My knife drawer is looking quite empty.

[AimlessWanderer]

That's the sparsest this drawer has been for a very long time. But that's a good thing. Not only does it mean I'm making progress at moving on surplus, but also...

[gustophersmob]

That's the sparsest this drawer has been for a very long time. But that's a good thing. Not only does it mean I'm making progress at moving on surplus, but also...

 

[AimlessWanderer]

... because it means this lot has moved through to the back room, to join the other donors and spare parts for surgery 

It's going to be odd having so few options for a few weeks/months 

[Rapidray]

... because it means this lot has moved through to the back room, to join the other donors and spare parts for surgery 

It's going to be odd having so few options for a few weeks/months 

I was going to say something has to be moving in! And it is... So what is the first mod going to be? 

[AimlessWanderer]

... because it means this lot has moved through to the back room, to join the other donors and spare parts for surgery 

It's going to be odd having so few options for a few weeks/months 

I was going to say something has to be moving in! And it is... So what is the first mod going to be? 

They're all going to be run through together. Partially because I want to play around with toolsets before committing to them, and secondly because all the vacuum epoxy treatment on the scales all needs doing at the same time, after they've had their various detailing work done. So they'll all be out of circulation for quite a while. I think there's 15 or 16 donors for 10 mods, though there'll probably be scope for making several mods just for fun out of the offcasts afterwards .

[Rapidray]

... because it means this lot has moved through to the back room, to join the other donors and spare parts for surgery 

It's going to be odd having so few options for a few weeks/months 

I was going to say something has to be moving in! And it is... So what is the first mod going to be? 

They're all going to be run through together. Partially because I want to play around with toolsets before committing to them, and secondly because all the vacuum epoxy treatment on the scales all needs doing at the same time, after they've had their various detailing work done. So they'll all be out of circulation for quite a while. I think there's 15 or 16 donors for 10 mods, though there'll probably be scope for making several mods just for fun out of the offcasts afterwards .

That does sound like a full plate there. Will be looking forward to seeing what you come up with! 

[AimlessWanderer]

 

Don't get too carried away with the popcorn, it'll be a while before you see any results  i'm hoping to get one of them done by Christmas (one that doesn't need the vacuum epoxt treatment), but I expect most will come to fruition next year.

[Sparky415]

Could probably do the popcorn in the vacuum chamber 

[Don Pablo]

I await for next year with anticipation! 

[gustophersmob]

Sounds fun. 

What exactly is the vacuum epoxy stuff you mention? Are you using it for scales?

[Wspeed]

I can wait no rush 

[Wspeed]

Come on I have been waiting for
ages now have you done them yet 

[gustophersmob]

 

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Sounds fun. 

What exactly is the vacuum epoxy stuff you mention? Are you using it for scales?

Some of this may be wrong, but here's my thinking...

Stabilising is done with an acrylic resin, which is done under vacuum for maximum penetration, then heat cured in an oven. However, it's bloody expensive, and I don't want to knacker my oven. Instead, i'm going to be trying a low viscosity epoxy resin, which cures at much lower temperatures (18C and above) over two to three days. This might not achieve the same depth of penetration, but should improve integrity a little, but more importantly, fill the voids around inlays, to secure the inlaid materials, and restore a bit of the strength that was lost by carving the rebate the inlay sits in. Any penetration into the grain of the wood itself is a bonus.

I'll be doing this after all the detail finishing, but before carving the toothpick and tweezer slots, so I should be able to see clearly if it penetrated, or just sat on the surface. It should also add a more durable finish than a varnish or air hardening oil.

It might turn out to all be a complete waste of time, which makes the job worse and not better, but it's worth a try. I'm pretty sure it'll be of benefit on some wych elm burr I have,as that does have some porosity, but don't know if it will do anything more than just bind the inlays on walnut or teak or olive wood.

[Rapidray]

Olive wood! I love olive wood...my favorite! Have even thought of buying some slabs for handles...but that will only happen after I get settled in to my new place.

[AimlessWanderer]

The olive wood slabs I have here are quite plain - no that's not true - I'll start again...

