what glue for revolver stocks?

[Revolver Ocelot]

I'm in the process of making a one piece grip for my ruger sp101 and need advice on what type of glue to put the two halves together with.

Naturally it'll need to be something durable that can withstand some abuse and exposure to the elements.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[LAGS]

I have always had the best of luck with Epoxy on handgun grips.
That goes for either gluing parts together when you are making them, repairing them, and filling in gaps on poor fitting wood grips to the frame.
Epoxy does not stick to Wax.
In fact I was repairing some missing chips out of a old set of grips today, and I filled the frame with modeling clay, coated the frame and clay with Johncons Paste Wax, installed the grips and filled in the missing chunks with 5 minute clear epoxy mixed with Brown coloring agent to make it match the grip better.
When Hard, I took the grips off and sanded out any high spots .
If you get Epoxy on the rest of the grip where you dont want it to be, like checkering or places where you cant sand, you can clean the wet unhardened epoxy off with Alcohol.
I hope this helps.
Epoxy is a good filler on grips that Fit Loose also.
By waxing the frame, you can glass bed the grips right to the frame.

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

what type of epoxy do you use? Is there a brand or particular type that has worked better for you?

 

[kneesus]

PC-7, JB Weld, if you want to use clear epoxy its up to you. They make some epoxies just for wood. Just get on Amazon and see what they have, filter by stars. You can't really go too wrong.

 

[rcmodel]

Use clear slow set epoxy from the hardware store.

30 minute or longer set time will give a better bond then the 5-minute type.

Drill a series of shallow holes in the mating surfaces of the grips so the epoxy has something to get a grip on.

rc

 

[4v50 Gary]

Epoxy.

 

[LAGS]

Any of the better brand of Epoxy will work.
The 5 minute epoxy does fine, but the slower drying ones like 30 minute actually work best for bonding.
Glass bedding compound also works good like AcuGlass and Pro Bed but not everone has those in their garage when you need them.
I like the 5 minute type for small repairs, and filling in gaps because you can move on to other things more quickly, and strength is not as much of a factor.
JB weld is great, if you can live with the grey color.
Coloring Dyes can be ordered from Brownell's and such.

 

[beag_nut]

Like Gary said, Epoxy.
Please note: the 5-minute epoxies are not "true" epoxies. They do NOT age well, cannot resist much UV rays, and are considerably weaker. They are a simple convenience, and are often (and appropriately) used to hold an assembly together while a full-cure epoxy comes to final cure.

 

[dfariswheel]

The way I used to do it with white paper Micarta "one piece" grips was to use a good grade hardware store one hour epoxy.

To insure a good bond that won't break under use or recoil, I'd use a drill to drill MANY shallow holes in the filler piece and the corresponding bond areas on the grips.
As I drilled I'd tilt the drill bit to make slightly undercut holes.
When the epoxy is applied to the pieces, pack the epoxy into the holes.
The undercuts form "locks" that very greatly increase the hold of the epoxy.
In order for the grips to separate, you have to actually break the epoxy itself, and that's usually stronger then the material the grips are made of.

For a release agent, I'd apply a heavy coat of Johnson's Paste Wax to the entire trigger guard, backstrap, and frame.
Allow to dry 20 minutes before starting the bonding.
This insures an easy and clean release of the bonded grips after the epoxy cures.

To insure proper location of the filler piece, I made up a small brace that would fit between the filler piece and the inside of the trigger guard.
This brace forces and holds the filler piece tightly against the backstrap.

I'd brace the filler piece inside the trigger guard and back strap, pack epoxy into the undercut holes in the grips and filler piece, then position the grips on the frame. I'd hold the grips in place with large, strong rubber bands until the epoxy was cured to a hard rubber consistency, then disassemble and clean up the excess epoxy before it hardened too hard.

 

[rcmodel]

Excellent how-too dfariswheel!!


As for JB Weld.
I have found very few good uses for it in gun work at all.

I have always had mixed results when I do try to use it for something importent.

Sometimes it sets up hard overnight.
Sometimes it stays tacky & flexible for several days.
No matter how careful I am mixing it.

The other thing is, the color doesn't match or blend in with anything on any gun, or wood stock.

Unless it might be the worn out finish on a Ruger stainless 10/22 aluminum receiver!!

I really like it for leaky aluminum gutter repairs.
But not much else!!

rc

 

[1SOW]

I'm not a gunsmith. I am a long time woodworker.
Franklin Titebond III Ultimate is a very strong (4200lb/sq in), one part, waterproof glue that blends reasonably well with many hardwoods. Requires modest overnight clamping at room temp. Dead flat surfaces are needed for the strongest joints. It doesn't fill voids.
Less mess than epoxy and simple clean-up before it sets.

Furniture, knife handles/grips, inlays, wooden mallets, and all manor of wood projects have never had a flat surface joint fail for any reason including a lot of impact with mallets made of several glued up pieces of mixed hardwoods. Works for all common hardwoods 'except "IPE" (nothing works for IPE), and a few exotics that are naturally very oily..

If the grips break, it won't be at this glue joint if the surfaces are are flat.

 

[Schwing]

I would have to agree with 1SOW. I used to make hardwood chess boards. I cut all of my stock into strips, glued them together with clamps, crosscut them and glued them again. The resulting boards were run through a planer. Not only did they survive the planer and not only were the joints dang near invisible, but I never had a single joint come apart using this method, not just with titebond, but with any good wood glue. If you use clamps and have a clean joint, it will never come apart.

While I don't agree completely with RC about JBweld, I have never had great luck using it on wood. I have found it works best for short term tooling applications. I use it often on the end or base of my arbor press to attach fixtures or spacers or whatever. The fact that I usually remove them with a couple of taps from a ball-ping hammer says it all.

