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Page 12 of 14
How you proceed from here is dependent on whether you are using a slow-curing cement or a cyanoacrylate glue. Cements are generally too thick to flow around a wire that is already laid in the groove. You will need to place the cement in the groove before the wire goes in (this is called bottom gluing).
With the wire held away, run a bead of glue down the length of the blade, completely filling the groove. Once the glue is in place, run the wire down into the groove, keeping it under gentle tension as you do so. The edge of a soft plastic dish scraper or a similar (non-metal) implement can be used to push the wire down into the groove without damaging the insulation.
Once the wire is laid down in the groove, maintain tension and secure it to the tang with another piece of tape on top of the piece already wrapped around the tang. To prevent the loose end of the wire from getting in the way or being damaged, wrap it around the tang and tape it down. You may also wish to top glue the blade as well, running another bead of cement down the blade after the wire is in place, to ensure that it will be completely surrounded by glue in the groove.
When done, use a paper towel to wipe away any excess glue on the surface of the blade. Leave the blade in the jig until the glue has fully cured—overnight is a safe bet on curing time.
Cyanoacrylates cure far too quickly for bottom gluing to be workable, but their lower viscosity allows them to flow down around the wire and fill the groove.
Particularly when using the super-thin, instant cure CAs, care needs to be taken to ensure that the glue doesn’t run into the point or bond the wrapped-up wire end to the tang. To glue a blade using CAs, Lay the wire in the groove of the bent blade, applying tension to ensure it fits tautly down in the groove, and tape the end of the wire down as described above. Tilt the blade so the point is elevated, and apply glue starting just below the barrel, going down about 15 cm (for thin CAs, just a few drops will easily run down this far). Then invert the blade and hold it upside down for 15-20 seconds or so.
Inverting the blade ensures that any excess glue will collect at the middle of the blade instead of running all the way down to the tang. Once the first application of glue has set, hold the blade groove-up again, this time with the tang elevated. Now run glue 15-20 cm down from just below the tang (if the blade groove has an indentation to allow insulation tubing to run through the guard, leave that clear). Once again, invert the blade and wait 15-20 seconds for the glue to cure. Repeat the process for gluing the rest of the groove.
A blade wired with an instant-cure CA may be assembled immediately, but I usually prefer to leave the blade for at least a few minutes to allow the glue to thoroughly cure. Still, you can see a chief advantage of CAs: the blade can be wired and the weapon built in one sitting.
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