The olive wood slabs I have are quite large grained, and I am a little concerned that small scales cut from it for Swiss knives, might look quite plain. I might be better off using them on something larger to show off the grain better. So, while the slabs look nice, a 60mm x 20mm piece of them might not be able to capture that character well enough.

[gustophersmob]

Sounds fun. 

What exactly is the vacuum epoxy stuff you mention? Are you using it for scales?

Some of this may be wrong, but here's my thinking...

Stabilising is done with an acrylic resin, which is done under vacuum for maximum penetration, then heat cured in an oven. However, it's bloody expensive, and I don't want to knacker my oven. Instead, i'm going to be trying a low viscosity epoxy resin, which cures at much lower temperatures (18C and above) over two to three days. This might not achieve the same depth of penetration, but should improve integrity a little, but more importantly, fill the voids around inlays, to secure the inlaid materials, and restore a bit of the strength that was lost by carving the rebate the inlay sits in. Any penetration into the grain of the wood itself is a bonus.

I'll be doing this after all the detail finishing, but before carving the toothpick and tweezer slots, so I should be able to see clearly if it penetrated, or just sat on the surface. It should also add a more durable finish than a varnish or air hardening oil.

It might turn out to all be a complete waste of time, which makes the job worse and not better, but it's worth a try. I'm pretty sure it'll be of benefit on some wych elm burr I have,as that does have some porosity, but don't know if it will do anything more than just bind the inlays on walnut or teak or olive wood.

Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation.

I wonder if a thinner adhesive like a CA "super glue" would penetrate well?  I know CA can be polished up and actually looks pretty nice.

[AimlessWanderer]

Sounds fun. 

What exactly is the vacuum epoxy stuff you mention? Are you using it for scales?

Some of this may be wrong, but here's my thinking...

Stabilising is done with an acrylic resin, which is done under vacuum for maximum penetration, then heat cured in an oven. However, it's bloody expensive, and I don't want to knacker my oven. Instead, i'm going to be trying a low viscosity epoxy resin, which cures at much lower temperatures (18C and above) over two to three days. This might not achieve the same depth of penetration, but should improve integrity a little, but more importantly, fill the voids around inlays, to secure the inlaid materials, and restore a bit of the strength that was lost by carving the rebate the inlay sits in. Any penetration into the grain of the wood itself is a bonus.

I'll be doing this after all the detail finishing, but before carving the toothpick and tweezer slots, so I should be able to see clearly if it penetrated, or just sat on the surface. It should also add a more durable finish than a varnish or air hardening oil.

It might turn out to all be a complete waste of time, which makes the job worse and not better, but it's worth a try. I'm pretty sure it'll be of benefit on some wych elm burr I have,as that does have some porosity, but don't know if it will do anything more than just bind the inlays on walnut or teak or olive wood.

Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation.

I wonder if a thinner adhesive like a CA "super glue" would penetrate well?  I know CA can be polished up and actually looks pretty nice.

Doesn't that tend to be a little more brittle?  I hadn't considered it for that use to be honest, but I'll probably be using it to hold some of the inlays before the epoxy soak. I just have a 100g "trial pack" of the epoxy, but I reckon that'll be just enough to cover a jam jar full of scales. Which is probably all the scales for all the mods, all at the same time. I just hope it works, otherwise I'll have to remake everything from scratch again

I have all the base woods here, and most of the inlay materials (some of which are simple enamel pin badges, and others are way more elaborate designs, which aren't guaranteed to work), but I'm waiting for a few different stones arriving. Once the scales are all done, inlaid, and epoxied, I'm going to try and use the residual epoxy to make some scales with an old hi vis vest. Yellow G10 seems quite pricey, and the piece I have, and the ones I've seen online, are all translucent and a little dull in colour. Hopefully the hi vis will fix both those, and it saves wasting the epoxy.

In the meantime, I've been carrying the Original Outdoorsman today, which has been lurking in that drawer for too long. It's been nice to give it some pocket time again.

[gustophersmob]

Sounds fun. 

What exactly is the vacuum epoxy stuff you mention? Are you using it for scales?

