Need help fixing huge hairline crack in stock

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john fisher

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I recently discovered that the rifle that I bought has two cracks in the stock that I did not notice until after I purchased it. They are both very thin but one is really long and the other is smaller. I'd like to try and repair it on my own so that I won't have to spend a lot of money having a gunsmith do it. The cracks are very thin and are difficult to see in the pictures.
 

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Everyone is going to tell you to use Brownell's AcraGlas. Well, they're not wrong, but I've fixed cracks like that with Titebond wood glue. Works great, costs much less. Use a thin knife blade to spread the crack apart as much as you dare. Put down a flat piece of transparent packing tape. Slice through the tape over the opened crack. Put down another piece of tape, sealing the edges only so that you build a sort of tunnel over the crack. Squirt glue into the open end of the tunnel, forming a blister of Titebond. With your hands/thumbs/whatever, push glue into the crack while with your third hand you are pinching the tunnel shut. Clamp overnight.
 
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For that crack I,d wick a good CA glue into it. Get as much of the crack from the inside then go carefully along the outside wiping off what doesn't go in. If your careful you won't notice it or it may just look like a grain line. I've fixed quite a few cracks like that, The worst was on a M48 Yugo 8x57 Mauser. Side of the stock was cracked from the top edge at the front receiver ring 45 degrees back to the back of where the mag well is. Smooth crack but right through. I used Zap A Gap CA glue. Gave it several coats letting it cure a day between. Looks like a thick grain line and has held up under surplus 8x57 ammo. Much was the hot Turk ammo. Probably 500 rounds or so. Still solid. Hot Stuff is another good glue. If it cracks more and starts to open up then you could use a thicker glue but I'd bet the CA will work fine. jmho.
 
I'd go with what Scooter22 said. Especially if the crack is not too loaded with oil, which it doesn't look like. Plus, when buying a CA adhesive, one can buy a "primer" or accelerant (applied afterward) to make sure that the stuff cures deep down. Both available at local hobby shops.
Titebond just does not seep deep down.
 
Titebond will not flow as easily as cyanoacrylate, hence the blister trick to enable working it in deep. Blowing it in with pressurized air can also work, depending on the situation. I've done both successfully. The join is stronger than the surrounding wood, and cleanup is super easy-- a damp sponge.
 
I should have added I like the idea of using the clear packing tape as a mask and bladder for the wood glue. I'll try that if I get something with a thicker crack or break. I'm a sucker for fixer uppers.
 
I avoid wood glues. The reason is that glue sticks great to wood, but does not hold to itself very good. So if there is any space that the glue has to fill, it will be a weak point in the repair.
Another reason is that most glues are not impervious to oils and solvents. We put oil and solvent on guns and they tend to get into the stock. Once the make contact with the glue, they start to break down the glue.

Here’s the trouble with just injecting glue into a crack. Most often this is done from where the crack starts. The problem is that you will never be able to get the glue all the way to the end of the crack. I have seen many cracks continue running after glue was injected into them.

I have found that many will take the easiest way to make a repair, hoping that it will hold. But if done correctly, it doesn’t take that much more work and the repair will last a lifetime.

Here is a simple crack. Pay no attention to the piece of wood missing from the inside.
To fix the crack you will need to get to the bottom of it. This is done by drilling a hole into the crack.
3FF75715-FF98-4544-929B-AAD8B17D2912.jpeg

You should always clamp the crack closed when drilling to keep small particles of wood from getting into the crack.
504D36AA-40DF-48AA-9C29-DEBA19572E47.jpeg

You will need to drill just pass the depth of the crack so that you will prevent the crack from running after the repair is done.
97ED66EA-25BF-4929-8A46-0A667ED5A2A3.jpeg 74491F3F-10D7-4AFE-B7E9-E0B45A21D583.jpeg


Make a dowel to fit the hole. You want a loose fit. Here I used a bamboo skewer and trimmed it to fit.
For added strength you can use fiberglass thread ( pulled from your fiberglass cloth) to wrap the dowel.
Acraglas is about the best epoxy resin for repairing stocks, but you can use Devcon Two Ton clear epoxy with the 30 minute set time.
Mix your epoxy and work it into the crack. If you are able to flex the crack to help work it in, all the better.
Then insert the dowel and clamp it up tight.
B7B24A83-9B46-48E0-8083-5616182FAFC7.jpeg

I like to use wax paper to keep the epoxy from sticking to the clamp.
The two pieces of wood in this picture are for different reasons. The one on the left is being used to help distribute the pressure from the clamp and the one on the right is to replace the wood that is missing, pay it no attention.
8C4FCB7F-C4BA-47E2-8957-57D159642762.jpeg B7731B30-BDF1-41FB-8797-A50D63F648CC.jpeg

Now it’s time to dress it up.
6375E2F2-0237-4436-A6BB-AE0491669A1F.jpeg

Almost done.
717DA68F-C990-4833-9AEA-9FA8BCAC3A5A.jpeg

A little Tru-Oil and the job is done.
D591B889-09CF-4B67-8326-410EF5F7CFC1.jpeg
 
I was hoping you would chime in Gunny, as always truly remarkable work.
Thanks for the comp.
My hands are not as steady as they once were and I have to wear glasses to see up close. The joys of getting older.
I just wish my kids would have picked up my passion for stock work. But if I am able to pass on some of what I know to others that will make me happy.
 
GunnyUSMC: I admire your stock repair threads. Learn something every time. Hopefully I want need to use it.

