African Blackwood and Epoxy?

grease-man

grease-man

Joined
Apr 9, 2006
Messages
1,499
Just a quick question guys...

I worked up some sets of handles, one of them was African blackwood expoxied to the black fiber liner material. The fiber liner just peeled right off a couple days later. The other set was Koa wood and everything was well with that set. Does epoxy not stick to African Blackwood, or do I need to use something else, like super-glue, JB Weld :confused: Thanks. -Matt-
 
Hi Matt, I sometimes work with African Blackwood and find that ordinary two-part Epoxy works just fine as long as you put plenty of "key" into the back of the scales first. I 'key up' all my scales so I don't know wheteher it would work without or not.
All I do is rub the middle section of the scales across the grain (keeping away from the edges to give a good fit to the tang) with some 36 grit paper, then I drill little shallow holes into the tang side of the slab (again, keeping away from the edges) with any size drill bit that comes to hand, usually between 1/8" and 1/4".
Make sure that the resin fills all the little dimple holes (I drill these through any liner material so the holes will line up) before attaching. Using the liner as a template to drill holes through (or just shallow divots into) the tang will also help the resin to bond solid.
Hope this helps.
 
There are some epoxys that are designed for oily woods. The one I am familiar with is Industrial Formulators G2. I have had great results with Thuya and Cocobolo.

Rob!
 
And if you use a slow-set epoxy (Brownell's AcraGlass), and heat it under a light bulb, it will get runnier and go deeper into the pores after you have pulled the oil out of them with the acetone.

Mike
 
I have used Acraglas from Brownells. Rough up surface, clean with acetone, drill dents and undercut them with dremel cone chaped cutter, drill holes through tang, smear epoxy all over everything,clamp and don't touch for 24 hours. Have used it on knives, guns, metal fixtures, etc. Have never had any come loose. Not affected by solvents, water and temps up to boiling after it sets. Uncured can be removed with white vinegar.
Chip Kunkle
 
I'm betting you used a five-minute epoxy......right?

All the above suggestions are the right way to adhere any scales, and especially oily woods. Cleaning them with acetone prior to assembly is a must. Using a 24 hour epoxy eliminates most of the rest of the problem.
Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
I'm betting you used a five-minute epoxy......right?

All the above suggestions are the right way to adhere any scales, and especially oily woods. Cleaning them with acetone prior to assembly is a must. Using a 24 hour epoxy eliminates most of the rest of the problem.
Stacy
Click to expand...


Thanks for all the help gents!

Stacy, the epoxy I used was Devcon, but it was the slower cure, "working time, 30 minutes, full strength in 8 hours" type. I'll look for an even slower type. After reading the replies posted here, I think my main problem was not cleaning the scales with acetone prior to assembly. :o I never thought to do that before.

Thanks again eveyone! -Matt-
 
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