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.
You should always clamp the crack closed when drilling to keep small particles of wood from getting into the crack.
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.
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.
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.
Now it’s time to dress it up.
Almost done.
A little Tru-Oil and the job is done.