antique stock fix

[Denny303]

Guys, this trapdoor stock has a small crack visable in the photo, from what I have read, use epoxy, heat it a lil so it flows into crack and clamp. ok. my question is once I do that I thought maybe a light coat over the rest of the receiver and tang area to give it some extra strength. im talking light coat to soak in. I don't want to remove any wood really to allow for the coat unless that's the best action. I want to preserve the originality of the stock, and at the same time I would like to stop any future cracks from shooting. thoughts? thanks...denny
190633

[gnoahhh]

As oil soaked as that crack looks, you would be wasting your time infusing the crack with epoxy- it won't adhere worth a darn. You would have to excavate the crack to expose fresh wood to the glue. I would inlet and glue in a couple little straps of wood to bisect the crack in a couple places. Or (thinking out loud), cut shallow mortises across the crack and fill them with epoxy to act as straps? Drill a shallow hole at the very end of the crack and fill it with epoxy to keep it from extending in future.

As for coating the interior surfaces with epoxy, I don't think it's going to buy you the added strength you're looking to achieve.

[Denny303]

yea, and the crack I sanded lightly, and scrubbed with denatured alcohol to get it as clean as it is now.

[Mk42gunner]

I had an 1899 Krag carbine stock that was black with old soaked in oil like that. I cleaned most of it one summer afternoon by scrubbing the blackened areas with acetone and a green weenie, aka scotchbrite pad. I couldn't tell that it removed any wood, just the oil.

For any repair to work, the oil has to come out.

Robert

[texasnative46]

Denny303,

You could try what I used to do to "degrease" old Mauser military stocks: Place the stock in a BLACK plastic trash bag & surround the stock with kitty litter. Seal the bag. - The place the bag in a hot place (like the trunk of a car) on a hot Sunny day. The combination of heat & the absorbency of the kitty litter will "de-oil" the stock quite well.
Then you can repair the stock with epoxy "peanut butter".

Alternatively, you can run the stock through a BIG/commercial size dishwasher & then slowly dry-out the degreased stock.
(Applying artificial heat to the wet stock may well crack it.)

yours, tex

[country gent]

Does the crack go thru the stock or a surface crack.? If you can get the oil out using epoxy to fill the crack will work You can help work the warmed epoxy into the crack with a rubber tipped blow gun sealing the end against the stock over the crack and forcing the epoxy in with air pressure. I might even consider cutting a light V down the length of the crack to add surface area and help work epoxy in. As above a couple "cross bars" of wood or small dia brass rods would help also.

[waksupi]

Where the crack is, it is only over the mainspring portion of the lock, and adds no real strength to the wood. I wouldn't worry about that. I would be more concerned if the crack extends backwards from the end of the breech, into the grip area. Does the rear of the split end in the lock mortise? If so, I'd just leave it alone.

[John Allen]

I think you will be ok with the crack. I have a couple like this. The only thing I have done for the worse ones is with a v chisel cleaned out the crack well and widening it and then fill with epoxy. I do not recommend covering the whole area with epoxy it does not seem like much but you will probably not be able to get the barrel to fit back in right.

[Bent Ramrod]

I'd soak the cracked end in acetone for a day or two. It might take off the surface finish, but that's the breaks.

There used to be this stain lifter stuff that came in a tube, that was silica gel soaked in solvent. The solvent carried the stain out, and the silica gel absorbed it. This might work, if you can find some. It may have gone out of fashion as I think it was for cleaning your Blue Suede Shoes back when.

I mix the two part epoxy as usual, and thin it with a few drops of Lectra-Motive Electrical Parts Cleaner from NAPA. I then pick up the solution in an eye dropper and apply to the crack and the surrounding wood, wrap with waxed paper and wrap tightly with rubber bands or clamp in some method that will close the crack.

If the thinning is done right, the epoxy will soak into the wood, penetrate to the end of the crack and still set up and cure, although the solvent will have to evaporate before this happens. I leave the setup clamped overnight, at minimum.

Lecture-Motive is about the only chlorinated solvent left on the market, as far as I can tell. This technique will not work with acetone or alcohol solvents, as they react with the epoxy, or the water in them reacts with the epoxy.

[pietro]

.

For a more invisible repair, I've found it best to drill a few holes in the stock's wood an unseen area (under the buttplate or in the inletting) to make some sawdust to mix in with the epoxy.

Using the stock's sawdust seems to blend better than using sawdust from some other piece of wood, walnut or not.

.

[gnoahhh]

Thinning epoxy with solvents and heating it artificially are two good ways to diminish its bonding strength. For a superficial crack it's no big deal, but not recommended for structural strength.

[Denny303]

the stock is nowhere as oil soaked as it may seem, but it does have some on the surface. Waksupi, yes the crack is above the very thin area of the mainspring mortise/barrel channel and appears to stop going rearward there, and I believe when the seller removed the lock, that's what cracked it as its fresh.

[waksupi]

the stock is nowhere as oil soaked as it may seem, but it does have some on the surface. Waksupi, yes the crack is above the very thin area of the mainspring mortise/barrel channel and appears to stop going rearward there, and I believe when the seller removed the lock, that's what cracked it as its fresh.

I would just treat it like a sore pecker then, and not screw with it.

[pietro]

I would just treat it like a sore pecker then, and not screw with it.


I like the way you think, waksupi ! :D

.

[akajun]

Put the stock in the oven at 150 for a few days till it stops drippings oil or make a hot box with a lightbulb and do the same. Then epoxy it and put wax paper over the crack on the outside of the stock and wrap it tightly and completely with string
upon removall you should barely see the crack

[22cf45]

If you get the crack super glued up satisfactorily, you need to determine what caused the crack in the first place and correct the inletting or it will probably do it again.
Phil

[RG1911]

Cyanoacrylate glues are known for working even through oil. After removing the oil from a carbine stock so I could glue on and shape a piece of walnut, epoxy still wouldn't hold. A couple drops of CA glue, that I use for building my radio control planes, are still holding well in the area of the recoil plate.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCX43&P=7

Note that CA requires moisture to cure correctly. You may need to get some accelerator (usually called kicker).

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXNXS4&P=7

If you use CA, you should still keep the crack clamped closed for 24 hours for maximum strength.

If the crack won't close completely, get one of the gap-filling versions, such as medium or thick.

There is a difference between the super glue you can find at K-mart and the purer hobby versions.

Cheers,
Richard

[John 242]

I would just treat it like a sore pecker then, and not screw with it.

This really did make me laugh out loud. Awesome!

I'm going to borrow this.

[ammohead]

I would just treat it like a sore pecker then, and not screw with it.

Ah yes, you do have a way with words Ric.

[waksupi]

Ah yes, you do have a way with words Ric.


It's a gift.

[David2011]

Just another opinion here. Degrease it with any or all of the methods above except the oven. Another option is K2R spot lifter. It does a great job removing oil from stocks. An oven is too dry (humidity) imo. CA/superglue is very brittle and imo not a good choice based on 40 years of gun work and over 50 years building flying model airplanes. A very thin epoxy like WEST or Z Poxy finishing resin will seep and migrate much better than craft store epoxies. Z Poxy is a 30 minute cure and WEST can be 8 hour or longer cure. I agree that thinning with solvents will weaken epoxies but either of these can be heated in a water bath to 120-130 degrees F to reduce viscosity without damage. The cure times will not be affected much but pot life will be greatly reduced. That's because once it goes into a thin film it assumes the temperature of the surrounding material. I also concur that the cause for the cracking should be determined to prevent it recurring.