Idaho Flint
Elite Cafe Member
I am not sure if this will help anyone, or if anyone cares… But I thought I would share how I use thermo-lock. It seems to work well for me.
I have found thermo-lock to be a great product for holding pieces I work on. From Knives, Pendants and gun parts to just about anything I need to engrave. It is very easy to form the thermo-lock around just about piece I need to hold. It holds the item tight and helps to protect the piece from getting damaged by holding pins.
The main problem I hear from people is that it can be hard, at times, to get the piece separated from the thermo-lock. I think I have found something that will make it easier to remove the piece. That magic item is painters tape (the little blue tape used for paint). Usually I use the Scotch Blue from 3M http://www.scotchblue.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Scotch-BlueBrand/Scotch-Blue/ I have found that this tape works very well in holding to my piece and being released from the thermo-lock.
I will demonstrate using a small knife I am going to engrave on.
I start by taping the underside and sides of the knife. Every place I am going to apply thermo-lock to is taped.
I also put the tape on the jaws of my engravers block to make it so I can form the thermo-lock to fit perfectly, and make it so the thermo-lock will not stick to my jaws as I am forming it.
I then use a heat gun I bought from Harbor Freight for $7 to heat up the thermo-lock on the plastic that came with the thermo-lock kit I bought. I find that the heat gun works better than a microwave for me. As you can see, when I recycle the thermo-lock from a previous project, I roll it into small sticks. This makes it easier and faster for heating and applying.
I heat the thermo-lock to the point it is shinny and workable like putty. I then start applying strips onto the tape on top of my project to engrave. I am pushing the thermo-lock out with my finger to shape it around my piece.
I am also shaping it around the edge, forming it to the piece I am to work on.
Note that I do not go past my tape, and I will push the top down so it is not higher than the top of the engraving area. I do this so my graver does not hit the thermo-lock as I am engraving.
After I have all the piece covered it is time to put one last piece on it, to help hold it in the block.
I usually put this piece in the middle, as you will see in later photos, and make it the length of the piece. I can put this piece in any place or direction I wish to, to hold the piece in the block as I need.
I then place the piece onto the top of the open jaws of my block. Then I close the jaws to about the width of the holding piece of the thermo-lock. I then push the piece down to flatten the thermo-lock and level the piece to the block. I then close the jaws a little more forming the holding piece.
This will make an area for the block to hold the piece into place and a nice flat surface so the piece will not vibrate or wobble as I work on it.
Notice that the V in the jaws and the ends that where wider than the jaws are not perfect yet, so I put the piece back into the jaws a little offset from center, and re-tighten.
I do this on both ends. Making sure the piece is pushed down to be as flat as the rest is. I don’t want any bumps on the end to cause problems when moving the piece.
Note that since the jaws are a large piece of metal, they act as a heat sink, and will draw the heat out of the thermo-lock fast. This causes it to harden. It may be necessary to hit it with a little heat on thermo-lock while forming it, to make it soft enough to form. It will not take much heat to get it to that sweet spot, so just add a little.
Here is what it looks like after it is done.
I now sit it on the face (non-thermo-lock) side and let it harden fully. After it is hardened you will have a very strong way to hold the piece into your block for engraving.
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After you are done engraving the piece, just heat up the bottom and edges (especially the edges) of the thermo-lock with the heat gun, and pull the thermo-lock off the piece, effectively popping the work piece out of the thermo-lock.
I find that I don’t want to get the thermo-lock to hot or it will stick more to the tape than not. It is ok either way. If you pull the tape of while getting the thermo-lock off, just wait a few seconds after you get the piece out for the thermo-lock to harden a little, and you can pull the tape right off.
You will learn as you go as to how much heat to give to the thermo-lock, and how best to work it off.
-----------------------
The main piece that make this easy for me is the tape. It works very well, and holds great.
Well I hope this helps some people out.
