Inletting repair

[Lone Wolf]

When a tear-out on the side of an inletting must be repaired by gluing in a new sliver of wood, what is the best way to hold the patch piece in place to ensure a seamless joint since in most cases its not possible to use a clamp?

[Justin Urbantas]

you could use tape, or maybe rubber bands

[Jerry V Lape]

Fashion an appropriately shaped piece of wood to back the replacement piece and small wedges(i cut from commercially available cedar wedges or other wood to press against the shaped piece.  I put a piece of wax paper between the replacement wood and the shaped piece holding it.  Sometimes it is possible to use a small screw to hold the shaped piece in place.

[Goo]

In some instances hose clamps can be used when padded.  There have been times when inletted areas and fore stocks are badly cracked through you can you can put cellophane and bondo into the area to take the shape of the negative space.  the cured bondo becomes a stop then you have something to brace the thin areas to with clamps. 

[Eric Krewson]

It depends on where it is, inside an inlet I will put the part in to wedge the patch in place. Outside the inlet on a curved surface that won't hold a clamp I put the patch in place and wrap the area as tightly as I can with twine. I am a bit of a bumbling gun maker so I am no stranger to patching goof-ups. A well done patch doesn't show in the finished gun.

Patches wedged into place;



I had the lower part of the lock molding break out when I put the trigger guard pin in. I had mis-drilled the first hole and missed the lug, I plugged the first hole with a toothpick and drilled another hole in the right place, when I put the pin in it followed the first hole with a plug in it and chipped out about 1" of the lock molding, the chip was still attached to the lock molding. I glued the chip back in and gave it a very tight wrap with twine.



The chipped wood went back in well, you can see the plugged first hole below the pin hole but not the crack which was extensive. After finishing the gun there is no evidence that it was ever cracked.



Finished rifle, I should have put the trigger guard pin inside the lock inlet but I was (and still am) a rookie builder and didn't know better.

[bluenoser]

I like the Bondo idea and can think of a few past repairs where that would have been useful.
An alternative to wrapping with twine:  I keep a supply of long 1/2" wide strips of bicycle innertube in the shop.  Several wraps can apply a lot of pressure with no chance of adhering to the glue.  They are also useful for other things such as securing a barrel in place when repeatedly installing and removing it during stock shaping.

[GrizG]

If the repair is being made after both matting surfaces have been flattened a rub joint can be effective. This is done by applying PVA glue (e.g., Titebond II) to the surfaces and rubbing them back and forth with a bit of pressure until you feel them grip. Make sure the grain/figure lines up when you stop! Use an oversized patch piece that you can grip well...