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Posted By: Bill Graham Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/10/17 03:47 AM
I have two original buttplate that are broken in two. The breaks are very clean, no missing splinters. One is from a 1900, and the other a early Grade 2 Elsie. Preference is to repair and use, rather than find and fit replicas. What adhesive works well for this kind of repair?
Posted By: mark Re: Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/10/17 12:33 PM
I use Acra-glass liquid with black dye. I also like to add some sort of reinforcement if I can.
Posted By: Bill Graham Re: Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/10/17 01:14 PM
Thanks. If the pieces were pressed well together, there would only be the finest of cracks visible: hairline.

I was thing about some sort biscuit embedded on the backside.
Posted By: 67galaxie Re: Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/10/17 05:43 PM
There is a video by midwayusa which is just amazing on fixing an old but plate
Posted By: damascus Re: Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/19/17 09:40 AM
I thought you would have more input with regards to this problem. When I did do stock re-finishing and repairs the broken but plate seemed to come up with regular monotony.
My method for repair I found worked on the three types of but plates I found in common use Horn, Plastic, and Vulcanised Rubber.
The one piece of equipment I found indispensable for this repair is a “Dremel” though I would never pay what I think is an exorbitant price for one so I use cheaper copies, with the logic being I can purchase three cheaper ones and destroy them slowly for the price of one Dremel. But let’s not get bogged down on that!
In the packs of miniature accessories, you will find glass mat construction cut off wheels, they do vary a little but the average thickness is about a millimetre. Using one of these wheels I cut a channel along the broken edges trying to keep to the centre covering about three quarters of the break length as deep as practicable, but do not go to an exposed edge. The repair consists of a length of steel strip epoxied in to this channel on each side of the break, if alignment is a problem open one of the channels to allow a little wriggle room. align the plate back by placing it on a flat surface for gluing using an Epoxy Resin Adhesive I Also put a thin polythene bag between the flat surface and the plate to stop the obvious, this type of repair is invisible when done correctly.
Another method is to grind away a recess either side of the break on the back of the plate deep enough to embed a metal splint in Epoxy covering the break. This method is a lot quicker but not as stable as the first method, sometimes the crack can open and show but the plate still stays together.
My source of thin metal for using as splints is Automobile Engine feeler gauges because on this side of the pond they are very cheap and you do get a lot if varying thickness splints for your money.
Posted By: Kutter Re: Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/19/17 12:07 PM
When I glue them back together, I do them right on the stock using the screws to line the pieces up and the wood surface to do the same. Even flat faced plates are not always the perfect flat that a smooth table top gluing surface will provide. Small irregularities on the back of the plate especially the hard rubber ones fit the wood surface perfectly. Something you loose when gluing back together off the stock.
Curved plates,,there's no better way than to use the orig stock contour.

I do use a single layer of Handi-Wrap plastic over the wood/under the plate in the glued area to avoid it sticking to the wood. It pulls right off the repair afterwards.
MAke sure the stuff is pulled tight w/ no wrinkles in it when you place the plate down or the imperfections may show at the edges however slight.

Sometimes I use super glue to repair. It works well but is not a gap filler for missing pieces.
Any tiny hairline fractures after the initial repair is done can be further filled however by carefull application of a few drops of the stuff and quickly sanding the area.
The sanding dust from the base matl fill the voids along with the glue and hardens almost immedietly.
Use black wet-or-dry paper for the sanding the black hard rubber plates, Most anything else will leave different colored specks in the dust from the grit paper.

I use epoxy dyed black for heavier repairs and missing pieces.
I've never done the repair inserting a small reinforcement in the break as described. But I will do that next time. A good solid repair technique.

Horn plates I almost strictly repair with a super glue. The natural material bonds extremely well with it,,just like your skin and fingernails.
The delaminations along the edges of many of the horn plates I simply douse with the glue and it weeps and draws deep into the layers of material bonding and reinforcing them.
Cracks the same. You can further cover any hairline cracks as above.
Larger missing repair pieces can be made from epoxy, coloring as needed and mixing or swirling a lighter or darker color thru it before it sets to match the surrounding material.
Horn usually gives you a chance to match up pretty well as it usually has some color variance in it to play off of unlike the hard rubber plates.
Posted By: damascus Re: Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/19/17 01:35 PM
I am sorry Kutter I don't understand on this side of the pond a flat surface plate in made from grey cast Iron scraped flat and costs rather a large chunk of money. They come with a certificate stating the errors usually in microns. Are we talking about the same thing?
Posted By: Kutter Re: Buttplate repair adhesive - 09/19/17 04:10 PM
By 'flat faced plate' I meant the flat faced butt plate.

When reassembling them by gluing the pieces back together, most people I've run in to seem to use a flat surface like a table top to lay the pieces down onto and push them together with the epoxy in the seams. Kind of like gluing pieces of a jig saw puzzle together.

Instead, I use the original butt of the stock to lay the pieces on and glue together that's all.
The screws help line things up and the old stock surface mates perfectly with the plate pieces.

My descriptions are less than stellar, more than wordy most of the time!
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