Originally Posted by
Hickory
I have made a few knives and have used epoxy to seal the handles. Most of the handles were bone and my method worked very well. It's what's called the gas-in, gas-out process.
When you heat porous material it will expel moisture and gas, but when it cools it will draw into itself anything around or on it's surface. Works on the same principle of the overflow tank on your car's radiator.
Sand the handle before heating to open up the pores.
I heat the knife in a toaster oven for about 10 minutes @ 180-200 degrees, during that time I mix the epoxy to coincide with the time the knife comes out of the oven. Wearing rubber gloves, wrap the blade with paper towels and rub the epoxy into the handle, as the handle cools it will suck in the epoxy, keep rubbing in the epoxy until it starts to become thick and about to harden.
Wipe off excess epoxy, let the epoxy harden for 24 hours or more before working it down with OO steelwool.
P.S. Mix more epoxy than you think you will need, you'll be surprised how much epoxy will disappear into the handle.