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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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Old 12-12-2013, 08:11 AM
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Hunter10139 Hunter10139 is offline
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Stabilizing with epoxy???

Okay guys here's the deal. A friend I work with also likes to make knives. For his first knife he stabilized some wood using just a regular epoxy not known for stabilizing wood. This epoxy is actually what we use when we perform wet layups with composites, mostly fiberglass. My question is that is there a disadvantage to using this epoxy to stabilized his wood? Also, what makes epoxies that are sold as wood stabilization epoxies, like cactus juice, more optimal than your typical epoxies?


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Old 12-12-2013, 08:57 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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The 'real' stabilizing goos are some type of acrylic resin so that's a big difference right there. Off hand, I can't say that what your friend did won't work but, generally, you're not really stabilizing anything unless you can force it all the way through the wood (at a minimum, and into the cellular structure of the wood at best). With something as thick as most epoxies, I doubt you will have great success using 150 psi or less which is about all that the home brew folks usually have available.

Aside from that, epoxy would be a poor choice for stabilizing since when we say a block of wood is stabilized we mean that it is now virtually waterproof, chemical resistant, dimensionally stable, and requires no additional finishing products. Many, if not all epoxies, will soften in water, dissolve in acetone, and break down under UV light. How 'stable' is that?


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Old 12-12-2013, 10:34 AM
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C Craft C Craft is offline
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Ray pretty much hit right on the head. Epoxy is OK for a topcoat but it is not going to go any deeper than the surface, so really not stabilizing the piece.

I have used it to fill surface cracks but I usually wipe the majority of it back off.

Here is a piece that I made for a Black Powder measure. It was carved out of a Whitetail antler and the surface was top-coated with epoxy. It is suppose to emulate a Rattlesnakes rattle.





After I finished it I really don't like the shine. It is just too much shine for such a piece. However the experiment was a success in the fact as I was able to protect the piece to some extent. However I wouldn't go so far as to say I have stabilized the piece!


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Last edited by C Craft; 12-12-2013 at 10:42 AM.
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Old 12-13-2013, 06:39 AM
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Like your BP measure CC. Made all of mine out of antler as well. They just look right. Never used any epoxy, just lightly buffed then let go to natural patina with use. Don't like shiney in the woods. Bet the rattler grip is nice on them stiff finger mornings.

I have use highly thinned epoxy to rigidize the fiborus inside of reindeer and reddeer antler, but they are more like micro straws in that you can pull the thinned epoxy up through the fibers and fill the voids using a hand pump. Not the same with wood.
note: Good idea to do it before drilling the tang hole (don't ask).


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Old 12-13-2013, 07:03 AM
WBE WBE is offline
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There are epoxies designed to penetrate and reconstitute wood when in the early stages of rot, but I don't know how they would work on solid wood.
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Old 12-13-2013, 11:58 AM
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Wow thanks for the great responses. I thought that there was a reason for using stabilizers, I just didn't know what.


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Old 12-13-2013, 05:25 PM
jmccustomknives jmccustomknives is offline
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I've got some marine epoxy (yeah, that means $$) that is designed to stabilize dry rot in wooden boats. The stuff is as thin as gas. Mix it up and it soaks in the wood instantly.
A while back a friend was driving down the road during a storm and a tree blew down on his car. He saved a piece and had me use it for handle material. It was pecan, and dead at that. I used that epoxy and then sanded it down. Turned out pretty good, for what it was. I could have mixed up a lot more. I really didn't know how much it would soak. Turns out a lot.

It's the top knife.
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