This reminded me of a recent experience. I ordered a budget, homage Scout Knife, based on the Aitor Gran Capitan "Spanish Army Knife" pattern (produced sans cor

This reminded me of a recent experience. I ordered a budget, homage Scout Knife, based on the Aitor Gran Capitan "Spanish Army Knife" pattern (produced sans corkscrew of course, which made me chuckle since I'd been a bit of a rebellious scout myself). The knife arrived and the scales promptly began to detach after some vigorous sharpening. I was surprised to remove the scales and discover they were glued on, smooth plastic to smooth metal. (The factory glue was amber colored, bubbly, and rubbery, with a pizza-cheese effect when pulled cold) I knew it was a budget tool, but somehow expected at least basic friction-fastening at the metal rivet points. Instead, there was this glue on the scales' inner plastic lattice work, plus some friction pressure around the scale edges. I mixed up some epoxy, which as I was raised is something of a knife hobbyist's friend. I still have a zero-tang carving knife my dad made by epoxying a Victorinox blade into antler. Just as I was getting materials ready to sand plastic and metal, I noticed the epoxy mix was already in the advanced stages of setting! Turns out I had purchased "4 minute set time" epoxy from PC Epoxy. And it had been nearly that long since the mixing. Instead of my usual dilemma of waiting for things to set, the situation was suddenly more urgently coming together. Usually I prepare surfaces with plenty of time left in the curing, so personal experience had led me astray on account of not typically needing to read the epoxy product label closely. I'd never seen 4-minute epoxy at the store before. So, I really hope my unsanded but hastily- and liberally-coated surfaces hold together OK for a while.