Epoxy work Saturday........

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I love epoxy for knife handles, works really well but is a pain in the butt. You have to work quick before it starts to set, have to put enough on to seal completely, which of course leads to some squeeze out that drips onto the clamps and all over the blade and handles. I prepped four knives for epoxy, did a general shaping on the handles and pins, laid everything out and then worked REAL fast applying the epoxy and clamping, a little hectic but in the end worked out OK. And it allowed me to save on the amount of epoxy that I normally use, one pack per knife, in this case I only used two packs for four knives, probably had enough for 6 knives but when you are mixing the two part in a cup it doesn't look like enough to do one knife so Saturday was a experiment of sorts.

Here's one I finish this morning.....kind of another experiment. I have been fighting with different wood finishes to see what works, nothing to my liking so far. I posted a question about this subject on the knife sub forum over at 24hourcampfire and got the suggestion of using a polishing rouge instead of a chemical finish like Tru Oil. Got some pink scratchless rouge and a 6" sewn muslin wheel, fired up the home made buffer this morning and tried out the combo, worked great, puts a nice luster on the handles without making them slippery.

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1095 steel with Desert Ironwood handle, gonna be hard to sell this one as I really like it.

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https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

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Keep it until the end of May...you might find a good home. ;-)

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I've got this knife:

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I'm not sure where I got it from, but I like it, and it holds an edge. My problem is that once the handle gets full up with blood and fat and what have you, I can't hang on to it. I also wish the finger choil was deeper.

Anyway, i've tried wrapping it in paracord, leather, and I even glued some skate board tape to the handle, all to no avail.

Do you have any ideas what I could use for some non-slip material? Keep in mind, I'm not the handiest guy in the world.

Thanks, and you make some beautiful blades!

Joe

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I've got that exact knife!! It is a good knife, I ended up just wrapping in paracord, but mines as/is a daily user, not a hnting knife.

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Several ideas come to mind....

This one might be the easiest and most cost effective...

http://www.knifemaking.com/product-p/sc702.htm

Another is shrink tubing from a auto parts store, wrap the handle and hit it with a hair dryer a little.

Third option is a little more pricey, have a set of micarta handles installed. While the micarta is cheap, the labor to cut/shape/fit might cost more than the blade itself. Then again you could attempt it yourself, get something like this....

http://www.knifemaking.com/category-s/741.htm

A drill bit, hacksaw, some epoxy and sandpaper, then install them yourself. I will offer any help/tips I can, just ask.

--
https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

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I think I'd like to try those micarta things.

I'll gamble 20 bucks, it's worth it to me. The blade is D2 and when I get a good edge on it stays sharp through field butchering a whole deer, so like I said, it's worth it to me, if I can figure out a way to just hold onto the dang thing.

First, in your opinion which "texture" would be the most "slip-resistant", then, when I get them, would do I do first!

You probably don't know what a pain I can be, so if you want to back out, believe me, I'll understand.

Thanks again,

Joe

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No problem, don't mind the questions at all.

The best gripping option for the handle scales is the more open texture like the diamond pattern, more grip when your hands are covered when skinning an animal. You can also alter the shape with a rat tail file to give the handles more grip. Nice thing about micarta is that it is easy to shape.

Now a big issue I see is the handle of the knife, no holes for handle pins and being heat treated D2, drilling said pin holes would burn thru a lot of drill bits before getting thru the steel. You could do without the pins, but they help keep the handles from twisting on the tang and popping off, but it would take a lot of torque to do that, if you used a really good epoxy like the Devcon 2200 psi or Gorilla Glue 3200 psi, might take years to pop a handle, if installed properly or one season, just not sure. The rear most cut out in the tang has a forward spot you could locate one pin but I don't see a good option for a second pin.

--
https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

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I'm gonna try to order those pieces tomorrow, thought I'd check and see if there's anything else I might need.

I got everything else from the list in your post.

Do I just epoxy them on there, or do I need to use some kind of fastener also?

See, told 'ya I was gonna pester 'ya.

Joe

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Two part epoxy, Devcon or Gorilla, 5 minute set or slower and highest psi you can get. Use 120 or 150 grit sandpaper on the tang and back side of the handle scales, no deep groves just slightly scuff up the surface, better contact point for the epoxy to bond to. Some kind of material to make pin/s with, I have used brass, aluminum, steel and even clothes hanger wire.

Something like this might solve the pin issue with your tang...

http://www.knifemaking.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=as971

--
https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

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then I'll get back to you when I get it.

Thanks a bunch!

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I found an old West-Cut with the handle trashed. Just for a project I made up a gob of epoxy putty, mixed in some black paint, formed it around the tang of the knife, and squeezed it to the shape of my hand. Once it set up, I smoothed it some with a Dremel sanding drum. It's ugly as homemade sin but is a tough and handy knife.

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I glued wood scales on mine and shaped them. I bought the blade specifically because it was a skeleton knife and I could use it for this project.

There are a number of companies on the net that make knife blanks for this purpose, and there are a number of companies that make skeleton knives that you can add your own scales to even though that is not the original intent of the knife.

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