I have a small crack starting to form opposite the cheek piece on my stock. the finish is oiled and 25 years old or so. I can feel it with my finger and barely see it. Should I be 'fixing it' or can I catch this by oiling it up? The crack is horizontal and almost follows the grain. Thanks

Woody,
The oiled finish will make this easy...Clean the area with Acetone or Lacquer Thinner to thoroughtly clean the area. Let dry overnight. Using Acraglas, regular, not the gel, warm the wood with hair dryer or over a heat vent to just over body temp. Mix the Acraglas and work into the crack with a small spatula, like tuck-pointing brickwork. Heat with hair dryer keeping stock with crack topside. This will thin the Acraglas making it wick into the crack. Wipe off excess with vinegar and set aside to dry a day or two. Wet sand with oil finish over the crack. Reapply Acraglas if necessary after sanding. You might at well re-oil the whole stock while at it.

That is good advice you received for repairing that crack, but if your stock has some figure, I am betting it is a season check. The aforementioned repair is a good one, but if the crack is a check and not a stressed crack, it will more or less disappear with some oil rubbed in.

Why do people insist on using Acraglas for adhesive purposes ?.

This is a small crack more than likely a weathering check rather than a structural failure .

Simply go too your local home store and purchase a clear Super glue or wood adhesive Polyurethane


any or all of these will be far more adequate than Acraglas epoxy which is formulated for a

" Bedding Compound " application .


Use this stuff . http://www.drillspot.com/produ...ebond_1413_Wood_Glue

Besides who wants to refinish a stock for a hairline wood check , it may even close upon oiling !.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc224/375:
Why do people insist on using Acraglas for adhesive purposes ?.

This is a small crack more than likely a weathering check rather than a structural failure .

Maybe it is used because it works and is available without a trip to get someting else. Although it is sold as a bedding compound, it bested several of the two part epoxy products and the cyanoacrylics in the adhesion tests done by the knife makers. They tested several of the "glues" used to adhere wood or micarta to steel. It is used to hold the "scales" or handles on the blades.

It certainly is not the only product used for purposes other than what it is sold for.

If you don't believe it has good adhesion properties, bed a rifle without release agent and try to get the action out sometime.

Roger

RogerR ; I more than most anyone else am all to familiar with adhesives epoxies !.

I venture to say that Acraglas is not something most people would have on hand .

Unless they were Gunsmiths in which case I surly doubt they would be asking an opinion on how to fix

a slight stock check or crack .

I speak from vast experiences of which I could never expect others to understand ,in relating too

adhesives which a broad spectrum . I simply have formulated them for near 36 years now .

Using a 458 Lott to shoot a gopher is a little overboard when a 22 short or even a pellet gun will

suffice . I was simply trying to convey the message that there are other products better suited

for his particular propose and he could avoid having to refinish the Stock altogether .

here is another product which is also over kill for what he described .

http://www.ellsworth.com/displ...tid=936&Tab=Products

The Idea when mating wood fibers is to saturate and fortify cellular wall structure .Heavy bodied

epoxy's are not well suited for this application , As they tend to be surface reactive in nature .


The porosity and the available surface area of a lignocellulosic fiber can influence the accessibility and reactivity in derivatization and modification reactions because the porous cell-wall network determines the upper size limit for molecules that can penetrate and react with the interior of the wall. To obtain information concerning the accessibility of the porous cell wall of wood fibers, surfactant-templated sol−gel mineralization has been examined. Wood and kraft pulp samples of Norway spruce were impregnated with a silica sol−gel and subsequently heated (calcined) and transformed into structured mesoporous silica. Microscopy studies (environmental scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microsopy, TEM) on the silica casts showed that the three-dimensional architecture of the wood and pulp fiber cell wall was revealed down to the nanometer level. Image analysis of TEM micrographs of silica fragments from the never-dried pulp revealed complete infiltration of the cell-wall voids and microcavities (mean pore width 4.7 ± 2 nm) by the sol−gel and the presence of cellulose fibrils with a width of 3.6 ± 1 nm. Cellulose fibrils of the same width as that shown by image analysis were also identified by nitrogen adsorption measurements of the pore size distribution in the replicas.

From a paper submitted for the ACS . I didn't want to get technical and everyone is entitled

to his or her opinions .

So after reading these replies, I think I should oil the stock because it hasn't seen any for 25 years and then if that doesn't work get some super glue. This crack or check is so small I want to get it now before its a major hassle. I tried to get a picture of it and it won't show up but you can see and feel it.
If oil will work what is the best oil as I am new to this. ( stock care )

There are several oils which work very well Tung Oil is what I feel is the best or a modified Tung Polymer

oil also works very well . ( Most Teak oil or Danish wood oils contain these as do

Hardwood floor oil finishes ) Gun Stock makers I've had the pleasure conversing with recommend

http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/...tegoryID=5&subcat=11

Tru Oil and it's an Excellent choice . Some prefer Linseed , I don't but it's a personal thing as I know


it's inferior as far as Wood Oils go . Unless mixed with other ingredients to manufacture

Modified Urethane oil finishes . It's just my opinion .