All About Pocket Knives

Can anyone tell me what is the best glue to attach new handles ? This is my first attempt!

I really dont know, but use something that will clean off easilly just in case you over do it! If your putting on cell type handles,,remember that some glues can burn or melt them when you wife it off! But if there bone or stag,,just about any good glue should work. This is just a thought,,,you'll get some info from some knife makers i'm sure.

And welcome aboard,,,this is a good knife forum!

I like gorilla glue and devcon epoxy. I'f i'm repinning the handles I just tack them in place with a couple drops of superglue so I can get all the holes drilled without anything shifting, and it adds reinforcement.

It depends on the scales - what are they made of? For wood I like Sumo Glue (thanks Dale) because it is inexpensive. Sumo Glue, like Gorilla Glue is a polyurethane glue but foams up far less than Gorilla Glue which is rather messy. I also like Acraglas Gun Bedding Compound (stay away from the gel form of Acraglas) as well as Loctite 330 and Loctite 326 (Cyanoacrylates used with a primer) used as a glue for all puposes. They are excellent but very expensive - especially for one knife ($14 to $30+) and like most GOOD glues they have an expiration date. I like the slow curing 2 part epoxy that K&G sells because I can add a powdered dye and it is much stronger than the Devcon 5 min or Devcon 2 hr cure epoxies. Many folks use Devcon 5 min or Devcon 2 hr cure epoxies as well as JB Weld - I never cared for any of these for knife scales.

E6000 will work with just about any surface and is inexpensive.

Just pinning the scales works fine and you don't need a glue.

I used gorilla glue for the longest time. I switched over to Sumo glue last year after I did some tests with it, found it held just as well and foamed alot less.

Many glues will work great, it's more about surface prep than adhesives really. A few years ago on another forum there was an "Ultimate Adhesives" test thread. I think the methodology was sound enough, and some great conclusions came out of it. It's one of the reasons I trust the poly-expanding glues as much as I do.

Darksev wrote:I used gorilla glue for the longest time. I switched over to Sumo glue last year after I did some tests with it, found it held just as well and foamed alot less. Many glues will work great, it's more about surface prep than adhesives really. A few years ago on another forum there was an "Ultimate Adhesives" test thread. I think the methodology was sound enough, and some great conclusions came out of it. It's one of the reasons I trust the poly-expanding glues as much as I do.

I agree and it's inexpensive as well. That fact that it is a Loctite product is a great selling point as well. I have used acetone on oily woods to prep the surfaces. You don't want to use very much acetone because the oils are what keeps the wood looking nice. I probably don't need to but it's an old habit I picked up from a cabinent maker. I've only used Sumo Glue on wood - I should probably try Sumo Glue on other materials as well. If I remember correctly during those "glue wars", Gorilla Glue was the highest rated adhesive for wood to metal strength. There is no reason why Sumo Glue should be much different as far as wood to metal adhesion goes.

I think the testing of the adhesives was very well done.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll be rehandling a A Kutmaster Barlow with a New Holland stamp on the side of the bolster.

fergusontd wrote:Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll be rehandling an Imperial barlow with a New Holland stamp on the side of the bolster.

Any chance of us seeing some before and after photos?

This is the knife I want to do

I moved your post to the Knife Repair & Restoration Forum.

Dale

Well fergusontd,
It appears you have your work cut out for you.
You have quite a bit of work to do on that old knife, but it should look great when you're done.

I am glad to see the discussion of glue arise. Sometimes I think that knife makers and knife repairmen don't pay enough attention to the glue they use. There is nothing more frustrating than putting hours and hours of work into a custom piece and having the glue fail.

I am attaching a link to The Knife Network. This link goes to one of the best discussions and testing of glue that I have ever seen. It is very comprehensive and tests most of the major glue brands on the market. The notable exceptions are the polyurethane glues like Gorilla Glue and Sumo Glue. They are mentioned at the end however. http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showt ... light=glue

You'll notice that one of the glues that faired the best all around was golf shaft epoxy. Tracy Mickley sells a private labeled version of golf shaft epoxy at http://www.usaknifemaker.com/store/inde ... cts_id=572
It has become my standard glue for most applications, as I have not had it fail so far. Besides, Tracy is a nice guy and a knife maker who tests and uses the products he sells. I enjoy buying from him.
I use all three of these glues, Slow-Cure, Mid-Cure and Quik-Cure (see pics below).


Fergusontd, please post some pics of your knife when it is finished.
Good luck with it and I hope you become a regular here in the Knife Repair and Restoration forum.

Dale

Dale. Thank you for the reply. I'm still trying to decide on what I want to use for the handle material. I just discovered how to post pictures, the one I posted was my first attempt. I really like this website and all the helpful people on it. There are so many beautifully made knives and collectiables on here. Thank you Fergusontd

Finished! What do you think? or

Two more views!

It looks good Ferguson!
Far better than before you started on it.

Just curious; but why did you decide to put it together without any pins?

Keep up the good work,
Dale

I cut off the pins and peened them, I wanted a smooth walnut scale on them with no pins showing. I'm going to try another one soon and try to pin it on, i'm starting out slowly and trying different things out as I go along, I might try a kit knife and see how I do. Thank you for your comments. fergusontd

that looks good to me! Welcome to the dark side! there's no turning back now!

"Luuke.......I am your father."


Oops. Sorry......flashback to the 1970s.

What was getting at is that knife makinr/repair/customizing is far more addictive than just collecting knives.


Dale