Glueing Neoprene to Steel

David Schott

David Schott

Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
3,041
Hello,
I am making a large chopper/beater knife that will be put through hell. I acquired some slabs of neoprene that i'd like to use as handle scales. I will be pinning them, but want to know what glue will bond to neoprene and steel. Will regular epoxy work? I was a bit worried that the neoprene will flex, breaking the bond....anyone have any experience with this stuff?
 
David

I used neoprene scales on a blade about two years ago. I used micarta pins. I glued the whole thing together with Devcon 2-Ton.

I sent it to a customer to test (use and abuse) for 6 months. At the end of 6 months, he liked it so well, he sent me a check.

That's the only one I have done with neoprene, but apparently it held up well.

Robert
 
Why the micarta pins? I was going to use regular nickel silver, and really hack em up to make it have grip....

My only other solution was to just thread some 1/4" holes in the tang and use countersunk screw cap screws....but really hate that look for the most part
 
TikTock said:
Why the micarta pins?
Click to expand...

If I recall, I bought the neoprene from Texas Knifemaker's Supply, and it seems like they recommended micarta pins (I got those from TKS also).

Sounded strange to me also, but I gave it a shot, and it seemed to work.

I don't see why stainless, nickel, brass, or anything else wouldn't work if you "roughed" it up.

Edited to add a pic..........
DS1.jpg
 
Cool Cool....

Im a bit worried about the attaching since this will see such abuse... I may need to frame the handle with pins somehow...Perhaps I will use some sort of spacer that is plastic and bond the neoprene to it using PVC weld (if that melts neoprene), then pin through the neoprene and spacer. Im thinking I could glue the spacer to the tang better than the neoprene to the tang...I'll keep this posted! its gonna be a keeper knife anyways, so this will function as a review.
 
Reggie Barker uses neoprene for his cutting competition knife handles...so, it must be able to take some abuse...

What's it feel like? does it have "memory"? (if you push your fingernail into it..how deep...and does the mark stay)


I've never tried the stuff, but have been very interested in it...
 
It feels pretty nice! Its about the hardness of a soft hiking boot bottom. I can push my fingernail in pretty easy, and the mark does not stay unless you really try to scratch a hunk out. Its somewhat firm, The pieces I have are about 3/8" thick and I cannot fold them in half. I can flex them by hand, though. I think if I just use a total of five pins, two up front, two in the back, and a larger center pin, I should be good. I know the material itself can take abuse. I am mainly concerned that since it can flex, that it will want to lift along the edges after heavy chopping unless I can find something that will bond it really well. I am going to get some of that plastic glue and see if I can melt it to a piece of plastic spacer, then just bond the spacer to the tang....i'll do a little investigating but will have results by friday since this needs to be done for the hammerin this weekend!
 
I may be off base here, but I think I could see why you wouldn't want to use metal pins with this material. The handle material can squish around, but the pins can't. So when you're using it, the pin may stick out of the surface a bit and scratch you up. Also for the same reason, it's hard to grind down the pins flush with the material without forming a sharp burr around the edges. As the material moves, this burr could get exposed. Pins made from something like micarta wouldn't have such sharp edges.

Is it possible to make it a fully enclosed tang?
 
I was thinking the same thing...forgot to post it...micarta pins would be better. Steel will "move" at a different rate than the rubber with temperature changes.
 
Well I got the handles fitted.... theres no reason why wny kind of epoxy wont work from what I feel...the holes close up on themselves almos invisbily, and I had to hammer and press the pins in just for fitting. I cant even open a gap up by trying to flex it. A guy at the auto shop sold me some idustrial dhesive they use for putting accssories onto brushed steel, and I will be testing it. Im thinking a flexible adhesive might be best....

As far as pins go, i have no micarta rod and need this for this weekend so i am going to do the best I can with nickel silver pins...I maybe able to buff them before assembly, doming them....

I will try to take a few pics in an hour or so when I get the handle shaped and dry fitted. This stuff STINKS when you grind it......my gf is not happy!
 
