Messed up my epoxy on bolster, what now?

[Rasmus Kristens]

Hi all

So I finally got to put on the wood bolster on one of my knife, but tolate I realise I bought the wrong epoxy, 5 minutes epoxy...
So before i get to clean up the blade near the bolster, the epoxy has hardenen to much to geat a clean line.






What can I do now?
Can I gently scrape some of the epoxy out and try to refill the space?
Or can I smoothen the epoxy somehow?

Hope you have som great ideas :-)

Rasmus

[epicfail48]

If you sharpen a piece of brass to a chisel edge it works alright for scraping out the epoxy, but theres still a rick of a few scratches. Dry-fitting all the parts, then waxing the blade and front of the scales before the glueup prevents the epoxy from sticking in the first place, just let it dry and it pops right off

[Crex]

Originally Posted by epicfail48

If you sharpen a piece of brass to a chisel edge it works alright for scraping out the epoxy, but theres still a rick of a few scratches. Dry-fitting all the parts, then waxing the blade and front of the scales before the glueup prevents the epoxy from sticking in the first place, just let it dry and it pops right off

Best bet, if you have to leave the bolster on.
I'd be more prone to just pry/pop it off, shape another set and redo using the suggestion above with prefit & wax. If you use the brass rod, it won't scratch the blade, but there is great potential for damaging the wood.

ps - warm up the tang with a heat gun to just a little to hot to touch and the 5 min epoxy should pretty much turn loose with a little prying.

[Rasmus Kristens]

i think i will try to redo it.
Just one question.

If you just "pop" the dried epoxy off, will it not leave a roughed epoxy edge at the bolster or will it give a nice clean joint?

[Crex]

Should be able to scrape that off with a sharpened stick, may have to soften a bit with acetone or WD40.

If you are referring to the "wax first" procedure, you will get a nice clean joint (if your bolster fits clean and tight).

[epicfail48]

Originally Posted by Rasmus Kristens

i think i will try to redo it.
Just one question.

If you just "pop" the dried epoxy off, will it not leave a roughed epoxy edge at the bolster or will it give a nice clean joint?

Guessing that second question is referring to the wax trick. Assuming your scale/bolster to blade fit is nice and tight, popping the epoxy off leave a nice, clean joint. I've never once had an issue with it, and it saves all sorts of time on cleanup. Don't have to mess around with trying to wipe off any excess.

The same trick also works wonders if you ever pre-fit scales before coating the blade, I.e if you're going to cerakote them. Shape the scales on the blade with some temporary pins, coat the blade, dry fit and wax everything, then glue up. All the squeeze-out peels of with no trouble at all.

Oh, and I use wax because I already have it on hand for finishing wood scales. Pretty much anything that epoxy won't stick to works well. If I could justify the cost, I'd actually go with an aerosol release agent:
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-to...-prod1045.aspx

Cleanup might be a bit easier, though I haven't tried it. Not that the wax isn't easily removed with very light bit of buffing, but I'm lazy and this stuff looks easier to apply

[dmeek]

I use a product called ATTACK FROM RIO JEWELRY SUPPLY. OR LOCAL SUPPLIER?IT WONT HURT ANYTHING EXCEPT ANY GRIP MADE FROM GEMSTONE (DISSOLVES BINDER) MUST USE IN AIRTIGHT CONTAINER. IT EVAPORATES FAST..... GREAT STUFF