How to Repair a Bakelite(?) handle ?

[EdM]

A friend recently asked me to repair this icing spreader, which is probably 50 years old, and belonged to her mother.
The handle appears to be Bakelite, but may be some type of high density plastic as well.
Once properly glued, it will make a very clean repair, but I don't know whether I should use thick GluBoost CA or 5 minute epoxy.

Any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated .

Thanks!
Ed

 

[Snowbeast]

I would use the epoxy due to the side loads put on the handle. The CA wouldn't stand the strain.

Would also recommend roughing up the metal as much as possible to give it some 'tooth' for the epoxy to grab.

 

[magpens]

I would also recommend Epoxy.

With CA and you have a part that is inserted into another part, you always risk the CA starting to set before you get the piece inserted fully and then you are stuck !!

 

[egnald]

Epoxy is the way to go. For added strength the guys that restore antique radios drill small holes in Bakelite pieces and use wire to pin the pieces together in addition to the epoxy. Good luck. - Dave

 

[Curly]

Epoxy but not the 5 minute varieties. 1 hour or longer quality stuff. Don't clamp it so tight that all the epoxy squeezes out.

 

[monophoto]

Hate to rain on your parade, but I would not be optimistic about this repair.

The problem is that the break is at the point in the handle that receives the most stress. If the metal blade extended further into the handle, it would reinforce the area that needs to be spliced, but it appears from the picture that there is only about 1/4" or so of metal, and that's not going to provide much strength. I agree with the others that epoxy would be the best glue to use, but I'm still pessimistic about whether it would be able to withstand the stress.

Another option would be to replace the handle with wood, but your friend would need to agree to that approach.

 

[walshjp17]

I second Louie's assessment. There's just not enough material in the handle to reinforce the join. I would suggest a nice exotic wood such as Bocote, Ziricote (Zebrawood) or something similar.

 

[Dusty]

I would very carefully drill into the bakelite on each side of the rivet and insert a piece of small all thread rod into the holes, and use a high quality epoxy the long setting type. Make the holes fairly deep so you get the maximum strength from the rods that you insert.

 

[Ironwood]

I would definitely use epoxy to glue it, but it will need reinforcement to make the repair strong enough. I would get some 1/8th stainless rod and drill suitable holes into both sections of handle, 4 rods in total. You could drill the holes slightly oversized to help with alignment, and use plenty of 24 hr epoxy to completely fill the gaps.
Another option might be to solder a rod or rods to the end of the blade which will be inserted into holes drilled into the loose end of the handle, epoxy it well.

Edit- Dusty is a faster typer than me.

 

[Penchant 4]

Epoxy but not the 5 minute varieties. 1 hour or longer quality stuff. Don't clamp it so tight that all the epoxy squeezes out.

Short cure time epoxies tend to be brittle.

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out, please.

 

[wolf creek knives]

Epoxy in my opinion, and not the 5 minute type, use the longer set time types. I would also follow some of the instructions above as this looks like a problem that won't go away. Good luck on your project and please let it knows how it turns out.

 

[1080Wayne]

Definitely a project fraught with lots of potntial for wrecks ! Doubt if there is enough meat to allow for 1/4 inch all thread . I would try deck screws which are about 3/16 . Might need to reduce that a bit by grinding them down .
Step 1 would be drilling the holes alongside the rivets and right along the blade , about an inch deep . Fill those with epoxy (one which takes several hours to set and a week to fully cure) , screw in the screws , wipe away excess epoxy , and let sit vertically for a day .
Step 2 Hacksaw off the screw heads , drill matching holes in the holes in the handle , about an inch deep . That will not be easy . Some chainsaw file or very careful Dremel work will be needed in the holes to allow a good fit , with likely many trial assemblies . Fill holes to about 3/4 depth ?? with epoxy , apply light coat to the broken surface , particularly around the rivets , squeeze gently together (not clamped) , and hopefully get a bit of epoxy coming out along most of the break . Could add a hint of black to the epoxy if concerned about glue line show . Cut off squeezed out glue with a razor blade after it has set , before it gets rock hard .

Make sure your customer understands the complexity of the process , and that there is no guarantee . (And tell her not to make very thick icing , or spread fondant with it . )

If the above makes it sound like I`ve done this before , please rest assured that I haven`t . It would just be my engineering approach to the problem . Good luck .

 

[EdM]

So far, so good on the repair. It is not used, so stress should not be an issue...
Perhaps someone here would like to sell me a replacement handle and ship it with some cutlery rivets ?
I only do pens so far, having not ventured into knife scales.... but I'm great with a drill and hammer

Thanks,
Ed

 

[Curly]

What kind of epoxy did you get?

 

[howsitwork]

If it's purely decorative then 24 hour curing epoxy but I still have doubts. Better to replace with. wooden handle. Copper rivets are cheap and widely available.

You could even buy some quality brass saw screws to hold the two halves together ?

 

[EdM]

I wound up using Loctite 5 minute epoxy for this repair. The result was very clean with nary a visible line after a bit of hand sanding.
The Bakelite appears to be deteriorating due to age, so I;m not sure how long the handle will last.
Unfortunately, my wife returned it to the owner before i could take pictures to post here .....
I offered to replace the handle with wooden blanks, but no luck there !!!!