Best Glue/ Epoxy for Repairing Enfield wood

[ssj]

for decades barrels and actions have been bedded by target shooters in good quality epoxy. If you are realy paranoid get a aluminium powder based one, and if an utter nutter, steel based...but i dont use that.

Information

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[Bruce_in_Oz]

The "stainless-steel" version of the Devcon epoxy range is superb for bedding jobs. The stuff is even used for repairing "oops" marks on milling-machine beds etc., (undercuts required, however) The aluminium powder variant is good for places that stay dry all of the time; it is not recommended for bedding hunting rifles.

As per Enfieldshooter's comment, there are several fibre-filled "2-part" adhesives used in boat-building. Back when I was working on fiberglass "pleasure-craft", we used a 2-part epoxy to bond the deck moulding to the hull moulding. The stuff was fairly slow to set and this allowed time to "tweak" the alignment of assemblies from 14 to 23ft long and apply a zillion sets of Vise-Grips to the gunwale flange where the glue was. The next part of the job was for two teams to start at the bow with enormous air-powered staple guns. These fired serious stainless-steel staples through the gunwale "flange" and held the two mouldings together. The stapled and glued flange was then trimmed with a diamond-loaded wheel to a standard width for the next stage; fitting the "bumper" rubber.

The protruding parts of the staple acted as anchors when the "bumper rubber" was subsequently "attached" (with MORE "glue") along the gunwale flange.

The usual caveats about CLEAN and DE-OILED surfaces apply with any adhesive.

[Flying10uk]

Peter, does the Aero spec wood glue that you mention normally come in 2 parts that have to be mixed together before use? If so how long do you normally have to use the mixed glue before it starts going hard.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I have had good luck with Tite-bond wood glue & good preliminary results with Loctite Go2 glue (like super glue but has flexability).

[Peter Laidler]

Nope....., white glue that turns colourless in a squeeze-top plastic container. It does have a use-by date that the aviation inspectors take note of but nothing that would affect a sensible Armourer patching up a Bren butt. Like it says on the tube, '....stronger than the wood itself' as I ;learned when I patched two new 'ears' onto a couple of old No1 rifle handguards. Glued and cramped for 28 hrs, ready to make good, pulled one ear to 'test' it and instead of pulling free, the handguard split elsewhere!

[ActionYobbo]

Nope....., white glue that turns colourless in a squeeze-top plastic container. It does have a use-by date that the aviation inspectors take note of but nothing that would affect a sensible Armourer patching up a Bren butt. Like it says on the tube, '....stronger than the wood itself' as I ;learned when I patched two new 'ears' onto a couple of old No1 rifle handguards. Glued and cramped for 28 hrs, ready to make good, pulled one ear to 'test' it and instead of pulling free, the handguard split elsewhere!

that sounds like the old PVA (polyvinyl acetate) glue. sold in the USA as "elmers glue all"

when some one mentions gorilla glue run away dont walk and dont look back

[Baal]

Tite-Bond. That's the brand name I couldn't think of earlier. Try it out.

[Flying10uk]

Yes I had a nasty experience with gorilla glue, a few years ago, and a broken toilet cistern.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The pressure-pack cans of carburetter cleaner from the local auto DIY places are also good for de-oiling cracks and splits before repairing. Just remember to use this stuff outside, away from naked flames. And leave the timber aside for a while, in the traditional warm, dry place (on top of the water heater is good) to completely eliminate traces of the solvent. Wedging the splits open with toothpicks or (used) matches helps things along.

As for the glue: Choose your poison, but Peter's advice on the aviation-rated stuff is very sound.

Once you have worked the glue into the required locations, you obviously need to clamp things firmly.

Instead of Heath-Robinson arrangements of carpenter's clamps, I use long strips of rubber from old bicycle inner tubes, Car-grade strips are good for the bigger jobs like household furniture, etc.

If you tension the rubber strip as you wind it around the work-piece, it is amazing how much compression is achievable. To avoid new damage or distortion, don't forget to add suitable dowels and blocks of scrap to barrel channels and magazine wells before starting compression.

There WILL be some adhesion of extruded glue binding the rubber strips to the timber, so some detailed "cleaning" of the joint will be required before final finishing and re-oiling. I usually use a seriously sharp 1" wide wood chisel to gently shave away any excess glue and attached bits of rubber. A small spokeshave may do as well, but, with a chisel, you can see exactly what is being cut at all times. Clamp the wooden bit up firmly in soft padded jaws in a vise and use BOTH hands on the chisel; less crying and bloodletting that way.

[WarPig1976]

There WILL be some adhesion of extruded glue binding the rubber strips to the timber,

Dust the rubber heavily with talcum powder it acts as a release agent. Talcum powder is also excellent for removing sand from your feet at the beach too.