+1
Use transfer buttons to get the center for the second hole close, drill it slightly oversize, then fill the extra room around the dowel with epoxy. You can get the buttons at Harbor Freight or Amazon.
Wood Stock repair
- Thread starter Logs
- Start date
+1
Use transfer buttons to get the center for the second hole close, drill it slightly oversize, then fill the extra room around the dowel with epoxy. You can get the buttons at Harbor Freight or Amazon.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
I know about transfer buttons, but I regard them as suitable for use when joining two pieces that have smooth, regular surfaces and which can be carefully aligned when transferring the center mark. I can't see any way that a transfer button could be used with any degree of accuracy in this situation.
tango1niner
New member
Yep, the buttons are only to get you close. Can you not think of a way to get the alignment close? Think flat surfaces. The length of the button is adjusted so the point can make only the smallest mark. With this in mind maybe re-reading the post might help.
stinkeypete
New member
Acraglas, marine epoxy, or West System … not hardware store epoxy.
One could glue it back up and see if it holds another 40 years.
While it’s not pretty, a custom hardwood dowel or dowels, drilled square and true and finished right… tells a story. I would be proud of it, if it’s done craftsman like.
Or do it internal, Oversize one hole until a blind dowel wobble-fits, the fill the void with acraglas and microbaloon goop. Then faint surfaces and clamp.
One could glue it back up and see if it holds another 40 years.
While it’s not pretty, a custom hardwood dowel or dowels, drilled square and true and finished right… tells a story. I would be proud of it, if it’s done craftsman like.
Or do it internal, Oversize one hole until a blind dowel wobble-fits, the fill the void with acraglas and microbaloon goop. Then faint surfaces and clamp.
Bill DeShivs
New member
This thread explains why good gunsmiths make money.
The transfer buttons are typically used in conjunction with a drill jigs that make sure the holes have the same axis. For irregular pieces like the OP's, only drilling oversize holes in the two halves marked by buttons will be sure to allow alignment, and then you need a filled epoxy to fill the gaps around the dowels.
The better way is to follow Scorch's approach. I will re-describe it just in case reading it in different words helps someone.
1. Remove the stock from the gun. This will expose the wood normally inserted into the back of the receiver. All drilling needs to start into a wood surface that is concealed when the gun is assembled, and taking the stock off the gun is the only way to access those surfaces.
2. Glue the two pieces together, do all required wiggling and adjusting to achieve good mating so as to make the glue line as invisible as possible. Clamp the parts so they can't slip. Rubber bands are your friend for this with irregular shapes. Get all excess squeezed-out glue wiped clean, and removed by solvent (alcohol works with wet epoxy) if necessary.
3. Let the glue set, but before it fully cures, you want to drill your dowel holes. Note that the dowels don't have to be perpendicular to the glue plane. They can go diagonally across the glue plane. They just have to start from the normally hidden part of the stock, pass through the glue plane and not go deep enough to emerge from the finish on the other side.
4. Glue your dowels in with the same epoxy you used for the original gluing. This will adhere well to both the wood and the existing glue as long as the former has not set too completely.
Variations:
You can clamp the wood together and drill before gluing. Just be aware your clamp needs to be stout for this, as the drill will try to move the relative positions of the pieces. I don't recommend doing this.
You don't have to use wood dowels. I have used brass rod. Especially if the dowel has to be small in diameter, 1/8 inch brass rod from the hobby shop or the hardware works. Just realize epoxy doesn't favor copper alloys much, so you want to chuck the rod in your drill and roughen it a bit with a file or coarse sandpaper before gluing. Steel will adhere better and is stronger, but you don't want to risk rust starting and discoloring your wood.
Epoxies don't give you their best strength in a thin film. In wood, the fact the epoxy penetrates the grain will generally avoid the thin film problem, but I have seen some wood grain soak it too thin. Epoxies designed for wood, like Acraglass, will be the right viscosity to avoid that issue.
In a super-strength situation, I have used System Three Endrot, a super-thin penetrating epoxy that gets deeper into wood grains than the glues, and then glued with that same company's T-88 product before the Endrot had done more than start to thicken. This provides a glued area stronger than the original wood. Just don't paint Endrot too close to the edge of finished wood, as it can creep up under the edge of the old finish and darken it.
