Repairing a cheese knife

[Jennifer Murphy]

One small cheese knife from a set broke. The blade, which is marked "stainles steel", came out of the handle which looks like glass, but is probably acrylic.

The blade has a small tab that was glued into a small slot in the end of the handle. The glue failed and the blade fell out. Some of the glue is still adhering to the blade tab, the rest is inside the handle slot.

Here are some photos:

I have some T-88 which I have used in the past on the advice of people here. I am inclined to use in for this application. Is that a good choice?

I assume I need to clean the old glue residue off the blade tab and dig as much as I can out of the handle slot. Right?

Thanks

[The Daring Dufas]

Jennifer, that's a cool looking cheese knife and I can see why you would like to repair it. If the T-88 is a clear epoxy I would suggest using an emery board on the metal after you get the old glue off. The abrasive on the emery board will roughen up the metal so the epoxy will bond better. Of course only roughen the metal that will be glued into the handle. If you have a dental pick you don't mind cleaning up with nail polish remover, you may be able to carefully dig around in the cavity in the handle to remove any old glue and roughen up the inside of the hole. From your picture, it looks like the metal tang has a rough texture to it so you may only have to get the old glue off then clean it with a solvent. The inside of the slot in the handle needs some kind of roughening to help the glue adhere to the handle. You could try using the aforementioned emery board if you can cut a piece that will fit into the slot or get something to scratch up the inside of the cavity. The rough surfaces will probably not be visible after the clear epoxy is used to fill in the slot around the end of the knife blade. Good luck! ^_^

TDD

[Frank]

That is what I would suggest but the design of the blade is poor. It should have extended further into the handle. As it is, it will continue to fail so when fixed should just be considered a decorative item and not used.

[The Daring Dufas]

You got to admit, it's a cool looking knife albeit a bit cheesy. ^_^

TDD

[Frank]

Yup.

[Norminn]

I would use clear silicone caulk....easy to apply not visible once it sets.

[Robert Macy]

According to nestork, if the silicone fails; you cannot add to it. The follow-on caulking won't stick. Which implies, you only have one shot at the repair.

[Robert Macy]

When I go to that link, all I get are three little blank squares and am told 'done on page' with no more bit transfers.

There is a place to click that says 'download', but nothing happens when clicking there and a place to click to sign up for dropbox, and a place to click to 'sign in', but no pictures.

[dpb]

On 6/11/2013 8:04 AM, Robert Macy wrote: ...

That's on top of existing; you can always remove the old back to original surfaces and reclean and go again...

[Jennifer Murphy]

Thanks. We've had it for at least 30 years.

Virtually clear:

Sounds like a plan. Thanks.

[Jennifer Murphy]

I agree that the design is not perfect, but we've had it for over 30 years and this is the first time it has broken. If it will last another

30, it will be someone else's problem. :-)

[Jennifer Murphy]

Groan

[willshak]

2 part epoxy.

[dpb]

On 6/11/2013 8:42 AM, Jennifer Murphy wrote: ...

Is the existing bonding hard or pliable? If hard, it was likely an epoxy, if it's pliable more than likely a silicone.

The tang is obviously roughened already; I'd be careful about scratching up the plastic handle much as I think it's likely to show.

If it held 30 yr before, if you do clean out the recess and clean up the tang and then use whatever the bonding agent you choose suggests as cleaner (alcohol or acetone aka fingernail polish remover are likely good choices) then it ought to be good for that again...

[Jon Danniken]

The three little squares are thumbnails on my end, and clicking one of them opens up a full image (with cursor keys navigating between the images).

Try one of the images and see if it works:

Jon Technical Department, alt.home.repair Extension 750

[Jennifer Murphy]

I thought it was hard, but I just peeled off the part that was stuck to the knife tab, and it's fairly flexible, like a very stiff plastic. Not at all brittle. And this is at least 30 years old.

Yes. This is clearly visible ofter the old glue is removed. I uploaded 3 new photos to the Dropbox folder:

You can also see the arc line where the old glue came to.

I am having trouble getting the old glue out of the handle slot. I've loosened it using an old screwdriver that I sharpened to a point for just such jobs, but I can't get it out. I am reluctant to use too much leverage for fear of cracking the handle.

I have a pair of fine point tweezers, but I can't get a good hold on it.

I've even used a dental pick.

[hrhofmann]

I would not put the repaired knife into the dishwasher to clean it, and maybe not put any of the other knives in the set in the dishwasher any more in the future.

[Jennifer Murphy]

I got all of the old glue off the blade and out of the handle. The blade does indeed have a round tip. I've uploaded 3 new photos of the blade with the glue removed.

I also got all of the gloe out of the handle. It came out in one piece with a little prying and a pair of needle-point tweezers. It came out in one piece.

I tried scratching the inside of the handle slot with a sharpened screwdriver and with a dental pick. Neither of them even made a scratch. I'm starting to think that this might be glass. It might have been a good set. I don't remember. The blade says "Sheffield England".

I'm thinking that roughing up the inside may not be needed. The inside has a bit of a "wavy" surface (not smooth) and the old glue was difficult to get out. When I did, it looked to have a bit of a "bulb" at the bottom, which indicates to be that the bottom of the slot may be a bit larger by design.

I'm thinking I'm good to go.

Comments?

[Jennifer Murphy]

They may have gottne into the dishwasher a few times, but I think we've been pretty careful to wash them by hand.

[Frank]

Then by all means clean up the metal and epoxy in with clear epoxy. You probably don't cut the cheese that often.