Bushcraft UK - 2nds "heads-up"

yablanowitz · #61

Didn't have time to shoot pix at lunch, but here are a few.

Not enough to render the knives unusable by any stretch.

CanisMajor · #62

Thanks for the pics yab, I can't wait to get mine tomorrow.

Canis

Sequimite · #63

Very glad to see Spyderco removed the oil and put such small notches on the blades.

Any experience out there that would tell us if we should use these as is and wait a while to make sure the cracks are stable before filling?

And what are the options to fill the cracks? With the right complimentary color some of the filled cracks could look like attractive natural features of the spalted maple. Might get out the dremel and shape some of the cracks before filling.

Hope I get mine tomorrow.

Pneumothorax · #64

Thanks Yab, so is now the time to ask how you are going to repair it? I have no idea how to do this other than use wood putty - and I dont think that is the way to go here.

PS: Even though the knives are useable, I cannot imagine how sad then pissed off Sal and crew must have been when crack after crack started showing up - especially on such beautiful wood.

JNewell · #65

Sequimite wrote:Very glad to see Spyderco removed the oil and put such small notches on the blades.

Any experience out there that would tell us if we should use these as is and wait a while to make sure the cracks are stable before filling?

And what are the options to fill the cracks? With the right complimentary color some of the filled cracks could look like attractive natural features of the spalted maple. Might get out the dremel and shape some of the cracks before filling.

Hope I get mine tomorrow.

I found a big thread on this with links to other threads at British Blades. Short version: use the thinnest version of CA glue that you can find. Warm the wood gently with a hair dryer before applying. Apply, let cure, sand. Repeat.

Pneumothorax · #66

JNewell wrote:I found a big thread on this with links to other threads at British Blades. Short version: use the thinnest version of CA glue that you can find. Warm the wood gently with a hair dryer before applying. Apply, let cure, sand. Repeat.

Thanks. Will try to find that thread. Question: CA glue??

Sequimite · #67

JNewell wrote:I found a big thread on this with links to other threads at British Blades. Short version: use the thinnest version of CA glue that you can find. Warm the wood gently with a hair dryer before applying. Apply, let cure, sand. Repeat.

Could you post a link or tell what subforum of British Blades it's on. Can't find the thread on the Bushcraft subforum.

yablanowitz · #68

I'm not sure yet how I'm going to go about it, but I'm thinking about a syringe and slow setting clear epoxy. Mix it up, draw it into a syringe, put the needle on and inject it into the cracks. I don't know if it will work, but it is worth a try.

Sequimite · #69

This must be the thread:

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/sho ... ght=cracks

Basically they are advocating thin superglue or epoxy.

CaptainBeaky · #70

Sequimite wrote:Could you post a link or tell what subforum of British Blades it's on. Can't find the thread on the Bushcraft subforum.

This thread...

Edit - Posts crossed - you got there before me :)

Diamondback · #71

Pneumothorax wrote:Thanks. Will try to find that thread. Question: CA glue??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate
http://fatlion.com/sailplanes/glues.html

- regards

Hector Castro · #72

################################
Before you do anything to the bushcraft knife handle, Please let it aclimate to your climate for 72- up to 96 hours. Then I would use thin CA / superglue to fill the cracks. Depending on where this wood came from in the world, it may actually aclimate well to your environment. My 1st Bushcraft had shrank a bit in the package, but now it is perfect. The wood expanded back to its natural state, and it is flush with the tang and no cracks. Wood is a living breathing material, until properly seasoned and sealed. Most of these spalted woods like the the bushcraft handle are cured for 3-4 years in blocks, before they are ever cut open.

Chris_H · #73

Pneumothorax wrote:Question: CA glue??

Super glue -- CA is short for cyanoacrylate.

Hector Castro · #74

One more thing. If you are sanding this wood on the handles, it is SPALTED. Those pretty black lines are mold spores that fed on the sap in the wood. They are not dead, they are dormid. If you go to sanding on the wood you better be wearing a resperator. Have you heard of black mold??? that is what it is, and if you breath it in, the moisture in your lungs and nasal cavity will reactivate the spores and give you a great upper respritory infection. Ask me how I know!

JNewell · #75

That looks right, but if you read into the (lonnnnnnng) thread, there are some links to other threads. Epoxy is too thick to get into the cracks to give you good filling. That's why they're advocating the thinnest CA possible, and multiple applications.

Sequimite wrote:This must be the thread:

http://www.britishblades.com/forums/sho ... ght=cracks

Basically they are advocating thin superglue or epoxy.

freeman7 · #76

Except for a very, very slight amount of shrinkage around the tang, the handle on my CC Bushcraft is great. I am anxiously awaiting the second that was shipped today.

Hector Castro · #77

Epoxy can be thinned with denatured alcohol. It can be thinned to any consistency. The problem with it is that it does not have the wicking properties of thin CA.

yablanowitz · #78

True enough, but I've never had much luck with or faith in CA glues. I've had much, much better results with epoxies over the years.

ChapmanPreferred · #79

Can't wait to see what my handle looks like.

Sequimite · #80

yablanowitz wrote:True enough, but I've never had much luck with or faith in CA glues. I've had much, much better results with epoxies over the years.

I'm going with the epoxy so I can color it. I should be able to mix one or more colors with oil paints to combine with the thinned epoxy.