In article , Frnak
McKenney wrote:
On Wed, 01 Jan 2014 10:34:49 -0500, Joe Gwinn wrote:
In article , Frnak
McKenney wrote:
Are metal-related questions still allowed here? grin!
Christmas brunch was wonderful. My sister and I were invited to eat
with a cousin and her family, and the French Toast -- made with slices
of French bread and peach butter -- was delicious.
As we sat around the table afterwards, one topic that came up was the
odd look of their stainless tableware, or to be more specific, the
knives. These were made by a company named Gorham (Fairview pattern?)
and had given wonderful service for many years, but recently they had
noticed that some of the knives were "separating": the blade had begun
to separate from the handle, showing a minor gap of roughly 1/8".
The Gorham line apparently still exists, as a part of the Lenox group:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorham_...turing_Company
More generally, any major jeweler and/or manufacturer of silverware
will know what cement is used, and how to re-cement a loose handle.
Thanks, Joe. So you don't think it would vary from manufacturer to
manufacturer?
Things like that usually settle out to a few standard solutions. One
does not sell silverware on the beauty of one's handle cement.
In any case, it's worth following up.
Another place to look is catalogs of jewelry tool suppliers, like Shor
Intl Corp: https://www.ishor.com/index.php. (I didn't look for
handle cement, but if they don't carry it, I bet they will know who
does.)
Hoping for a simple fix, I spent a couple of hours exploring the 'Web
with different combinations of keywords looking for instructions like
"heat to 400degF for 10 minutes and the epoxy will soften, then gently
press the blade back into the handle and it will be as good as new for
another decade or two". Nope. Most of what I found related to
stainless blades set into sterling handles (not the case here), and
there were more descriptions of how to tear the handle off and sell
the sterling than ideas of how to repair a knife.
Has anyone here ever seen this problem? My cousing said it might be
related to washing the knives in a dishwasher, but only about a
quarter of the knives seem to be affected.
I doubt that a dishwasher can do this to quality silverware, such as
that from Gorham. Lloyd's theory that most of the use is suffered by a
few of the knives may be the answer.
But this may be the answer:
.. http://www.silversuperstore.com/faq/silverware_9.html
Hm. That describes the substance as a "super strong epoxy", but also
describes it as becoming brittle. This stuff, which looks like a
thin, custard-coloerd ring, seems to be in good shape. At room
temperatures, of course. grin!
The effect of the dishwasher may be chemical, caused by the detergent.
Could be, though the epoxy doesn't seem cracked or mottled or pitted.
It's as if it partially melted, the blade slipped out a bit, and then
the epoxy re-hardened.
While one can soften a cured epoxy with heat, it will not melt. It is
not clear that what you have is an epoxy. Nor do epoxies melt and
solidify, unlike the traditional shellac-rosin-brickdust handle cement
mentioned elsewhere in this thread.
This traditional handle cement is thus a form of hot-melt adhesive.
If this is what was used, the handle can be re-affixed by clamping the
knife upright such that gravity tends to close the gap, and carefully
heating the handle with a heat gun until the cement melts, and then
walking away for at least three hours (to ensure complete cooling).
Does anyone know how I could learn about the properties of the "epoxy"
(an assumption, the term pops up a lot)?
Depending on the age of the silverware, it may or may not be epoxy,
although epoxy may be what's used these days.
Hm. I'd say two decades or so, perhaps plus a little. ( But I should
ask rather than assuming. grin! )
The best epoxies cure slowly and require heat for a complete cure and
maximum strength.
Ah, but what loosens them? ( The epoxies, I mean. )
Stress while hot can do it. As can inadequate joint design.
Slow-cure (overnight) epoxy is far stronger than the 5-minute stuff.
But in all cases, cleaning the surfaces to be glued is critical - even
a hint of grease will prevent full strength.
If one is changing from traditional handle cement to epoxy, removal of
all of the old cement is essential. This will require use of solvents.
Beware ordinary acetone - it usually has some oil in it; this oil must
be removed before epoxy will bond.