Stock repair advice!

Bushy

Well-Known Member
I've got a shotgun stock with a small split that would like to glue and make good. As it's next to the metalwork I'm thinking I'll need to clean the area before I glue it to remove any oil etc! Am I correct and if so what should I use to achieve the best result.?
I have bought Cascamite glue as recommended by a chippy, is this suitable?

Any advice appreciated.

chris

 
Cascamite is a good strong glue, but you may struggle to get it into the crack and it does need good clamping pressure. You might want to look at an epoxy. West systems do a good one that is quite thin and runny. Use a hair dryer to warm the wood, then apply the epoxy and the pores of the wood will suck it in. I would a syringe with hypodermic to apply it with though, and if you can get needle into the split so much the better.

Clean an up any mess with acetone before it sets hard.
 
I will see if I have a stock lying about with a crack in it to photograph what I am going to try to explain.

Remove the action from the stock, of course, so you can see what you are up against.

You may have to carefully clean the wood in there with a volatile solvent, like lacquer thinner, if there is oil in the wood, Do not get it on the finish or it will dissolve it.

Now, let's say the crack is on top, at the tang, but not all the way through. That probably indicates that you need to bed the recoil lug, too, because something is allowing the rear of the receiver to pound into the wood. The inletting may have been a bit too tight on the sides, and if there is a little taper, the tang will drive in and wedge the wood apart. So you may need some epoxy bedding there, too.

At any rate, to get some epoxy down in the crack, drill a tiny ( 1/64 or 1/32 at most ) hole into the crack, from where the steel is bedded. If the crack is long, you may need to drill a 1/64 hole in the grain line on top of the grip, where the end the crack is headed, to interrupt the crack and relieve stress. You can mask off the wood with Scotch tape and pack some epoxy in there with a pin.

Mask off all the wood with Scotch painter's tape, and press it down well. Trim it with a razor knife.

Pack epoxy in the other hole you drilled. If the inletting is 1/2 inch deep or more, drill two holes, one at the bottom and one halfway up. Push the epoxy in there with your finger. A hypodermic needle would be great, if you can get one. Then clamp it. A really small bar clamp with a trigger and rubber pads on the jaws, that swivel, is what you need, so you don't dent the wood. Be gentle. Let it sit 24 hours.
 
I will see if I have a stock lying about with a crack in it to photograph what I am going to try to explain.

Remove the action from the stock, of course, so you can see what you are up against.

You may have to carefully clean the wood in there with a volatile solvent, like lacquer thinner, if there is oil in the wood, Do not get it on the finish or it will dissolve it.

Now, let's say the crack is on top, at the tang, but not all the way through. That probably indicates that you need to bed the recoil lug, too, because something is allowing the rear of the receiver to pound into the wood. The inletting may have been a bit too tight on the sides, and if there is a little taper, the tang will drive in and wedge the wood apart. So you may need some epoxy bedding there, too.

At any rate, to get some epoxy down in the crack, drill a tiny ( 1/64 or 1/32 at most ) hole into the crack, from where the steel is bedded. If the crack is long, you may need to drill a 1/64 hole in the grain line on top of the grip, where the end the crack is headed, to interrupt the crack and relieve stress. You can mask off the wood with Scotch tape and pack some epoxy in there with a pin.

Mask off all the wood with Scotch painter's tape, and press it down well. Trim it with a razor knife.

Pack epoxy in the other hole you drilled. If the inletting is 1/2 inch deep or more, drill two holes, one at the bottom and one halfway up. Push the epoxy in there with your finger. A hypodermic needle would be great, if you can get one. Then clamp it. A really small bar clamp with a trigger and rubber pads on the jaws, that swivel, is what you need, so you don't dent the wood. Be gentle. Let it sit 24 hours.




Thats that's the most conclusive reply and advice I've ever received.......! Thank you I'll get the bits together and give it a go.

All the best....



