Looking for advice on repair of broken figure

[creasman]

My sister has this carved figure of a bighorn sheep. She's fostering some kittens and they decided it was a good "tree" to climb.

The result is a broken leg.

As you can see it's not completely broken through... just a really bad crack. The leg is also suspended in air, so it's not bearing any of the load. The figure is carved from a really hard, dense wood (not sure of the type).

I'm looking for recommendations on best type of glue to use for repairing the crack, something strong and invisible. She can open the crack slightly to squeeze in the glue, but doesn't want to break it off. It will be a bit tricky to clamp and having at least part still attached will help.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

My go-to glue for gluing walnut is Titebond III because it dries darker than the other Titebond formulas and all clear glues. The sculpture looks to be darker than walnut.
Is the darkness the natural color of the wood or an applied stain? If it's the natural wood color, flip the sculpture over and hand sand with 220 grit on the base bottom until you get enough dust to press into the seam while the glue is wet.

You're right, the real trick is how to clamp it. Find some place to place the back jaw of a clamp with rubber pads that close to perpendicular to the crack. Then, using a band saw or scroll saw and maybe chisels, cut a pad that fits over the hoof so when you apply clamp pressure it is distributed over the entire hoof. The back side where the clamp jaw will fit is angled to be in line with the opposite clamp jaw.

I prefer this method because clean-up is easier than with epoxies, and the goal is for the repair to be nearly invisible.

 

[mdbuntyn]

I've never used it, or seen it used, but Titebond Dark might be a good glue choice. Titebond liquid hide glue is another option. She can use a piece of dental floss to help get the glue down into the crack.

For clamping, I'd use Frog Tape. Starting somewhere between the "knee" and the crack I'd come straight down, wrapping around the toe, and ending above the crack towards the back of the "knee." I'd make a few wraps around the entire leg to keep the ends of the tape from pulling away.

 

[Mike Davis]

Titebond dark and rubber bands.

 

[Jim Wallace]

Jim, I would use the glue you are already familiar with: Old Brown Glue. As you know, hide glue has a certain amount of "suck" which will help you in this application. You may be able to squirt some of the thinned (warmed, not diluted) glue into the crack and then just press the piece back into place and hold it for 5 minutes or so and let the glue do its job. I would probably put a rubber band on it though, just for safety's sake. Clean-up is also easy with this glue. You can use a wet cloth after it has cured without worrying about enough water penetrating the crack to weaken the glue.

 

[Claus]

No advice as to what glue but I’ve had good luck gluing cracks by blowing air at the glue through half of an ink pen. Blob some glue on the crack, take the pen apart, blow air from the middle section through the hole that the ball point sticks through and you can get a good amount of glue into the crack.

 

[creasman]

Thanks, guys! Good options. I forgot to mention that my sister lives in Florida, so this won't be a "house call". I'll need to walk her through the process over the phone. She is pretty handy with tools, though. I'm gonna have her try a few different clamping options as a dry run. Once we find a method that closes the crack and applies consistent pressure, then we'll open the glue bottle.

Stay tuned...

 

[HITCH-]

You can also use a shop vac nozzle to "pull" glue into a crack by positioning it on the other side.

 

[Tarhead]

If there are any loose splinters she will need to figure out where they go and reattach those before attempting to bring the two pieces together. Also, I would take an Exacto knife inside the crack to straighten out any wood splinters that will interfere with a tight joint, and if needed glue those down before gluing the two parts. She should use TB Hide glue for everything as it will stick to itself, is reversible in case she's not happy and it needs to be re-glued, easily cleaned up, and can she get it at any Walmart for <$10.

 

[Ricksmi]

IMO after having to repair a cracked wooden horse leg and tail (36" tall) is to use old brown glue or Titebond dark and lots of wide rubber bands and green painters tape. I prefer hide glue 95% of the time but have used Titebond Dark on a couple projects and was very pleased with it.