The micarta pins won't be much of a problem, if you slack belt much very like we do. The n/s will cause a cone around the pin. not such a problem if you flat platen. Micarta blends well. both in looks, and texture. Two glus that work will with neoprem, barge cement. Or any quality leather cement, (the kind that you put on both surfaces). Also, the spray glue, that is used for bonding weather striping in automobiles works well. The problem of usint liners, is that you are going to have the same problem glueing to the linner, as you will to the tang. No difference. It's just that the handle to linner is now the weak link, rather than the handle to the tang.. You've just added one more variable, and wink link. mike http://www.lovettknives.com/
 
Here it is, roughed in with 50 grit....it feels awesome! I wet my hands and it felt even better. Sweet stuff so far.... pins wont be a problem... ths stuff doesnt really sqish much....it has a weird glimmer to it...

1.jpg


2.jpg
 
Good looking knives. Can't say as I'm much for the neoprem handles. I tried some back when I was just starting and didn't even know how to heat treat. It didn't take long for the handles to come loose. It could have been the cheap epoxy, thin glue line squesed most of it out, or not properly cleaned. Since then I've taken to reliying on epoxy as a seal and not for holding power. Eighter bolts or piened pins in full tangs. The problem I see with rubber for a grip is that it flexes and could break the epoxy line. If I were to try some again, and I may on some salt water fillet knives, I'd hollow grind down the tange, skellitonize the tange as much as I could, mill out a generiouse slot in the handle material and under cut it so the epoxy would have plenty of room and stuff to grab. I'd also use eigther loveless bolts or hidden bolts to provide the main holding power. It goes without saying that I'd use accureglass for epoxy. I'd probably use micarta pins front and rear inbetween to help stabilize the handle. Over kill? Probably, but I wouldn't worry too much about the handle comeing loose eigther. Then again I've been known to use a knife as a pry bar.
 
The tang on this one is fully skeletonized. It looks like swiss cheese. I hope that will help....

Im torn between two glues for sealing. Im afriad epoxy will not hold since its actually too hard to flex with the rubber. From the dry fit, I could hardly pry the handles off with a screwdriver, the neoprene holds the pins so tight....I am just going to use a thin layer of metal/plastic epoxy to seal it and not worry about it. I made this for myself to abuse. Ill post pics when its done.
 
barge cement is what I use to bond neoprene to my contact wheel.
clean the neoprene throughly with acetone, let dry, put on cement.
 
Well after going to the store and getting suggestions, the auto guy handed me a two part epoxy and said "just use this" and he said itll set in an hour and that i'd never get it off. It smelledalot like ultra strong rubber cement and set up like a rock. I mixed bit of dye in to match the handle color.

We will see how it holds up. I hacked through a bunch of 2X4s and took down a pallet with the handles not even glued with no problems at all, so i doubt i'll run into much problem with the glue. I hope the blade holds up to comptition! Worked like a charm today slicing cans and chopping wood.
 
This has got me to thinking, is there an adhesive that stays flexable? Would contact cement stay relativly flexible? If so it might be a better alternative than epoxy. Might have to do some experiments before I try anymore neopream handles. Sure would be nice on a fillet knife.
 
I can see there could be problems with the pins sticking up higher than the neoprene so I would use a press and give'em a little squish if you can.A press would leave a nice finish if done correctly,much better than a hammer.If that will not work for you just clamp it in a vice with some wood on either side of the pin and tighten it up so the pin is further exposed and hit it with some sandpaper or a file.:)
 
Super glue is what I have found to work best on neoprene for me. I compared it to devcon and found it works better. I've only made a few blades with rubber handles, but it was years ago and I've had no complaints.
 
I used a base of wood/metal fast set epoxy. It set up like a rock. Along the edges, I used industrial automotive weatherstrip adhesive. Its black and dries to a flexible consistency for high stress areas in cars. Matches the neoprene so well i cant see the edges. Only time will tell how it held up, but dont overestimate how hard this stuff is. I cant ever imagine a human squeezing the handle hard enough to compress the neoprene to a point where you could feel the pins. Take the sole of a hiking boot and try to compress it with your fingers...thats the solidity of this stuff. I almost didnt even glue the handle since I did extensive chopping without it and the handles never moved a milimeter. If I did it again, I'd do it with countersunk wide head scres tapped into the tang. From how it closed up on itself after drilling, you could make the screws nearly invisible and seal the holes with dyed epoxy and not even know they were there...
 
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