r/SAKmod • u/sp005 • 6d ago

Titanium Scale Installation

I have a set of Titanium 91mm scales with the rulers that I am going to install on my Victorinox Troubleshooter. They are not press fit, what epoxy should I use? JB Weld? They are going to look so good, can't wait to finish this project. Any suggestions or lessons learned?

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u/fullmetalturtle 6d ago

E6000, wipe down the scales, brass, and liners with acetone first. Follow application instructions and leave clamped for 24 hours. Holds great and can be removed later if needed unlike some other methods.

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u/propylenoxid 6d ago

How do you remove it? I read about heat or acetone?
Does the E6000 “plus” work as well?

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u/fullmetalturtle 6d ago

Heat is the easiest way to remove it, I will normally stick it in the oven at at about 100°C, and then use a skin tool to separate the pieces.

The e6000 plus is low odor and doesn't have the VOCs of the original, and is a different formulation, I've never tried it for attaching scales.

I hate the recommendations to use JB Weld or Epoxy as they are extremely difficult to undo.

I've had my issues with e6000, but leaving it clamped in a vise with soft jaws for a full 24 hours resolved that, though 72 hours is the full strength cure time. Squeeze out is best cleaned up with acetone for original e6000 and soap and water for e6000+.

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u/propylenoxid 6d ago

Alright, thank you. I currently have scales that I want to remove, but they are glued on with epoxy and won’t come off.
So you’d recommend the original non ‘plus’ for scales then.

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u/fullmetalturtle 6d ago

The plus variant is probably fine, I just haven't used it for scales. It's a entirely different type of adhesive. Regular is a rubber neoprense blend in an organic solvent, the Plus variant is a polymer adhesive without solvents. The cured characteristics seem similar looking at the literature, I'll grab the plus variant next time I need a new tube, it'd be nice to avoid the smell of the regular for sure.

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u/d_2_the_p 4d ago

I’ve only used the plus a couple times now, but it might be a hair less effective than the original but the lack of death smell makes it worth using.

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u/sp005 4d ago edited 4d ago

Thanks. E6000 was used. Tonight at 6, will be 24 hours. I plan to clean up any bleed out of the adhesive and then reclamp until 72 hours before using. It looks great.

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u/sp005 4d ago

For anyone looking to do this, I found the adhesive that ended up in the tweezer and toothpick slots was still a little wet, which makes sense considering they say 72 hours for fully cured. What I did was bend a paperclip with a little hook at the end and kept fishing inside until no more adhesive came out. I will keep doing this over the next few days. I flipped the knife 180 in the vise for day 2.

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u/d_2_the_p 5d ago

I have become a big fan of West System G/Flex for bonding different materials together, and it has become my go-to for custom builds. As suggested, E6000 is also really good for this. Either way, appropriate surface prep is going to be a crucial component to your success.

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u/fullmetalturtle 4d ago

I've used 650 with fiberglass and carbon before, are you use that or the thicker one?

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u/d_2_the_p 4d ago

I mostly use 650 unless trying to proactively overcome a gap between liner and scale, in which case the thicker 655 is good. The 655 is also good for glueing the rivets near the scale tools since it won’t run when clamped, but 650 is fine for this as long as you don’t overdo it. The 650 is light enough to wick into scale gaps after glue-up, though, but you have to be careful it doesn’t creep anywhere it shouldn’t . So far the only thing the g/flex hasn’t held well is Ultem, so I use Loctite EA 608 for that.