Well have fun engraving, and be safe with that heat gun. It can burn you very quickly if you have your hands around the heat, or touch the mettle before it cools down.
Mike
I have found thermo-lock to be a great product for holding pieces I work on. From Knives, Pendants and gun parts to just about anything I need to engrave. It is very easy to form the thermo-lock around just about piece I need to hold. It holds the item tight and helps to protect the piece from getting damaged by holding pins.
The main problem I hear from people is that it can be hard, at times, to get the piece separated from the thermo-lock. I think I have found something that will make it easier to remove the piece. That magic item is painters tape (the little blue tape used for paint). Usually I use the Scotch Blue from 3M http://www.scotchblue.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Scotch-BlueBrand/Scotch-Blue/ I have found that this tape works very well in holding to my piece and being released from the thermo-lock.
I will demonstrate using a small knife I am going to engrave on.
I start by taping the underside and sides of the knife. Every place I am going to apply thermo-lock to is taped.
I also put the tape on the jaws of my engravers block to make it so I can form the thermo-lock to fit perfectly, and make it so the thermo-lock will not stick to my jaws as I am forming it.
I then use a heat gun I bought from Harbor Freight for $7 to heat up the thermo-lock on the plastic that came with the thermo-lock kit I bought. I find that the heat gun works better than a microwave for me. As you can see, when I recycle the thermo-lock from a previous project, I roll it into small sticks. This makes it easier and faster for heating and applying.
I heat the thermo-lock to the point it is shinny and workable like putty. I then start applying strips onto the tape on top of my project to engrave. I am pushing the thermo-lock out with my finger to shape it around my piece.
I am also shaping it around the edge, forming it to the piece I am to work on.
Note that I do not go past my tape, and I will push the top down so it is not higher than the top of the engraving area. I do this so my graver does not hit the thermo-lock as I am engraving.
After I have all the piece covered it is time to put one last piece on it, to help hold it in the block.
I usually put this piece in the middle, as you will see in later photos, and make it the length of the piece. I can put this piece in any place or direction I wish to, to hold the piece in the block as I need.
I then place the piece onto the top of the open jaws of my block. Then I close the jaws to about the width of the holding piece of the thermo-lock. I then push the piece down to flatten the thermo-lock and level the piece to the block. I then close the jaws a little more forming the holding piece.
This will make an area for the block to hold the piece into place and a nice flat surface so the piece will not vibrate or wobble as I work on it.
Notice that the V in the jaws and the ends that where wider than the jaws are not perfect yet, so I put the piece back into the jaws a little offset from center, and re-tighten.
I do this on both ends. Making sure the piece is pushed down to be as flat as the rest is. I don’t want any bumps on the end to cause problems when moving the piece.
Note that since the jaws are a large piece of metal, they act as a heat sink, and will draw the heat out of the thermo-lock fast. This causes it to harden. It may be necessary to hit it with a little heat on thermo-lock while forming it, to make it soft enough to form. It will not take much heat to get it to that sweet spot, so just add a little.
Here is what it looks like after it is done.
I now sit it on the face (non-thermo-lock) side and let it harden fully. After it is hardened you will have a very strong way to hold the piece into your block for engraving.
----------------------
After you are done engraving the piece, just heat up the bottom and edges (especially the edges) of the thermo-lock with the heat gun, and pull the thermo-lock off the piece, effectively popping the work piece out of the thermo-lock.
I find that I don’t want to get the thermo-lock to hot or it will stick more to the tape than not. It is ok either way. If you pull the tape of while getting the thermo-lock off, just wait a few seconds after you get the piece out for the thermo-lock to harden a little, and you can pull the tape right off.
You will learn as you go as to how much heat to give to the thermo-lock, and how best to work it off.
-----------------------
The main piece that make this easy for me is the tape. It works very well, and holds great.
Well I hope this helps some people out.
Well have fun engraving, and be safe with that heat gun. It can burn you very quickly if you have your hands around the heat, or touch the mettle before it cools down.
Mike