Some of this may be wrong, but here's my thinking...

Stabilising is done with an acrylic resin, which is done under vacuum for maximum penetration, then heat cured in an oven. However, it's bloody expensive, and I don't want to knacker my oven. Instead, i'm going to be trying a low viscosity epoxy resin, which cures at much lower temperatures (18C and above) over two to three days. This might not achieve the same depth of penetration, but should improve integrity a little, but more importantly, fill the voids around inlays, to secure the inlaid materials, and restore a bit of the strength that was lost by carving the rebate the inlay sits in. Any penetration into the grain of the wood itself is a bonus.

I'll be doing this after all the detail finishing, but before carving the toothpick and tweezer slots, so I should be able to see clearly if it penetrated, or just sat on the surface. It should also add a more durable finish than a varnish or air hardening oil.

It might turn out to all be a complete waste of time, which makes the job worse and not better, but it's worth a try. I'm pretty sure it'll be of benefit on some wych elm burr I have,as that does have some porosity, but don't know if it will do anything more than just bind the inlays on walnut or teak or olive wood.

Gotcha. Thanks for the explanation.

I wonder if a thinner adhesive like a CA "super glue" would penetrate well?  I know CA can be polished up and actually looks pretty nice.

Doesn't that tend to be a little more brittle?  I hadn't considered it for that use to be honest, but I'll probably be using it to hold some of the inlays before the epoxy soak. I just have a 100g "trial pack" of the epoxy, but I reckon that'll be just enough to cover a jam jar full of scales. Which is probably all the scales for all the mods, all at the same time. I just hope it works, otherwise I'll have to remake everything from scratch again

I have all the base woods here, and most of the inlay materials (some of which are simple enamel pin badges, and others are way more elaborate designs, which aren't guaranteed to work), but I'm waiting for a few different stones arriving. Once the scales are all done, inlaid, and epoxied, I'm going to try and use the residual epoxy to make some scales with an old hi vis vest. Yellow G10 seems quite pricey, and the piece I have, and the ones I've seen online, are all translucent and a little dull in colour. Hopefully the hi vis will fix both those, and it saves wasting the epoxy.

In the meantime, I've been carrying the Original Outdoorsman today, which has been lurking in that drawer for too long. It's been nice to give it some pocket time again.

I honestly don't know much about it. I've seen where people use it for shave brushes, but it may very well make the wood brittle.

I'm interested to see how your scales turn out!

[Sparky415]

Re the CA glue
I only know from watching youtubes, Guys making pens on lathes use CA glue to finish their pens
I guess it works like resin in micarta, they come together (the wood and the glue) to form a stronger material

[AimlessWanderer]

Re the CA glue
I only know from watching youtubes, Guys making pens on lathes use CA glue to finish their pens
I guess it works like resin in micarta, they come together (the wood and the glue) to form a stronger material

Oh, so it is used as a finish on pocket carried items. That's a new one on me. Maybe I'll give that a try if the resin doesn't work.

[gustophersmob]

Couple of videos I found that at least show the application process. 

Caveat is that I watched these with the sound off while rocking a baby. Apologies if there's any weirdness in these.

[AimlessWanderer]

 

[Sparky415]

I forgot I also use CA to stabilize and fill the end of stag scales if the porous centre is visible
Thin coats and leave to dry 

[AimlessWanderer]

You guys are almost making me wish I'd never bought that epoxy  I do have a new appreciation for superglue though, chaps 

[gustophersmob]

You guys are almost making me wish I'd never bought that epoxy  I do have a new appreciation for superglue though, chaps 

No reason it has to be either/or, right 

[AimlessWanderer]

You guys are almost making me wish I'd never bought that epoxy  I do have a new appreciation for superglue though, chaps 

No reason it has to be either/or, right 

I probably need to do some more reading, to see what advantages each has over the other. I believe superglue is harder but more brittle, and gets into finer cracks easier, and epoxy is tougher but not as hard, and is better on larger voids. I think on balance, I probably made the right choice with the epoxy, with the mods I have planned, but there'll be instances when superglue might be a better choice