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looking for recommendation on gap filling epoxy

I’m going to be putting a square peg into a round hole. While I will be using some pins; that is a steel tang into hollowed out bone I’m using for a handle. Can anyone recommend a good (preferably inexpensive) epoxy that will dry solid and not shrink overtime? It would be ideal if the epoxy will bond to steel and bone as I really don’t want to put holes in the bone If the epoxy will bond to both, I’ll place pins through the tang and cut grooves on the inside surface of the bone to lessen the chance of movement.

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on May 29, 2012 at 16:49

Toby,

Depending on the visability at the joint, I'd suggest JD Weld. Bonds to metal and bone, hard as all getout and wont shrink. Only drawback is the dark grey color. You could use it and not fill the joint completely and add some auto body filler, to finish it off.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on May 29, 2012 at 17:37

Tobias, I bought some wonderfull epoxy to do a knife with a couple of years ago, if I can find it I'll post the brand.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on May 29, 2012 at 17:38

Zap a gap

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Permalink Reply by Herb Hoover on May 29, 2012 at 18:10

Slow setting epoxy cures better and stronger. Clamp it and let it set up 24 hours. It's pretty much the standard way to secure any scales. Rough up and clean the surfaces before applying apoxy. Clear epoxy can be mixed with a color to closely match any color. To remove hardened epoxy you heat it up with a heat gun.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on May 30, 2012 at 8:19

The name of the company is "True Grit". The epoxy I use is the med. cure. They have three, the quick, the med. and the long cure. Either the Med. cure or the long will do what you want.

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KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Kevin Davey on June 5, 2015 at 18:07

A two part epoxy should work, maybe marine quality. Make sure you are at the right room temperature for the epoxy. You could file some 'V' cuts along the edges of the tang at a downward angle then that will help bond them together.

I once used gorilla epoxy and a large C clamp. Needed to be clamped so one side of the clamp is on the top of the handle and the bottom at the point of the blade or else it will force itself apart. Clean up may be an issue on bone.

Shrinkage and expansion of wood or bone is always an issue over time as well as the epoxy, but if that happens, it will just need to be dealt with at the time.

As well as using pins, I have also made the tang into a sharp point so that the last 1/2 inch or so acts like a nail and hammer the tang on as well as using epoxy. If the tang is long enough you could make it pointed, drill the end of the handle, place the tang through, make a washer and rivet the tang on.

Having a secondary fixing method (like epoxy and pin) is often a good insurance unless its a small knife (like a scandi)

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on June 6, 2015 at 13:36

Tobias, I always used Devcon 2 Ton epoxy (2 part epoxy) on my customs-They make a quick dry and one that has a 1/2 hour working time and a 2 hour handling time that I preferred.Any excess cleans up off your work or fingers with alcohol. I have used it with bone, horn,and wood handles. Works with steel, brass, nickel silver, and even stone. Not expensive, and available at Ace hardware & online knife supply companies. I would imagine Lowe's or Home Depot would have it ,too.BTW, it dries pretty well clear.