Replacing a handle on your blade. Has anybody tried this method?

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I came across this Samson Dubina video the other day in replacing a handle. He boils his blade in water for X amount of time to soften the glue then he pops it off.


Has anybody tried this method? Would this damage the wood? Would it matter given only the handle is in the water? Would it be fine & back to normal once you let it dry out? Curious on your guy's thoughts.

Because I'm sure you've got to be wondering "Why are you looking to do this Suds?":

I currently play Cpen and would be interested in popping off the front side of the handle and replacing it with a index finger Jpen style cork finger grip. I find having that hook to grab onto allows more freedom and aggression when swinging freely on TPB so I wouldn't mind having it as an option.

PS: Yes I know there are Jpens that are two sided and would work also. And those could be an option but I already have some good CPens and I know there are penholders who have made some sort of mods like this in the past. Just not sure how they've done it.
 
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Well, I wouldn't put the handle in boiling water under no circumstance.
Firstly, the blade wood underneath will "swell" and secondly the steams from the boiling water will damage the head.

If you want to change the handle, go to professional a carpenter that will do it for you.
 
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Has anybody tried this method?

I´ve taken off grip plates by putting the handle in boiling water several times. So far, nothing unexpected has happened. The glue softened and the handle could be dismantled fairly easily. I even found a quick drying glue so playing with the new grip plates on the same blade was possible on the same day. Usually, the handle would spend hours in a screw clamp to be fixed, not with this glue.

The difficulties for me lie in the woodwork, i.e. your previous handle is broader than the new one and you have to file wood off, or it is smaller and you have to fill with wood putty.
 
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Does this cause any differences in the "feel" of the blade? with vibrations?

Well, in theory it sure does. The blade is an overall product, so changing a component will result in changing the whole thing.

However, I didn´t think it made a huge difference whenever I did it.

I put Boll ALC grip plates on an andro Flaxonite and it still felt smooth and flexible. I eventually sold this blade with the ALC handle and it worked for the buyer.

I also put Persson Powerplay grip plates on a Donic Ovtcharov No. 1 (better handling, maybe slightly different feeling due to changed balance and "senso" plates) and glued the original plates back to the respective blades, sold them - telling everything about the operations in the item description - and got no complaints either.
 
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I have heard of Boiling water, microwave or some kind of steam.
 
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The method Der_Echte uses is to get a cheapo heat gun, like the ones used to heat up linoleum floor tile before removing them. Go VERY SLOWLY from a safe distance or you can begin to leave black burn marks. If you don't get the gun too close, no issue. It takes a few minutes for each side to get the glue to a point where you can slide your putty knife under the handle piece.

This is what my gun looks like. Just go on amazon and search Wagner Heat Gun, around 20 USD.

Heat Gun 1.jpg
 
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The method Der_Echte uses is to get a cheapo heat gun, like the ones used to heat up linoleum floor tile before removing them. Go VERY SLOWLY from a safe distance or you can begin to leave black burn marks. If you don't get the gun too close, no issue. It takes a few minutes for each side to get the glue to a point where you can slide your putty knife under the handle piece.

This is what my gun looks like. Just go on amazon and search Wagner Heat Gun, around 20 USD.

View attachment 20000

I think this is much better than the boiling water option. :)

But from the directions, it sounds like Der may have burned a few handles before he got the art down solidly. :)
 
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I think this is much better than the boiling water option. :)

But from the directions, it sounds like Der may have burned a few handles before he got the art down solidly. :)

Wasn't anything a section of sandpaper and some false grid coordinates to the Goon Squad couldn't handle...
 
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Look at the physics...

Similar energy output... but way larger channel for the output... by the time the hot air gets there, it is much dissipated and not very well directed where it needs to be. You might be using the hair dryer so long someone's mamma might be concerned you are using it for a bad purpose.

As I have never tried it, I would not know, but would bet you some cheeze-its that it COULD work, but take way longer than practical.
 
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what sort of glue would you use to attach the new handle pieces on?
 
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Look at the physics...

Similar energy output... but way larger channel for the output... by the time the hot air gets there, it is much dissipated and not very well directed where it needs to be. You might be using the hair dryer so long someone's mamma might be concerned you are using it for a bad purpose.

As I have never tried it, I would not know, but would bet you some cheeze-its that it COULD work, but take way longer than practical.

Physics :eek:
 
I came across this Samson Dubina video the other day in replacing a handle. He boils his blade in water for X amount of time to soften the glue then he pops it off.


Has anybody tried this method? Would this damage the wood? Would it matter given only the handle is in the water? Would it be fine & back to normal once you let it dry out? Curious on your guy's thoughts.

Because I'm sure you've got to be wondering "Why are you looking to do this Suds?":

I currently play Cpen and would be interested in popping off the front side of the handle and replacing it with a index finger Jpen style cork finger grip. I find having that hook to grab onto allows more freedom and aggression when swinging freely on TPB so I wouldn't mind having it as an option.

PS: Yes I know there are Jpens that are two sided and would work also. And those could be an option but I already have some good CPens and I know there are penholders who have made some sort of mods like this in the past. Just not sure how they've done it.

Seems like you want a Taiwanese style handle: a stub made of corkwood is attached to the top of the handle to form the grip you want. See attached pictures.

Apollo 3 imgages.JPG
 
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