Cracked Stock Questiion

[gator64]

Dropped my Marlin lever gun.  Cracked the stock at the top and bottom tang.  Small cracks about 2 inches long.  Got any ideas what type of glue will work into these cracks and can carpenter’s glue be thinned with water and still have strength?  Any suggestions appreciated… Really ticked off at myself for being so clumsy.

Thanx
Gator64

[dave375hh]

gator,

Do not use carpenters glue, it's not strong enough. I use Brownell's Accraglass for all repairs. Given your description of the cracks you most likely don't have two cracks, but rather one large one that runs through the wrist of the stock. If I were doing the repair I'd remove the stock and drill two 1/4" holes 1/8" from each cracked surface at least as deep as the crack. Mix the accuraglass as instructed including some glass floc to the mix. Cut and fit two 1/4" pieces of dowel, slightly taper one end of the dowel. Drip some glass into the holes enough that you'll get some squeze out. Coat the dowels with glass and insert untill the untapered end is flush or slightly below the surface. Wipe off the squezed out glass. Wrap the wrist tightly with plastic electrical tape streching it tight as you put it on. Check that your dowels didn't move then stand it up in a corner(glue up) for 24 hrs. This is a perminant fix you'll never have to woory about again.

[gator64]

Dave
Thanks, but let me understand… 
The crack is along the vertical axis, from the top tang to the bottom and toward the butt.  It also broke the key on the stock on one side that indexes into the receiver, if that helps you visualize the damage.  Kinda like pulling a wishbone. 
I am a little confused how you are drilling the dowels into the stock.    Given an XYZ axis, the crack is vertical and Z is toward the butt.  Are they drilled from the finished part of the stock?
BTW – can slow curing epoxy be used in place of accuraglass, if it is heated slightly to thin it out?
Thanx again
Gator64 
(No, Gators 21 – Tennessee 20)

[Savage .250]

  If it`s possible to open(spread) the crack a tad .......Gorilla glue will work fine.
   The thin GG will run into the crack area handly. Then clamp it down to cure.
    Put something soft between clamp and stock but you already know that,
     right?

[dave375hh]

Gator,

If I understand you the crack is at the joint of the wishbone running up and down???Drill back through the crack so the epoxy and the dowel rod intersect the crack on both sides of it. You would be drilling from front to rear along the wrist from the inside. Is it cracked or actually broken off of the rest of the stock? How many pieces do you have?

[gunnut69]

I would strongly adivse against using the GorillaGlue. It foams to fill voids and this will in many snstances open the crack such that it is much more visible. I use the slow setting 5-ton epoxy sold under the Devcon label although brownells acraglass also is famtastic.. I would use the regular and not the gel acraglass and don't mix in anything. The thinness of the mixture allows it to penetrate to the end of the crack. In you situation I'd pry the crack open a bit(nails of various sizes with wedges fround into the pointy end) to allow the glue access. If the crack is too tight to open a small hole can be drilled from the inletting, following the crack to alloow the glue to be dripped into the hole. A pressureised air supply abd blow gun can then be used to force the glue in the hole out into the crack. If the crack is opened the air pressure will help in blowing the epoxy to the bottom of the crack. All finished surfaces must be completely protected with masking tape and slick finished paper to prevent the epoxy from damaging the finish. I clamp with surjical tubing rapped tightly to close the crack and minimize how much it shows, but the plastic electrical tape would also likely work.. It must be tight enough to completely force the crack closed. If the hole is not filled after clamping a bit more epoxy may be dripped into it to fill.. Remember the empoxy will likely have a few bubbles and these will float out and lower the level of the glue in the hole. A dowel can also be used but beware of a tight dowel forcing the crack open.. With a bit of luck a plenty of masking tape/slick paper(newsprint will leak thru) all the refinishing will be confined to the small area where the crack shows..

[Judson]

    I have had very good luck using the thin super glue sold by Rocklers.    This stuff has very high capilary action and sucks along the crack.    What I do is keep filling the crack untill it will take no more glue then clamp it with moderate pressure.    Wipe off what seeps out and you will have to do a bit of touch up sanding.    I have done this process many times and never had a failure.    If you have any questions feel free to call my shop at 207-938-3595

[wlmccann]

I go with Judsons suggestion. I have excellent results with Hot Stuff super glue. Always had trouble with getting epoxy to thin enough to get it all the way into the crack.

[gator64]

Hi Guys….
Thanks to all for the help.  Here’s the outcome…
Drilled along the crack and put a dowel in using 5-ton epoxy and clamped.  Seems to be working but time will tell. 
Note for future reference—having been in the RC Plane business for several years and building these days is almost completely done with epoxy and CA glues (Super Glue), one trick of the trade is to put the epoxy tubes under a desk lamp and WARM it some before mixing.  This will greatly reduce the viscosity but if warming is moderate, will not substantially affect the working time.  Also use a little air to drive the epoxy into the crack.
Thanks again for the help.
C ya
Gator64