As far as growing old, I can relate to that but it beats the other option. My eye site, aka cataracts, are/have giving me fits and they are not what they consider bad yet. I'm still pretty steady as long as I have something to help stabilize me when doing fine work, setting down. With nerve damage running down my legs I'm no where as stable as I use to be.
 
a good CA glue
^^^^^^ THIS "SuperThin" ^^^^^^^
Found at Hobby Stores,not your local Home Depot

Spread crack only slightly.
Run glue nozzle in contact along length of crack, and release.
It will have 'wick'ed in completely -- no repeat required

Walk away.....













'
 
^^^^^^ THIS "SuperThin" ^^^^^^^
Found at Hobby Stores,not your local Home Depot

Spread crack only slightly.
Run glue nozzle in contact along length of crack, and release.
It will have 'wick'ed in completely -- no repeat required

Walk away.....


'
But how long will it hold?
Stocks crack for many reasons. One reason is stress in the wood. A lot of the time as wood ages it will develop stress. It you don’t stop it or secure it good enough, it will eventually start to crack again.
One of the reasons for drilling and doweling it to get a stronger bond. Instead of just holding two sides, you get a 360 degree bond.
I started doing stock repair in 1988 and have repaired more stocks then I can count. In all those years I have never had to redo one of my repairs.
 
But how long will it hold?
For that type of tight/fine crack,SuperThin Cyano-Cement wicks entirely into the total inside-crack surface area. The bond is permanent, waterproof, and stronger than the wood itself.
And while that crack may have been result of stress/relief, the new bond is in the relieved position.

If you want to cross-dowel it, fine.
But likely unnecessary for the next quarter century ...
( or so )....:)
 
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For that type of tight/fine crack,SuperThin Cyano-Cement wicks entirely into the total inside-crack surface area. The bond is permanent, waterproof, and stronger than the wood itself.
And while that crack may have been result of stress/relief, the new bond is in the relieved position.

If you want to cross-dowel it, fine.
But likely unnecessary for the next quarter century ...
( or so )....:)
So what repairs have you seen or done with this glue that has stood the test of time?
One of the problems with gun stock repairs is the ability to hold up to the high impact of recoil. There are a lot of glues that are thin and are able to wick deep into cracks, but are to brittle when it comes to recoil.
You mentioned cross doweling? I did not mention cross doweling.
 
(multiple) 12-ft RC sailplane main wing spars/rudders/fuselages -- which if you've ever seen a winch launch, you're looking at unbelievable/repeated stress -- which starting back almost 30 years ago gave me the idea for later:
- One Marlin `95 45-70
- One FN-49 8mm
- Two Model-12s from 1925/1937

This technique is particularly applicable to long/thin cracks where the wicking ability of super-thin cryo to completely suck all the way into the internal crack surfaces is instantaneous. Things have broken again, but never the glued joint.
As far
 
It appears that you have had good luck and that glue may work good for thin cracks.
I do understand that RC plains do go under a lot of stress, but the wood is totally different. If you were to use the same wood to build stocks, they would not hold up to the recoil of firearms.
But when someone is paying to have a repair done, I don’t want to have to worry about having to redo the repair for free because it didn’t hold up over time. And I have found that most crack repairs will not last with just glue injected into them.
Here’s a cracked handguard for a VZ24 that needed a little love.
741B2D0F-B274-495D-B9C1-03AF54178002.jpeg A3C0E7CD-C24C-4337-AF42-9D2CE0BD0A96.jpeg B503E018-E9EF-4C85-B126-58B15DEF4F08.jpeg 5D7706DE-EDB3-44B3-A8C7-8235208EC96B.jpeg E05EAE99-BA4C-4CBE-9C07-CBDA9AE235F0.jpeg 89464973-9758-4C60-90A4-D548BFF45832.jpeg 47BFD051-6291-4495-A74D-65E51D162DA7.jpeg
 
Seems the method of repair depends on the SEVERITY of the "crack" or Lack thereof.??
The crack shown by the OP certainly does not need drilling, dowels or major woodwork.
 
Seems the method of repair depends on the SEVERITY of the "crack" or Lack thereof.??
The crack shown by the OP certainly does not need drilling, dowels or major woodwork.
The crack in the OP’s stock is not as simple as it looks. It is long and goes across one side of the stock bolt hole. If the crack has made it past the point where the hole for the stock bolt ends it can keep running through the wrist and across to the other side of the stock.
The hardest repairs I have done over the years are the ones that I had to remove the glue from the repairs that someone else made that didn’t hold.
 
I would use epoxy, as Gunny described. His process is rock solid for strength and durability in a wooden stock repair.

Cyanoacrylate, while great for many applications, is itself brittle. I would not use it for this type of wood application.
 
I have repaired a lot of stocks over the years. I have used nothing but AcraGlas and my methods are very much like Gunny's. I have not had a repair fail and be returned either. So rather than me going thru the process I will just do a + 1 on his posts.
 
It's one thing to repair the obvious crack, or split, but after that's done, follow the advice above and **REPAIR** the area that caused the crack initially. These days there are some really SUPER two part epoxies that will fix some gosh-awful splits and cracks in wood stocks. While I haven't tried any vacuum processes, I have used injectors to power feed epoxy into cracks and splits when spread slightly. Seems to work very well.
That handguard posted above looks like it didn't receive the best of inletting when first fit, and being thin as it is, was destined to crack. End fix looks perfect to me.
 
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