Blade Pro epoxy?

Kentucky

Kentucky

Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
2,985
Im a long time user of G/flex and really don't see a need to change but my curiosity is peaked by the blade pro epoxy. I've heard its good stuff, has anyone used it?
 
I use it, recently switched from T88. A bit lower viscosity. No complaints, seems to work well and hold up so far.
Like most epoxies there are two components. A yellowish one and a clear to white one. The white stuff started to crystalize a bit like honey will do, so it became hard to squeeze out of the bottle. It still mixed ok and seemed fine, but I ordered new stuff to be safe. I just won't order huge bottles given the slow rate I use the stuff.
 
I have used System Three resins for at least 40 years. I have never found a shelf life listed anywhere, nor had it go bad yet. I would suggest trying to use it within 3-4 years but have had some much older that still cured fine. Many brands are only good for a year ... and you don't know how old it was when you bought it. The slower the cure the longer the shelf life.

For a long time, I used T-88. It was good stuff. It only came in smaller bottles from my local supplier.
Years ago, I switched to their General Purpose Resin and #3 hardener. Mix ratio is 2:1. A qt/pt kit runs around $65 total and lasts a long time. It is good for most any glue job, woodworking, or repair you come up with ... as well as knives. I have never had a handle failure with it. It dyes well, too.
Last year, I got a 16oz kit of Blade-Pro when visiting my local Woodcraft. It had two 8oz bottlers of resin/hardener for $50. It works the same as the old resin, but costs almost twice the price. I like it, but really can't see any noticeable difference. I will likely buy the Blade-Pro again when I need a new batch, just because of the name (Yeah, they know marketing well!). But, if your budget is tight, I don't think you will ever notice any difference with the lower priced System Three resins.

Preparation is the key to getting perfect handle glue-ups.
1) If it fits right before gluing it will look right afterwards. If it has gaps, they will show.
2) Surfaces should be at 120 grit ... no higher.
3) Surfaces should be clean. The tech info still says to use acetone or lacquer thinner for prep and clean-up. This is outdated info, and I am surprised System-Three still puts it out. Alcohol is the solvent and cleaner for uncured epoxy resin. Once cured, acetone/lacquer thinner is the solvent. Cheap hardware store denatured alcohol in a gallon can is what you want.
4) Clamping should use only enough pressure to close the joint. DO NOT clamp hard. They tell you this in the instructions and tech info. They mean it. Despite what some folks say online, a glue starved joint is a real thing.

Cure time - People don't understand the times given on the bottle of resin is just sale hype. People will usually buy the fastest number on the store shelf. This has two problems.
First is that the faster the cure the weaker the bond. 5-minute epoxy is barely half as strong as 24-hour epoxy.
Second is that the big number on the bottle front can be a small fraction of the cure time.
A resin that says the time is 45 minutes can be expected to be liquid enough to apply for 30-45 minutes. After that it needs to sit clamped and undisturbed for about 12 to 24 hours. This is properly called a 24-hour resin. A 24-hour cure resin doesn't reach full hardness and strength for almost a week. If two boards are properly glued together like this they will break in the wood, not the glue joint.

