Best Glue for Extreme Cold?

Tad Lynch

Tad Lynch

Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
1,109
I'm currently making a knife for a customer that will likely see some extremely cold weather. The knife will be: 1084 blade, stainless guard, hidden tang, mortised micarta handle with Corby's and thong tube. Does anyone have a recommendation for which glue to use--maybe one that has a better tolerance for extreme cold? Any advice is appreciated.

Tad Lynch
 
epoxy will probably be o.k but I dunno :confused: depending on how cold cold is you might consider making the blade from L6, or S-7. L6 and S-7 are not as wear resistant, but if your chopping frozen meat or what not in sub zero weather the toughness and impact resistance would be nice. Allot of high quality steels especially for smaller blades, or folders would chip or fracture at extreme temperatures. you might consider bringing down the hardness of whatever you use just a touch.
 
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The blade will be 5 1/2 inches long--general use, not much chopping. The cold temps will be at high altitudes in Turkey, so I'm assuming pretty cold. It's just got me thinking about making sure I use the most appropriate glue.

Thanks,

Tad Lynch
 
Here is what I use most of the time. I use Loctite 324 on very light colored stone that is mostly white. Be very careful to keep everything CLEAN. I wear gloves when doing the adhesive stages. Be certain there is no oil contamination, rough up the tang/liners and spread a thin layer of the 325 on the tang/liner. Spray the activator on the scales and let it sit for 15 minutes to an hour before clamping together. Work very quick as it "locks up" in about 2 minutes. Don't believe the 5 minutes as that is fixture time, as in it will never come off and you can unclamp it now....

Speedbonder 325
Severe environment
Transparent dark brown color
Gap fill 0.040”
Viscosity 20,000 (higher is thicker)
Shear 2,200
Temp range -65f to 300f
Cure Speed fixture 5 min
Full 24 hours
Activator 7075
Comments: This is used to bond materials that move slightly due to temperature changes. It takes thermal cycles very well since it is slightly flexible. It is slightly thicker than 324 so it is easier to apply. The color of epoxy seems to bother people. If you have a large glue seam you can see, you should work on closer tolerances more and worry about adhesive color less.
 
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Kraton (as in Cold Steel's Master Hunter), wood (Roselli erapukko) or stacked leather (Marble's) are my choices for extreme (-40 C./F.) temperatures.
 
Lots of knives out here in Alaska put together with Acra-Weld sold by Brownell's.
Been using it for years and I have never seen it fail. I carried one knife in IRAQ for 2 yrs @ 135 degrees + back to Alaska @ -65. Still going strong.
 
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