I have a wooden bending branches paddle that has a small crack down the center between two of the pieces of wood. I am hoping someone has a good way to repair this without compromising the strength. Any help would be great.
I’m thinking you can glue it back …
– Last Updated: May-20-09 10:07 PM EST –
.... together . Use 2 part epoxy for the glue .
For just one crack fix , you can get the dbl. tube sirenge stuff right at your local store ... it's good stuff , I use it for oak railings and stuff like that in customers homes .
the following is assuming the crack goes all the way to the blade tip :
If you can take a wedge , like a cedar shim and spread the crack just enough to get the epoxy in there , (but not so much as to split the blade in half , lol) ... then just pull the shim and alingn the blade surfaces again , lightly clamp with a clamp or some tape around until set (if you use 5 min. epoxy you can easily hold it in place with your hands until set) ... don't forget to wipe away the excess that squeezes out of the mended crack , you can use viniger or acetone for that as long as you get on it right away before it sets up .
It would help if you lived next door to
me, because I have West 105/205 epoxy, which is much thinner than what you can buy in the hardware store. I also have syringes left from my research days. West epoxy is thin enough that it will flow through a syringe needle, though reluctantly. You can push the needle into the crack and be sure of getting the epoxy deep into the crack.
This can also be done with the plastic needle of a dental syringe, but because the plastic needle won’t go into the crack, it is usually necessary to drill a small, shallow hole into the crack, just big enough to accomodate the plastic needle. It is then easy to pump epoxy into the crack.
Some Related Ideas
That’s good advice. For wedging the crack apart, a knife blade worked into the outer end of the crack, or an awl wedged into a drilled-hole near the outboard end of the crack will work better than a cedar shim. Also, a hole drilled at the base of the crack will often do a good job of preventing the crack from lengthening while it is being stressed in this way.
Another option is to open the crack in “shear” instead of in tension, or even in addition to tension, to expose a bit of interior wood within the crack on both sides of the paddle blade rather than by widening the crack.
I will try the epoxy
I think i will try to put the epoxy on first and then work a piece of dental floss back and forth in the crack to get the epoxy inside. Thanks for the help
syringes
Those of us without easy access to medical syringes can buy “wallpaper paste syringes” at some paint/wallpaper stores. Has a metal tip that works better than the plastic tip syringes sold in box stores.
At the narrow end of the crack, there will be some remaining crack that is too tight to get epoxy into. I use super glue in this remaining portion of the crack.
Dave
Good advice on thin epoxy
If you end up with Devcon-type double syringe epoxy, DO NOT buy the gel type or any that is labeled “thick”. You need for it to flow into the delamination.
Jim