Carbon fiber handguard ebay (cooltubz) disappointment

[TNhuntsman]

Sighted in my lightweight grendel today on which I used the carbon fiber handguards from ebay (cooltubz) and the tube came unglued causing it to separate from the threaded piece that attaches to the barrel nut. Guess the handguard would be fine for just holding the weapon by hand but didn't like having a bipod attached to it for shooting.




Guess I'll try some epoxy on it and see if it will hold or maybe just toss it and get a standard handguard, better to find out now instead of on a hunt.

[ricsmall]

I would take barrel nut off and blast it with 80 grit, clean the tube up and rough up the inside. Then glue back with either marine Tex or Devcon. That should help

[BCHunter]

Thanks for updating I was so close to getting one but the length I wanted was out of stock.

[SightedIn]

I would try devcon too. Its a little pricey but i dont think theres anything stronger

[montana]

Did you contact cooltubz to see if they would fix it? http://www.cooltubz.com/website-owner

[joedirt199]

Why not glue it then drill and tap the barrel nut for a couple screws. Then you wouldn't have to worry about glue letting go.

[TNhuntsman]

I guess I'll try the devcon epoxy and see if it holds, you'd think the company would have used a better glue in the first place but maybe that's why they were clearanced on ebay, should've just stuck with an Aero or STNGR handguard but never had a carbon fiber handguard and figured I'd try it.

[A5BLASTER]

From the looks of the pic. It would seem that it didn't get much glue at all.

I would contact them and see what they tell you, maybe they will give you a free replacement.

Either way it is a very quick and easy fix, dremel with a wire brush it clean and then ruff up the inside of the tube a bit and slap it back on with some hardware cheap 2 part epoxy.

Are you can use some high dollar epoxy and it will cost more money and won't hold any better then the 2 part stuff you can get at a local hardware store.

I have been thinking of going too a fiber handguard myself might look into this kind you have.

[LtDan]

JB Weld

[TNhuntsman]

From the looks of the pic. It would seem that it didn't get much glue at all.

I would contact them and see what they tell you, maybe they will give you a free replacement.

Either way it is a very quick and easy fix, dremel with a wire brush it clean and then ruff up the inside of the tube a bit and slap it back on with some hardware cheap 2 part epoxy.

Are you can use some high dollar epoxy and it will cost more money and won't hold any better then the 2 part stuff you can get at a local hardware store.

I have been thinking of going too a fiber handguard myself might look into this kind you have.

There is twice as much glue on the other side, glue didn't hold at all, it still came apart after the 5 round I fired. The tube is probably fine just holding it as your hand would move with the tube but the bipod on the shooting bench was enough resistance for it to work itself free from the glue.
Guess break out the Dremel and pick up some epoxy before I shoot it again.

[A5BLASTER]

There is twice as much glue on the other side, glue didn't hold at all, it still came apart after the 5 round I fired. The tube is probably fine just holding it as your hand would move with the tube but the bipod on the shooting bench was enough resistance for it to work itself free from the glue.
Guess break out the Dremel and pick up some epoxy before I shoot it again.

Lil pro tip about epoxy setup. Do your epoxy work on a stable temp, but setup your work area where you will leave it to cure so it can be a more controlled cool off temp, the carbon fiber will pull in the epoxy as it cures if it is setting up on a cooling temp. And that should give you a better purchase and help keep it from breaking hold.

Pro tip I learned from useing marine grade epoxy on fiberglass and wood boat building.

If you can heat your work area up too the required temp for the epoxy to be easly worked and give the most work time then let it cure aka setup on a falling temp, like maybe 10 to 15 degrees drop in temp over it's full curing time.

Not to hard if you have a small shop space and a electric heater.

[Taz575]

I wonder if the inside of the handguard wasn't prepped (degreased and scuffed up) well enough? The epoxy looks very smooth and shiny where it was in the handguard. JB Weld will work; look for something that can handle higher temps. Plastics and other materials can be harder to get good epoxy adhesion to as well and need good prep.

[depletedyourcranium]

Same thing happened with mine. Cleaned and prepped it, reaffixed it with JB weld, done.

[ErikS]

JB Weld

Bingo

[snarkscarbine]

I'd just tap some screws through it and be done. Epoxy is great and all, but mechanical interference will just about always beat it.