Repair Suggestions?

[elkhorne]

All,
I have taken the barrel out of the stock this weekend and spent a lot of time analyzing the cracks, yes there are at least two cracks as I will show in a photo. there is a relatively small broken piece under the bolster that will repair easily and I have already practiced clamping. Then there is the matter of the crack that first showed in my first photo posts on here. Well that crack is much more extensive than originally thought as a photo I will post will show. It affects the area of the upper lock panel, goes the lock side along the breechplug tang and exits into the first seen crack behind the breech into the tail of the lock panel. I will use several of the glueing techniques mentioned on here and especially using a small straw to lightly blow the glue into the crack like bluenoser suggested.
I made another interesting discovery when studying the lock inlet. There is compressed wood from the sear spring pushing up into the top of the inlet due to the pressure of the sear pushing up from the trigger shoe. I believe when I file a little off the top of the trigger shoe, that will free the pressure on the upper edges of the lock inlet. I believe this pressure over time is most likely the cause of the large crack.
Anyway, I will get the basic glue up done and then may use the technique that xx54 suggested with the small drilled holes and injecting Acraglas into them for added strength. I will gladly post photos when repairs are completed. The following are a couple of photos with areas discussed highlighted.
elkhorne

[Rich]

From your last photo it looks to me like the crack may have been caused by the breechplug bolster inlet not being wide enough. Once you get it glued up and try to fit the breech back in the stock, you'll know and can widen the inlet if necessary.

[rich pierce]

Keep us posted. Your plan sounds good. This gun being a shooter presents a greater challenge. The repair has to last under use, unlike a collector piece where stabilizing is the goal.

[bluenoser]

You are making good progress.
PVA glue (Titebond) has a film strength of about 3,000 pounds per square inch, which far exceeds the strength of the wood.  If you get good glue coverage and a good fit (both of which should be doable) I don't think you will improve anything by drilling and injecting Acraglas.  I don't know what the film strength of Acraglas is, but can see the possibility you might actually weaken the joint.  If you want to pin the joint, pins could be placed under the lock plate just inside the inlet. They could be canted upward.  I would use threaded pins in loose holes and set in Acraglas or slow-set epoxy.  It doesn't have to be a full-depth thread.  I quite often take round stock and run it through a threading die that will score the surface.  That can be quickly done by chucking it in a hand drill.

[elkhorne]

All,
I will start this completely over again. Had a good comment going but our internet messed up and all went the way of the Ethernet! First, I want to thank everyone who shared advice, tips and techniques to help me fix this Fowler. I spent a good deal of time studying and trying to follow he crack all around. It could have easily completely broken off had I pushed it. BUT, this morning finally came time to “go where I knew I needed to go” and that was to get to glueing! I first used a hypodermic needle and tried to inject some water in the crack to moisten it a little. Then I experiments with mixing Titebond III with a few drops of water to thin it enough to draw it into the syringe. Surprisingly, it only took about 2 drops with a good glob of glue mixed well to accomplish that. I started out in the thin part of the crack up and behind the lock panel. I shot the glue mix in and flexed it several times and saw glue come out of all lines of the crack. Next, I proceeded to carefully open the crack and dispensed undiluted glue all along the crack in the breach plug inlet. I again flexed the broken wood the get the glue in every crevice inside the crack. I could see glue coming out of every crack opening so I decided enough was enough. I wiped some of the excess glue of with a damp towel and then starting my clamping. I clamped the main area of the crack with a small board over the lock mortise and used one of my small tension bar clamps. More glue squeezed out and I wiped it off. Then I had some surgical tubing and I wrapped it around the wrist and back of the tang and tied it off. I plan on letting the glue up sit for at least 48 hours to cure. Once the glue up is completed, I will remove the trigger and commence filing it/fitting it until I can get the lock at rest to just drop into the inlet. I believe this will solve the problem because I could see in the inlet where the upper arm of the sear spring and a upper part of the bridle had been compressing the wood in the area of the split for sometime. I may and may not Acraglass the breech of the barrel as that would add a lot of strength to the area of concern. Hope all this makes since but I know a picture is worth a thousand words so I will pose a couple. Thanks all.
elkhorne

[elkhorne]

All, as the old saying goes, “I’m back!” Seriously, it has taken me some time to get these repairs going on this Fowler. Well, since my last post, I left the repair all clamped up for 48+ hours! When I took the clamps off, I used a small scraper to level out and blend the repair with the area around it. Next I applied a couple of applications of LMF Walnut stain and rubbed it back between applications. Finally I blended some of Chambers Oil Finish over the stain, rubbed it in and let it dry for a couple of days. The area looks almost indistinguishable if you did not know where the original crack was. I will post a photo of the repaired area at the end of this post. Next onto the excessive trigger shoe pressure on the sear to where the lock would not just drop into the inlet. I did multiple file and try sessions until I got the trigger shoe just touching the sear with minimal pressure and where the lock dropped into the inlet in the rest position. I then used some of Jarrows Inletting Black on the sear spring and bridle to see where it was touching the inlet. I exercised the lock through its various functions. Upon removal, I could see where the spring and bridle rubbed and printed on the lock inlet. I carefully removed just enough wood to where there was no printing by the inletting black. My next post will be with fitting the barrel back into the stock but I will leave that until later. As I said above, the following photo is of the crack area in the wrist above the lock inlet after the repair.

[elkhorne]

Back again tonight after evaluating the Fowler for my next step in making it safely shooting worthy. The application of inletting black to the rear 6” of the lower barrel flats, breech and breech plug, revealed only a couple of small areas of printing. No printing was present in the back of the breech of the barrel or the lower parts of the breech plug! Therefore, I think the best answer to this less than acceptable inletting job is to bed the rear area of the barrel, the breech and breech plug lug and tang. Also where the rear lock bolt goes through from the side plate to the lock, the builder drilled the clearance hole for the bolt right into and opened up the area where the breech of the barrel should bear on. I will include a photos of the area at the end of the post. Would appreciate any comments you all might suggest as I plan to bed this area in. Thanks for all the advice and help thus far.




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