fast setting epoxy to G-Flex and I must say that it's worth it just for the cleanliness. With 5min epoxy by the time I mixed it up, applied it to the tang and scales, fit the scales and pins, and clamped everything together the epoxy was already getting gummy. This makes cleaning the excess epoxy off a real pain. With the G-Flex I can take my time putting everything together and easily wipe away any excess with a rag or cotton swab. I held off on buying the G-Flex due to the price but now I know its worth every penny.
 
I'm with Dan, and partially blame him for getting me started with E120HP. It's great stuff. With the applicator and tips it goes on pretty neatly with little waste. It is designed for bonding a wide variety of materials under extremely stressful conditions, including high heat, cold, vibration and shock. Gosh, sound familiar? They use this stuff to hold airplane nose cones in place, I have yet to experience a failure on a knife even when trying.

Whether you go with E120HP, G-Flex or something else, I highly suggest avoiding hardware store epoxy and consumer grade epoxy of all kinds. Then research what materials the epoxy in question is designed to bond. Some will hold a material but at a much lower strength or impact rating. For example, one of the epoxies I looked at was great for metal and wood but really didn't do well with G10 or other synthetic handle materials. Micarta was fine, it was things with plastic or fiberglass type materials it didn't like. Oh well, scratched off the list. I just don't remember exactly what it was. One of the other Loctite's I think. That is why I have settled on E120HP, it's almost universal for my purposes. It might not be the absolute best in every situation on a knife, but it's ONE of the best.
 
I currently use e-120hp too. One downside for me is that I don't have the dispenser and nozzles due to the cost, so I had to make a little wooden double stick plunger to push the syringe.

I have used west system marine 105 system in the past as I had it from boat repair work. Gflex and acragel sound interesting.

The key point from glue wars for me was the value of surface preparation, I wish I had a sandblaster.
 
For attaching scales I like the consistency of west system Gflex, I use dye to match the scale.
for filling up a hidden tang, I use west system 105 with the fast hardener (Thanks for the info Karl Anderson) or brownells acraglass, the 2 later are both like water.
 
Yup, but the only time I see that is in the trash can. I've never had a visible glue line with it.
Something to consider with E120HP in terms of cost is that the applicator adds to the initial cost but the actual adhesive is fairly inexpensive and you don't need to use a lot of it. So for someone making a couple knives a year it may not make sense, but if you figure on even one a month that applicator is nothing.

+1 for surface prep being key. Even the best adhesive will struggle with poor surface prep, while even the worst can do pretty well with good prep.
 
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