Other gluing tips:
Wear disposable rubber gloves.
Put down several layers of newspaper or butcher/craft paper.
Wear old clothes.
DO NOT do handle gluing on the kitchen counter or dining room table unless you are single!... or want to be. I have a 2X4' piece of plywood I like to set on a folding stand and do glue work on. It has many colors on it.
Put a trash bucket or cardboard box next to you to toss sticky paper towels and gloves in for disposal.
Have plenty of paper towels ready, already torn off the roll and ready to pick up.
Have all supplies and tools ready before opening the resin bottles.
Measuring by volume using disposable medicine cups is fine for small batches of resin, but weighing is a]the most accurate way. Use a cheap gram scale and remember to mark the tare weight down. Pour in the desired amount of resin needed and then add the amount of hardener needed. The weight ratio is not the same as volume. My resin is 100 parts resin to 44 parts hardener by weight.
It is always best to mix a second batch if you have a lot of knives than trying to rush the handles before the pot sets.
Drilling many small holes in the tang lets the resin go from side to side. This pretty much eliminates a glue starved joint and make a very strong handle.
A slight hollow grind in the underside of the scales or on the tang will make a glue reservoir that also defies a glue starved joint. It only needs to be about 10-thousandths deep to work.
Mix the resin for a full minute before applying it. If you are doing a batch of knives and mixing a quantity of resin, pour the resin from the mixing cup onto a piece of plastic or a wide bottom silicone resin pot. The shallower and more spread out the resin, the slower it gels. When it reaches the Gel/Set Point, suddenly thickens, STOP using the resin in the pot.
While the handles are setting up, clean the mixing tools, scale, etc. and toss away any used paper towels.
Change your gloves and clean up as soon as done with the handle clamping. Wire the blade and handle with a dry paper towel or two to get rid of smeared epoxy and drips. Wipe again with a paper towel wetted with alcohol. Change to a new wetted towel and clean up one last time. Set aside and don't touch unless a big drip needs to be removed. Once the pot gels, give it a quick last wipe down with alcohol and let cure overnight. DO NOT remove clamps until cured.

Gloves and paper towels are almost free and are consumables. Buy the cheapest paper towels in a big pack, and blue nitrile gloves in boxes of 100. Change them as often as needed to keep everything clean.
 
Richard338 said:
I use it, recently switched from T88. A bit lower viscosity. No complaints, seems to work well and hold up so far.
Like most epoxies there are two components. A yellowish one and a clear to white one. The white stuff started to crystalize a bit like honey will do, so it became hard to squeeze out of the bottle. It still mixed ok and seemed fine, but I ordered new stuff to be safe. I just won't order huge bottles given the slow rate I use the stuff.
Click to expand...
I called their tech about this and they said it has an indefinite shelf life... If this ever happens put the bottle in a pan of water and heat up on the stove a bit and it will be perfect again.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I have used System Three resins for at least 40 years. I have never found a shelf life listed anywhere, nor had it go bad yet. I would suggest trying to use it within 3-4 years but have had some much older that still cured fine. Many brands are only good for a year ... and you don't know how old it was when you bought it. The slower the cure the longer the shelf life.

For a long time, I used T-88. It was good stuff. It only came in smaller bottles from my local supplier.
Years ago, I switched to their General Purpose Resin and #3 hardener. Mix ratio is 2:1. A qt/pt kit runs around $65 total and lasts a long time. It is good for most any glue job, woodworking, or repair you come up with ... as well as knives. I have never had a handle failure with it. It dyes well, too.
Last year, I got a 16oz kit of Blade-Pro when visiting my local Woodcraft. It had two 8oz bottlers of resin/hardener for $50. It works the same as the old resin, but costs almost twice the price. I like it, but really can't see any noticeable difference. I will likely buy the Blade-Pro again when I need a new batch, just because of the name (Yeah, they know marketing well!). But, if your budget is tight, I don't think you will ever notice any difference with the lower priced System Three resins.

Preparation is the key to getting perfect handle glue-ups.
1) If it fits right before gluing it will look right afterwards. If it has gaps, they will show.
2) Surfaces should be at 120 grit ... no higher.
3) Surfaces should be clean. The tech info still says to use acetone or lacquer thinner for prep and clean-up. This is outdated info, and I am surprised System-Three still puts it out. Alcohol is the solvent and cleaner for uncured epoxy resin. Once cured, acetone/lacquer thinner is the solvent. Cheap hardware store denatured alcohol in a gallon can is what you want.
4) Clamping should use only enough pressure to close the joint. DO NOT clamp hard. They tell you this in the instructions and tech info. They mean it. Despite what some folks say online, a glue starved joint is a real thing.

