Recommendation? Cleaning Tang Before Affixing Grip?

oldmanwilly

oldmanwilly

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Good afternoon all,

I recently acquired a Spyderco Mule Team in PMA11 and would like a little advice. It currently sports a crude paracord wrap that is generally sufficient but not quite comfortable for prolonged use. I would like to affix a proper handle by epoxying and pinning homemade scales made from aged red cherry wood. I am not sure exactly which species of cherry it is, but it is prevalent in the Texas hill country and the wood is extremely dense and tough. I digress.

My question is this: how should I prepare the tang before attaching the grips? As I understand it, PMA11 is a high carbon tool steel (2.45% carbon) and therefore susceptible to corrosion. In fact the blade has already developed a slight, attractive patina from use in the kitchen. I would hate to recklessly epoxy the grips on and trap corrosive substances that will damage the tang underneath. Would it be sufficient to (i) wash the entire blade with water and dish soap, (ii) dry it completely before spraying it with windex (or similar solvent), then (iii) drying it again before epoxy?

Any advice on the matter or examples of others' modified Mule Team knives would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Will
 
Personally, I sand them with some rough sandpaper. This leaves them clean and leaves small scratches for the epoxy to grip. Rust and corrosion are often a result of oxygen reacting with the steel, so I haven't seen much in the way of corrosion under epoxy.
 
This is how I do mine.
If there's any sign of corrosion, steel wool it.
Wash with dish soap and rinse.
Completely dry
Apply rubbing alcohol and wipe dry.
Apply breakfree clp and let set for a couple hours.
Wipe dry with a clean cloth and install handles, no adhesive.

If I were going to apply adhesive, I'd do it after the alcohol.
 
Sure the alc is going to work just fine.
But some of us like to take things too far / over the top and down the other side.
etc.,
so for those I would suggest some of the stuff we used while I was working in high end auto body. This was used any time the surface was cleaned just prior to paint being applied etc.
>>>>Liink
or
Dupont Prep-Sol (I don't have a link but is readily available).
As far as what to put on the metal to stop corrosion etc., give it a good coat of epoxy if that is what you are using to hold the scales on (the suggestion to roughen the surface is an excellent one).
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I have a limited setup so I think i'll try the alcohol method after sanding the tang a little to roughen the surface.
 
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