Need recommendation for High Heat resistant Epoxy Resin

[Don Morris]

I'm restoring a 1903 A3 Springfield WWI rifle, keeping the original parts. The gun shoots amazingly well. Barrel is in decent condition. However, the top wood handpiece is cracked 6 - 8". The cracked part is thin and gets a lot of heat if the gun is fired a bunch. My son and I went together on the gun. We aren't going to shoot the heck out of it, but after a reasonable number of shots, it's pretty "hot". Not a lot of high heat resistant epoxys out there are for wood. I saw an add for a new Gorilla epoxy that claims high heat resistance. Try to find it locally or on Amazon...not there. The big box stores don't have it. I found it in the UK. Outrageous price to send one tube here. Won't need much, but it will have to bond wood and withstand some heat. Opinions please. I can spread the crack apart 1/8", but when together there is no light between the edges. Do I just mush the epoxy in there. My worry if I do that, when I put the edges together most of it will be expelled. Or do I cut a 1mm opening between the sides and hope for a bond. Or, try for a "V" between the parts which leaves some wood on the outside for continuity. That would be a test of my skills. Looks good on paper. Doubt I could do it successfully. There is room for excess on the inside to leave a small "T" shaped repair. I was also thinking It might be advisable to leave a little liner of the heat resistant epoxy on the inside anyway to protect the crack. Anyone with previous experience with such a problem, would love to hear your take. Other ideas are always welcome. Thanks for taking time to help me solve a dilemma.

Don M

[Jim Becker]

Don, did you contact the folks that make Gorilla adhesive products directly to see if they can point you to a US supplier for the product you want?

[Bill Dufour]

Why are you limiting yourself to epoxy? It sounds like you are also limiting yourself to one part glues. You really need to use. a thermal gun and measure the temperature not just guess. At least sprinkle water and see if it is 100C or higher. I do not understand the application at all. You can not glue wood and metal together in such extreme heat cool cycles and not crack the wood.
Bil lD.

A quick search found this basic information:
https://www.permabond.com/resource-center/temperature-resistant-adhesives/

[Pete Taran]

Don,

Consider using some Loctite 8X strength industrial adhesive. Comes in a tube like caulk and you can get it at Lowes.

I build bamboo flyrods and I started a project where I wanted to build a rod which does not have any nodes in it. That means that you have a lot of scarf joints in the bamboo. I have been frustrated with typical expoxies because as part of the assembly process, you use a heat gun to heat the bamboo and straighten the blanks prior to final tapering via a handplane. The waterproof industrial epoxy I had been using heated up and failed when the heat was applied.

I got a tip from another builder on the Loctite and tried it. My problems went away. My heatgun lets you set the temperature and I heat up the sections to 650 degrees and the joints did not fail. I would expect that the wood in your case would not get that hot as the radiant heat from the barrel likely does not get that high or even close.

In use, I squirt some on a piece of cardboard and then use an old Exacto blade to apply it. Seems like this stuff would work great in your application.

Pete

[Don Morris]

Pete, that's a cheap, easy way to solve the problem and it sounds like it should work for my needs. Lowes isn't far. Even if I could find a gorilla supplier, the initial cost of that stuff looks to be unreal. Found it on eBay for $26.00. The Loctitie is a little cheaper I would imagine. Thanks for the inputs, I am going to measure the heat of the gun generated after a session. That sounds like a smart idea to know what exactly I should be "shooting" for. As I've gotten older I find I need the input of others as I just don't seem to see all the answers, but creekers are the best at helping. Thanks!

[Pete Taran]

Don,

If you don't want to venture out, you can get a tube from Amazon which is where I got mine. You want the stuff which says 8X on it as shown in the screen shot below. If looking for it on Amazon, search:

Loctite PL Premium Fast Grab Polyurethane Construction Adhesive 10-Ounce Cartridge (1417170)
436796