Cure time - People don't understand the times given on the bottle of resin is just sale hype. People will usually buy the fastest number on the store shelf. This has two problems.
First is that the faster the cure the weaker the bond. 5-minute epoxy is barely half as strong as 24-hour epoxy.
Second is that the big number on the bottle front can be a small fraction of the cure time.
A resin that says the time is 45 minutes can be expected to be liquid enough to apply for 30-45 minutes. After that it needs to sit clamped and undisturbed for about 12 to 24 hours. This is properly called a 24-hour resin. A 24-hour cure resin doesn't reach full hardness and strength for almost a week. If two boards are properly glued together like this they will break in the wood, not the glue joint.

Other gluing tips:
Wear disposable rubber gloves.
Put down several layers of newspaper or butcher/craft paper.
Wear old clothes.
DO NOT do handle gluing on the kitchen counter or dining room table unless you are single!... or want to be. I have a 2X4' piece of plywood I like to set on a folding stand and do glue work on. It has many colors on it.
Put a trash bucket or cardboard box next to you to toss sticky paper towels and gloves in for disposal.
Have plenty of paper towels ready, already torn off the roll and ready to pick up.
Have all supplies and tools ready before opening the resin bottles.
Measuring by volume using disposable medicine cups is fine for small batches of resin, but weighing is a]the most accurate way. Use a cheap gram scale and remember to mark the tare weight down. Pour in the desired amount of resin needed and then add the amount of hardener needed. The weight ratio is not the same as volume. My resin is 100 parts resin to 44 parts hardener by weight.
It is always best to mix a second batch if you have a lot of knives than trying to rush the handles before the pot sets.
Drilling many small holes in the tang lets the resin go from side to side. This pretty much eliminates a glue starved joint and make a very strong handle.
A slight hollow grind in the underside of the scales or on the tang will make a glue reservoir that also defies a glue starved joint. It only needs to be about 10-thousandths deep to work.
Mix the resin for a full minute before applying it. If you are doing a batch of knives and mixing a quantity of resin, pour the resin from the mixing cup onto a piece of plastic or a wide bottom silicone resin pot. The shallower and more spread out the resin, the slower it gels. When it reaches the Gel/Set Point, suddenly thickens, STOP using the resin in the pot.
While the handles are setting up, clean the mixing tools, scale, etc. and toss away any used paper towels.
Change your gloves and clean up as soon as done with the handle clamping. Wire the blade and handle with a dry paper towel or two to get rid of smeared epoxy and drips. Wipe again with a paper towel wetted with alcohol. Change to a new wetted towel and clean up one last time. Set aside and don't touch unless a big drip needs to be removed. Once the pot gels, give it a quick last wipe down with alcohol and let cure overnight. DO NOT remove clamps until cured.

Gloves and paper towels are almost free and are consumables. Buy the cheapest paper towels in a big pack, and blue nitrile gloves in boxes of 100. Change them as often as needed to keep everything clean.
Click to expand...
Seriously thank you for all the tips.

Glue starved joints. I never even thought about it. I'll bet this explains a couple things I've run into.

120, slightly concave, light pressure, clean with alcohol. I'm on it. Thanks again!

This will be the first time I'm using the blade pro stuff.
 
I found that the medium/Large size plastic spring clips from Harbor Freight have enough pressure without squeezing out too much epoxy. And they seem to be easier to remove when everything dries (unlike the walmart ones that will sometimes lose a rubber pad that adheres to the scale.)

I also like to use wax paper (butcher paper) as Stacy said to catch drips and keep the work surface clean.
 
navman said:
I found that the medium/Large size plastic spring clips from Harbor Freight have enough pressure without squeezing out too much epoxy. And they seem to be easier to remove when everything dries (unlike the walmart ones that will sometimes lose a rubber pad that adheres to the scale.)

I also like to use wax paper (butcher paper) as Stacy said to catch drips and keep the work surface clean.
Click to expand...
Perfect! Thanks
 
I like the Blade Pro epoxy, it works well.

What also works well is JB Weld Clear Weld. It is very strong, flexible and shock resistant and available locally
 
Yea, Ive found that prep is most important.. I usually skeleton the Tang to some extent (bridge holes ,hollow grind) and either sand to 80 grit or sandblast it for prep... Then I clean with alcohol
 
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