Best stock epoxy?

[Keith Doty]

Has anyone tried the System Three T-88 Epoxy for repairs? I'm now finishing the repair/refurb on the fore end on my '54 A-5 light 12. They are very thin, finely made and mine had over the years developed several longitudinal cracks. After lots of reading, chose this product because of it's claims to do well on old wood with less than perfect prep being possible. It is 72 hours to final cure and has oozed all the way thru the cracks to the opposite side. As I was scared to really force the cracks open this is exactly what I had hoped for. Looks great now, time will tell.

[Dean Romig]

If not under pressure or of an expanding compound how does it “ooze all the way through the cracks”?





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[OH Osthaus]

never tried that

i have relied on Acraglas for stock work

[Keith Doty]

Dean, I applied a masking tape to the outside (checkered area), worked it into the checkering with my thumb hoping to control any that went thru (2 cracks you could actually see a tiny sliver of light thru after acetone cleaning). Applied the epoxy to the inside of fore end and used a popcicle stick to spread, and an orangewood cuticle stick and a finger tip to force it into the cracks. As this stuff cures so slowly you had 30+ minutes to fool with it. I placed a couple of rubber bands on it when epoxy finally started to gel. I ended up with cracks filled all the way thru and the tape kept the over penetration to a bare minimum

[B. Dudley]

The issue with breaks like that is reinforcing them so that they dont break again.

[Keith Doty]

I was tempted to place a piece of thin fiberglass material in the epoxy inside the piece but was scared of the clearance to the recoil spring. I don't know how tight it is and sure didn't want to have to sand the glass out!

[Bob Jurewicz]

Many of the Reminton 1100s have a thin patch of fiberglass cloth epoxyed at the inside receiver end of the forend. It works. I would add some blue painters tape to the area to see what clearance you have.
Bob Jurewicz

[Cameron Thraen]

I have used carbon fiber with good results where clearance is an issue. CF can be as thin as 1/64 and is incredibly strong. Bonds very well with Acraglas and West Systems epoxy.