Bushy
 
If the crack is in the back tang area I mostly repair by milling out a 3mm wide channel about 4mm deep inside the corner where the tang rests on. The little channel will go around the back and up the sides about 1/2". I use a very thin laminating epoxy resin, by pulling the stock slightly apart the gap widens and epoxy can run down helped by warm air from a hair dryer. Then I let the gap close and soak a small piece of carbon fibre roving (as long as the channel that was dremelled out). The carbon roving is inserted and fills the little channel. After curing, the channel can be cleaned up. This method gives incredible strength across the grain and will prevent future cracking without being visible.
edi
 
I've used super glue and had good results.
as said degrease, then super glue (the thin stuff ) wickes nicely in to the crack so no need to force the crack apart .
 
Pity your not in Essex we have a top wood repair guy this way his name is Bryan Farr also a keeper on the mod site in Gt Wakering he repairs top £00000 shot guns so is is real good at his work . Found this: As you could post it to him.

Gunsmith: Bryan Farr Gun Repairs based in 15 Church End, Foulness Island, Southend On Sea SS3 9XQ, United Kingdom.






For questions regarding Bryan Farr Gun Repairs contact us directly





HideCONTACT DETAILSPHONE NUMBER:
01702 219629
 
Pity your not in Essex we have a top wood repair guy this way his name is Bryan Farr also a keeper on the mod site in Gt Wakering he repairs top £00000 shot guns so is is real good at his work . Found this: As you could post it to him.

Gunsmith: Bryan Farr Gun Repairs based in 15 Church End, Foulness Island, Southend On Sea SS3 9XQ, United Kingdom.






For questions regarding Bryan Farr Gun Repairs contact us directly





HideCONTACT DETAILSPHONE NUMBER:
01702 219629

I initially thought it was going to be easy but thinking I might get it look at by someone who knows what they are doing! It's only a small split but don't want it to grow!
gun is a grade 3-4 325 so worth getting it sorted!

thanks for all your help!
 
If a component has failed due to stress I do not believe it will be a permanent solution to fix the fail, crack in this case as it might just crack again right next to the first crack. I prefer to increase the strength and distribute loading over a larger surface. Southerns suggestion with a little epoxy bedding goes in the right direction. Reinforcing 90deg to the fibre direction of the wood is a further, maybe more efficient improvement.
edi
 
Yes, you need to discover the cause of the cracking. It may already have resolved itself, by pounding the inletting that was too tight. But you may also still have some lack of support on the recoil lug or the through-bolts reinforcing the stock at the front and rear of the receiver. That is why, after you fix this crack, look at glass bedding the entire action and recoil lug, and checking the cross bolts for both being snug.

In the last year, I have repaired too older rifles as I outlined above. The first was a WWII .30-06. The other was a Sako L61R .375 H&H with a bad split out the side of the stock. I fixed the crack first, then glass bedded the entire action, and it is holding up well. The wood on the L61R is just very light, not nearly as dense as on a Model 70 Express, and they have two massive crossbolts installed just right - never seen one with a problem.
 
As other said rectifying the cause is a nescary step, but often (especially in shotgun my main area of stocking) it is not required to overly reinforce the area.
 
Yes, you need to discover the cause of the cracking. It may already have resolved itself, by pounding the inletting that was too tight. But you may also still have some lack of support on the recoil lug or the through-bolts reinforcing the stock at the front and rear of the receiver. That is why, after you fix this crack, look at glass bedding the entire action and recoil lug, and checking the cross bolts for both being snug.

In the last year, I have repaired too older rifles as I outlined above. The first was a WWII .30-06. The other was a Sako L61R .375 H&H with a bad split out the side of the stock. I fixed the crack first, then glass bedded the entire action, and it is holding up well. The wood on the L61R is just very light, not nearly as dense as on a Model 70 Express, and they have two massive crossbolts installed just right - never seen one with a problem.

Think the thread starter had the problem with a shotgun. I had a couple of those cracked tang areas on shotguns come into us, seems quite common.
As you said on a rifle there are other ways of fixing the cause.
Must have a close look at our old Charles Lancaster that is over hundred years old and had a very very hard life, recon built right from day one.

edi
 
Yes, I am getting ready to restore a 1910 Ithaca SxS now, and may find some cracks and loose fitting of the action, which I will fix as I described, without any real action bedding like a rifle would have, of course, but the whole part which fits up to the shotgun action.

A lot of these old shotguns were built very well. I hunt with Ithaca, Parker, Lefever, AH Fox.... all very tight, metal and wood.
 
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