The better way is to follow Scorch's approach. I will re-describe it just in case reading it in different words helps someone.
1. Remove the stock from the gun. This will expose the wood normally inserted into the back of the receiver. All drilling needs to start into a wood surface that is concealed when the gun is assembled, and taking the stock off the gun is the only way to access those surfaces.
2. Glue the two pieces together, do all required wiggling and adjusting to achieve good mating so as to make the glue line as invisible as possible. Clamp the parts so they can't slip. Rubber bands are your friend for this with irregular shapes. Get all excess squeezed-out glue wiped clean, and removed by solvent (alcohol works with wet epoxy) if necessary.
3. Let the glue set, but before it fully cures, you want to drill your dowel holes. Note that the dowels don't have to be perpendicular to the glue plane. They can go diagonally across the glue plane. They just have to start from the normally hidden part of the stock, pass through the glue plane and not go deep enough to emerge from the finish on the other side.
4. Glue your dowels in with the same epoxy you used for the original gluing. This will adhere well to both the wood and the existing glue as long as the former has not set too completely.
Variations:
You can clamp the wood together and drill before gluing. Just be aware your clamp needs to be stout for this, as the drill will try to move the relative positions of the pieces. I don't recommend doing this.
You don't have to use wood dowels. I have used brass rod. Especially if the dowel has to be small in diameter, 1/8 inch brass rod from the hobby shop or the hardware works. Just realize epoxy doesn't favor copper alloys much, so you want to chuck the rod in your drill and roughen it a bit with a file or coarse sandpaper before gluing. Steel will adhere better and is stronger, but you don't want to risk rust starting and discoloring your wood.
Epoxies don't give you their best strength in a thin film. In wood, the fact the epoxy penetrates the grain will generally avoid the thin film problem, but I have seen some wood grain soak it too thin. Epoxies designed for wood, like Acraglass, will be the right viscosity to avoid that issue.
In a super-strength situation, I have used System Three Endrot, a super-thin penetrating epoxy that gets deeper into wood grains than the glues, and then glued with that same company's T-88 product before the Endrot had done more than start to thicken. This provides a glued area stronger than the original wood. Just don't paint Endrot too close to the edge of finished wood, as it can creep up under the edge of the old finish and darken it.
tango1niner
New member
To each their own method of repair...
Duct tape and tacks!
Rawhide and tacks were the Indian method of repair.
I keeeeeed. I had to repair a cracked stock and first had to remove the previous owner's gluing effort. Heat lamp and a lot of scraping so the two pieces could come together. Then fresh acraglass and clamp over night. This was followed by rechequering to remove the excess acraglass.
Rawhide and tacks were the Indian method of repair.
I keeeeeed. I had to repair a cracked stock and first had to remove the previous owner's gluing effort. Heat lamp and a lot of scraping so the two pieces could come together. Then fresh acraglass and clamp over night. This was followed by rechequering to remove the excess acraglass.
stinkeypete
New member
I must disagree with Bill. The two outstanding gunsmiths I knew did NOT make money and went on to other more mundane jobs and much better income. The third retired and no one would buy his business.
Few folks are willing to pay for real craftsmen. It’s a shame.
Few folks are willing to pay for real craftsmen. It’s a shame.
jrsgunbooks
Inactive
I have made this exact repair on two shotguns.
Somehow, that area is a weak spot for a lot of long guns, especially with the coarse grained woods used these days.
Epoxy resin which I mixed with finely powdered sawdust of the same type of wood from sanding.
I then clamped it two directions with soft towels under the clamps to protect the finish.
Afterwards, I sanded, stained and sealed.
I use tung oil but that is my personal preference.
These shotguns were fired pretty consistently with magnum slugs and heavy dove loads and they have held up over the last 25 years.
Somehow, that area is a weak spot for a lot of long guns, especially with the coarse grained woods used these days.
Epoxy resin which I mixed with finely powdered sawdust of the same type of wood from sanding.
I then clamped it two directions with soft towels under the clamps to protect the finish.
Afterwards, I sanded, stained and sealed.
I use tung oil but that is my personal preference.
These shotguns were fired pretty consistently with magnum slugs and heavy dove loads and they have held up over the last 25 years.