doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Small split repair?

As always I turn here for top notch advice. I am restoring a 1906 Ithaca Lewis and in the process of refinishing the wood. The only defect is a very slight split/crack in the forend wood as visible by the gold line in the photo. At this point this split is not very deep into the grain. Now what is the fraternities best advice on sealing up this split to keep it stable and not getting progressively deeper?

The wood does not appear to be oil soaked. So if that is the case and the crack can be clamped to close it, I would choose Titebond II or Titebond III. I would also use compressed air to blow some glue as deep into the crack as possible... which is going to blow excess glue everywhere, so it should be done outside. Then pull the crack closed with the correct force. That means neither too loose, which results in a weak glue joint. Or too tight, which creates excess squeeze out, and results in a glue joint that is also weak due to starvation, i.e., insufficient glue left to produce a good bond. Proper clamping with wood glues is at least as important as the choice of glue. Wood glue may fill a crack, but is simply not a strong filler. For this particular repair, I would use rubber tubing or strips of old inner tube to pull the crack closed. The best wood glue on Earth will not produce a strong bond without good prep and technique. I have intentionally broken planed and well fitting black walnut samples glued with Titebond II, and found that if done correctly, the glue joint is at least as strong as my walnut samples. That's good enough for me. And it also provides a crack or split repair that is less visible than other adhesives such as epoxy.

Simply filling a crack with Titebond II will not produce a strong repair if the cracked wood surfaces cannot be pulled together. In that event, I would use a good clear epoxy to fill the crack. Epoxy is the best choice for filling a large open crack or void, but the repair will stick out like a sore thumb. I would also warm up the mixed epoxy to lower the viscosity in order to get it to seep down into the crack. Then remove the excess with alcohol or acetone, and let it cure completely before use. That should keep the crack from opening back up or getting any worse. And fortunately, the repair will be under the forend iron, so it will not be visible. In my opinion, the absolute best wood repairs on a gun should be both strong, and virtually invisible.

This type of repair if done properly has a very good chance of never repeating. Firstly you must stop the split from progressing, to this end you should drill a very small hole the depth of the crack at the point where it has stopped so that is at the end of the crack heading further into the centre of fore end wood. I use a 1mm drill for the hole (any imperial drill close to this will be fine) this will stop the crack going any further. I have always used Epoxey slow setting adhesive rot this type of repair because it gives you plenty of time to get the adhesive into all of the places required it also gives you plenty of time for clean up and adjustment. For the crack heading for the knuckle joint end of the wood use dental floss to pull the adhesive into and through the crack, to get the adhesive into the crack on the other side of the hole my favourite too for this is an artist's pallet knife because they are extremely thin and flexible at the end so ideal for pushing glue into cracks also the finest gauges from an auto engine feeler gauge set works well for this. Finally try to close up the crack if you can by using strips of bicycle tyre innertube as a compression clamp so not marking the wood.

Hope things go well for you.
Ernie

Along with repairing the split, I'd check to see what may be causing it.
A good repair w/o finding an obvious cause can leave you with a identicle split right next to the solid repair.

The wood screw being tapered is good culprit being tighten and spliting the wood near the end of the piece.
But often it's the fit of the inlet areas for the bbls at the rear areas that are somewhat tight.
When the forend is pushed into place , there's not enough room for the bbls to lay down just snug into the inlets for them in the wood. So the wood gets pried apart for lack of a better term. Both edges bend down and away causing the center to sometimes crack. The screw hole being right there helps the process develope.

It may be that someone has already seen that and has trimmed the inletting a little. It does look like some scraper marks there.
Blacked the bbls and remount the fore-end as a complete assembly on the bbl'ed action and carefully watch as it swings closed and locks into position. See if it seems to fit a bit too tight right up at the recv'r end.
Then take it off and check for what appears as blacked areas of contact that are slightly burnished indicating more pressure between the bbls and wood than necessary.


In addition the Damascus excellent repair method, I sometimes place a 'staple' or Dumbell across the cracked area. Here it would be on the rear face of the forend wood and buried in strong epoxy.
You have to dig a hole/trench out for the metal fixture, a chisel/chisels can do it but the old friend the Dremel makes quick work of it especially with small dental burrs.
The Staple can be nothing more than a finishing nail cut to length with each end bent 90* for a leg. Each leg then adds holding power to the set up to keep the wood assembly from further splitting when burried in the epoxy.
A Dumbell is the same idea but is any small machine screw with a nut screwed onto the end. Clip the excess threads off so it fits in the cavern you have carved out.
The head and nut on the screw provide the 'legs' as on the Staple.

Once the epoxy is set, trim it flush. The forend iron when remounted won't even show.
The same idea can be used on the top surface, but then the efforts will show on each side of the F/E iron tang.
I use this on the head of stocks quite frequently to prevent or better fix cracks.
It's an old idea.

As always, excellent advice. Your comments and suggestions provide direction as I repair this piece prior to a new wood finish. I will post a photo when the repair is complete. Thanks.