 

[LAGS]

The main reason I use Epoxy is;
When making grips and trying to get the thin parts to fit together with NO gap is very hard.
The Epoxy can fill things in flush.
Then you also have the advantage that Epoxy will not get Gummy from oil or gun cleaning products like some regular wood glues can over time.
Most Wood Glues, are water based, and not all that Chemically resistant.

But for Laminating wood for making rifle stock blanks, I use wood glue.
Much more surface area, and plenty of room to clamp them together firmly.

 

[Maj Dad]

I use Accra-Glas Gel to bed stocks, and when I have it on hand (and opened) for epoxy jobs like this. You can dye it brown or black, or leave it as-is, and it dries up as hard as steel (especially if you add the steel to it) and holds like a weld (metal, not the JB kind, though it does well, too). It's just one of the plethora of epoxies suitable, but I have also used Gorilla Glue on wood with spectacular success.

 

[1SOW]

There are much better epoxies than JBWeld when gluing wood. They will be thinner and have longer set and curing times. The problem here is needing to buy much larger quantities than the little tubes or blister card epoxy for typical home-owner use

 

[beag_nut]

One of the best epoxies is the WEST System G-Flex offering. It is frequently offered in marine-supply stores, due to its superior properties in all environments. When I need anything less than a couple ounces, that's the one I use (I am a retired furniture-maker). It is offered in quite small containers. Simply google their website for in-depth details. I have used WEST system products for over thirty years with NOT ONE complaint. And my applications were frequently far more demanding than simply gluing two flat pieces of wood together. Every one of the numerous people/businesses I have referred to them has been enthusiastic in their satisfaction. Their customer support is beyond outstanding.

 

[rcmodel]

This really doesn't need to be made anymore complicated then it is.

Which isn't very complicated.

I made custom knives & revolver stocks for many years using nothing but hardware store grade, 1-hour clear Devcon epoxy for attaching scales made from common wood, Micarta, ebony, tropical hardwoods, real ivory, deer & elk horn, and some stuff I probably don't still remember.

That was then, but none of them have came apart yet!

rc

 

[claiborne]

Maybe gorilla glue

When the plastic grip cap fell off of my Remington Mountain Rifle, I used gorilla glue and a c-clamp to affix it back to the stock. So far so good, but time will tell.

 

[rcmodel]

I like the heck out of gorilla Glue for certain jobs.

Like outside in the rain gluing stone gargoyles back together.
It holds forever out in the weather it seems.

But I would not use it for handgun grips, knife scales, or rifle stock repairs.

The off-white color will not match much of anything that needs to match very well to leave an invisible seam.

rc

 

[Kayaker 1960]

A few years back Fine Woodworking magazine did a head to head glue test. Good old Franklin wood glue turned out to be strongest. Epoxy fills but the bond isn't as strong. Gorilla glue may be great for none wood products but for wood to wood it's pretty bad.

 

[rcmodel]

I always thought wood glue was the thing to use on fine wood furniture.

But fine furnature is usually kept indoors and hopefully never subjected to rain, snow, blood, ice, below zero temps, and 120 degree heat.

Revolver & rifle stocks, and especially knife scales for the blood part?
You can't say all that about them.

IMO: Epoxy is better for that use because it is more way stable over temp extremes, and way more waterproof then most water based wood glues..

rc

 

[Kayaker 1960]

Glue

Franklin makes original Titebond for interior use, Titebond II for exterior and Titebond III is suitable for marine use. I'm in the hardwood business, I've got customers that make some pretty nice exterior furniture, trim, outdoor kitchens, fancy gates etc. that use Titebond II for everything. I'm a bit of a woodworker myself, I've never had a glue failure when using Titebond. I have had a few failures from Gorilla Glue. I don't use epoxy for wood to wood.

 

[beag_nut]

Titebond and similar glues are fine for furniture and other non-stressed applications, indoors or out, depending on application. The truth is that they creep over time. Not much, and not enough to affect furniture, but they DO creep. Epoxies DO NOT creep, if they are quality formulations. And, if one wants to examine the applications of epoxy to wood, just check out the Gougeon Brothers, the folks who make the WEST system of epoxies. They are absolutely the strongest and most-durable adhesives for wood (and other) substrates available to the general public. WEST began its life offering glues to people who make ice-racing boats. Few things on this planet are put to the stresses of an ice-racing "boat". I KNOW about this stuff; I am a former design engineer and furniture maker, who also made a bunch of boats; nowhere I have used the WEST epoxies have those adhesives ever failed. Nothing available to the common public, can compare, or even come close.
The moisture-cure polyurethanes (like Gorilla glue) have extremely-limited applications, and are not worth one's consideration.

 

[beag_nut]

Sorry for this, but I was unable to correct, by editing, an error in the preceding post. This is how it should appear:

Titebond and similar glues are fine for furniture and other non-stressed applications, indoors or out, depending on application. The truth is that they creep over time. Not much, and not enough to affect furniture, but they DO creep. Epoxies DO NOT creep, if they are quality formulations. And, if one wants to examine the applications of epoxy to wood, just check out the Gougeon Brothers, the folks who make the WEST system of epoxies. They are absolutely the strongest and most-durable adhesives for wood (and other) substrates available to the general public. WEST began its life offering glues to people who make ice-racing boats. Few things on this planet are put to the stresses of an ice-racing "boat". I KNOW about this stuff; I am a former design engineer and furniture maker, who also made a bunch of boats; nowhere I have used the WEST epoxies have those adhesives ever failed. Nothing available to the common public, can compare, or even come close.
The moisture-cure polyurethanes (like Gorilla glue) have extremely-limited applications, and are not worth one's consideration.