Oh Noez, ein brokenski handguardovitch! (a repair with pics)

[louthepou]

Hi guys,

Along with the Jungle carbine forend that I repaired a week or two ago for CGN member "Smithsauce", I also had to repair this handguard (don't remember from what gun):

I stripped the wood with furniture stripper, cleaned the break very well (that's very important), and once dry, I proceeded to glueing. The difficulty here was to apply just the righ pressure in all the right directions. I used a dowel inside the handguard to have proper support.

Once that was cured, I sanded the excess glue. I then decided to put two reinforcing "bands" accross the repaired split. You may have seen this on other milsurp wood parts (rear handguards of No1Mk3 SMLE often do). I carved recesses in the handguard and fitted small pieces of wood.

Again, some sanding, and then the repair is done.

Should be good for a while,

Lou

 

[SeamusMac]

Well done! Improving the character of the furniture rather than adding wood to the fireplace always makes for a happy ending.

 

[webster]

Cool. The reinforcing bands are a good idea.

 

[Bazzoka_Joe]

Nice job!

 

[Nabs]

Wow, great stuff Lou! Your work is inspiring for some of the restoration projects I have on the go.

 

[ArtyMan]

Great work Lou!

 

[cyclone]

Brilliance in milsurp woodworking....

 

[Nabs]

How do you go about cutting the slots on the hand guard, Lou ? Also, would you be able to describe your sanding method ?

 

[bobfortier]

Good work Lou. One question. On the 2 small pieces you added, which way is the grain running ? Same as handguard or perpendicular ? For maximum strenght you want them to run perpendicular to the grain of the repaired piece.

 

[louthepou]

Thanks Bob. Indeed, I only paid attention to this detail AFTER I glued the pieces. (Doh). But in this case I'm not worried; the glueing of the split probably would have been ok on its own, and the oak pieces I added are soaked with epoxy. Mind you that's an important tip for further similar repairs!

Nabs, the slots for the reinforcing pieces are simply done with small rasps, files, knives... carefully used. For hand sanding I like to use the sanding mesh which is usually used for Gyproc. I also have a stationary band sander and a dremel.

Lou

 

[bobfortier]

I'm not worried with any of your job my friend ! This will hold up for another 100 years I'm sure....

 

[collector67]

Good stuff as usual Lou, the P14 I bought (indirectly) from you still looks and shoots great!

 

[The Bolt Action]

Great stuff Lou, as always.

 

[y2k]

Where do you get the West System epoxy 101? That is one excellent job you did!

 

[louthepou]

Thanks guys.

The glue comes from Lee Valley. Best epoxy I've ever seen. The little packets are sort of emergency repair kits, but otherwise you need to buy a litre of resin, and I only need a few drops per repair, so... small repair kits is my choice!

 

[Smitsauce]

Yes he did a great job! It is the rear handguard to my belgian contract FN49 that blew apart at the range from a hidden crack. This and the amazing job he did on my Lee Enfield No.5 mk1 forend repair look to be first rate! It is being shipped back to me as we speak. Hopefully by this weekend so I can try her out again. I will try to take some pictures and do a bit of a range report as soon as possible and add it to the forend repair thread at the bottom of this reply.

I have to say that he charged no where near what I would think something like these two repairs should cost! So..... I included a bit more for his trouble, kindness and great progress updates with pictures to boot! He even upgraded a worn sear pin that he noticed was pooched. A real gentleman here folks! You can't go wrong with Lou if you need a bit of TLC to your Lee!

You can see his handywork on the N0.5 forend here if you're interested:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=653631

Thanks again Lou,

Ian