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How to remove glue from handle?

I have these two handles that I have untied the knots, I want to use them with Omega boars. But the glue is left, how can I remove it? I don't have a dremel, maybe I need to buy one.
And a stupid question, when you use the dremel what do you use to hold the handle in place?
It is my first attempt to reknot!

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Many glues will loosen when heat is applied. You have to be careful not to damage anything, of course.

A dremel tool would probably work. Possibly a wood chisel, if you have one in the right size.

To hold the handle, you can use a woodworker's vise, or a standard vise with the jaws lined with some soft wood scrap pieces (like pine).
 
I use a Dremel type tool with a drum sander attachment. I hold the handle in my left hand and the Dremel in my right hand. Be careful that you don't overdo in one position and make the hole oblong. I roll the drum sander around inside the hole for maybe 30 seconds or so, pull it out of the hole, turn the handle about 90 degrees, drum sand some more and repeat as necessary. Have the new knot handy and test fit it and determine if more removal is needed.
 
After having another look at those handles you also need another approach so you can remove the glue from the floor of the hole. For that I use a Fostner wood working drill bit. You can buy a set of them from Harbor Freight for not too much. Ideally you would use them in a drill press but I have used them for this purpose without. Select the bit that best covers the floor without getting into the wall. Fostner bits leave a flat surface with only a tine shallow hole in the center. I use an electric hand held drill and hold the handle in my hand. Work it until you have remove most if not all of the glue in the bottom of the hole. Sort of gently making contact with the floor and them getting off it without completely removing it from the hole. Stop and inspect as you go. Finish up with a Dremel drum sander to clean up the side of the hole that the Fostner didn't get.

I agree, those are beautiful handles well worth saving.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
After having another look at those handles you also need another approach so you can remove the glue from the floor of the hole. For that I use a Fostner wood working drill bit. You can buy a set of them from Harbor Freight for not too much. Ideally you would use them in a drill press but I have used them for this purpose without. Select the bit that best covers the floor without getting into the wall. Fostner bits leave a flat surface with only a tine shallow hole in the center. I use an electric hand held drill and hold the handle in my hand. Work it until you have remove most if not all of the glue in the bottom of the hole. Sort of gently making contact with the floor and them getting off it without completely removing it from the hole. Stop and inspect as you go. Finish up with a Dremel drum sander to clean up the side of the hole that the Fostner didn't get.

I agree, those are beautiful handles well worth saving.
Yep. I'd forgotten completely about a Forstner bit. Duh! Obvious and excellent choice.

And it can DEFINITELY be a cheap one from Harbor Freight. Lol, after you set the knot, no one will know how ugly the bottom of the hole is, or how much you paid for the tools!
 
I can say from experience that a rotary tool (Dremel) can be challenging to control in this application. If you use one, I'd mask off the rim of the socket as best you can, since the tool will tend to jump a little uncontrollably. The drum sanding bits will clear the walls of the socket, but they won't let you dig deeper, if you need to. It's hard to tell if you need/want to remove a lot of material, creating new depth, or if it's mostly tidying up the sides.

The last time I did this (with a Yaqi handle, no less!) I'm pretty sure I used the bit on the left in the picture below to "dig" down. It came with my rotary tool, so I don't know what it is--maybe a jeweler's bit? The Kutzall rotary burr on the right might also work, but will probably jump around a little more. I don't have a vise so that's a bigger issue for me. It's probably easier with one.

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That being said, I like the Forstner bit suggestion with a handheld drill or drill press. I don't have one, but this feels like the best approach.

If you do accidentally scratch the handle, no worries, just use a progression of sandpapers to smooth out the error. I was amazed how well this worked. These handles are soft and easy to shape and polish. It's the glue that's stuck in them that is hard to deal with sometimes! Good luck and have fun.
 
Forstner drill bit is the only that gives you a good clean hole. That's what I use.
Forstner drill bit is the only that gives you a good clean hole. That's what I use.
Rudy, you're the expert of experts, so I'm taking your advice and buying some Forstner drill bits. I've been trying to gouge out the remains of a knot from a vintage Ever ready brush with a U-shaped gouging tool and it's going really, really slow. Thank you!
 
Sounds like you are back on track. A nice set of Forstner bits is a very handy thing to have. I wish I'd bought the bigger set when I started as adding to the set over the years for the different sizes has made my set cost a lot more than if I'd had just gone bigger in the beginning.

And they are great on a Wood Lathe too.
 
Sounds like you are back on track. A nice set of Forstner bits is a very handy thing to have. I wish I'd bought the bigger set when I started as adding to the set over the years for the different sizes has made my set cost a lot more than if I'd had just gone bigger in the beginning.

And they are great on a Wood Lathe too.
I took Rudy Vey's expert advice and bought a set of Forstner drill bits. Using the appropriate size bit, I quickly cleaned out the hole one of my vintage Ever Ready handle. Thank you, Rudy! All things being equal, Forstner bits seem to run more slowly than regular drill bits, so chances of damaging your handle are minimized. Now, I have 3 more Ever Ready handles to clean out. Great fun.
 
I took Rudy Vey's expert advice and bought a set of Forstner drill bits. Using the appropriate size bit, I quickly cleaned out the hole one of my vintage Ever Ready handle. Thank you, Rudy! All things being equal, Forstner bits seem to run more slowly than regular drill bits, so chances of damaging your handle are minimized. Now, I have 3 more Ever Ready handles to clean out. Great fun.
Did you use a hand drill or drill press for that?
Sounds like that worked out good.
 
Did you use a hand drill or drill press for that?
Sounds like that worked out good.
I held the brush handle in a vise and used my 3/8" hand drill to clean out the remains of the knot. I earlier trimmed the knot down using a utility knife. A drill press also would work great, but I don't have one.
 
To hold it maybe a handscrew? They are wide enough to just sit on a table if you're working on something light.

I closed a wooden handscrew then drilled a hole in the middle of the two sides about the same size as the brush handle. It gripped the handle without damaging it. I just clamped the handscrew to my worktable to keep it in place when drilling or working on the handle.
 
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