Advice about handles and glue

[khimbar]

Hi all,

I have done a search for the answer to this so forgive me if I missed it.

As a reward for pruning my mother-in-laws beech trees I managed to keep some of the nice thicker branches. I had planned just to have a fire but I feel the need to 'do' something with them. So I decided to make a knife handle. Now knowing my limitations as I do, I've decided to start small and work my way up so today I purchased another firesteel to re-handle. My questions are then:

What's the best way to get the plastic handle off without breaking the steel?
What's the best glue to use to stick it all together?

I did see a picture on here that someone had done it before and I really liked the look of it so I know it can be done!

Thanks in advance for everyone that helps.

 

[MartiniDave]

I've found the plastic handle comes off fairly easily by putting the steel in a vice (not TOO tight) and drive the handle with a hammer, using a bit of wood as a drift.

The new handle I fit using araldite (epoxy)

Dave

 

[khimbar]

Thank you very much. Wish me luck then.

 

[ESpy]

Not that I've tried it, but I would expect the plastic handle to come off more readily if it is warmed with a hair dryer first.

 

[dtalbot]

And make sure you put somthing softish (bits of wood or similar) between vice jaws and steel!

 

[Motorbike Man]

I did one with a piece of oak that I salvaged. I roughly shaped it, drilled a hole, stuck it on with araldite andthen did the final shaping and polish. One thing I did forget to do was leave enough room for a lanyard hole. But this is only important if you want to fit a lanyard of course

 

[leon-1]

For Future reference you would be better off getting one from the trading post or bearclaw as these don't have handles fitted and are considerably cheaper.

I think that most people use epoxy, I am just finishing one at the moment where the firesteel matches the handle of my knife, including a mosaic pin that fits through the top of the firesteel which is a slighlty smaller pin than the ones on my knife but look very similair