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Epoxy or wood glue for gluing dowels to a stock?

I have posted previously about fixing a cz 455 pillar project where the pillar holes were not aligned right.
I decided to go the direction of increasing the holes to 3/4" and plug them with a dowel, then redrill 1/2" holes in the correct location.

Considering that the dowl will not have contact with the stock around its entire circumference AND that clamping will be a challenge, is epoxy or wood glue the best way to go?

I was going to go with wood glue, but I'm concerned about not being able to clamp things down. However, I do have a fixture idea if wood glue is the better option.

Any feedback is much appreciated, and I think you in advance,


Cz455.pngIMG_2397.jpg
 
Of the two choices, and without changing your scenario, I would use epoxy. Wood glue won't hold on the end grain of the stock, so you effectively lose about 50% of your surface area. Make sure to rough everything up prior to gluing and clean well.

Just for grins, consider a 3/4x1/2 steel or aluminum bushing in lieu of the dowels. ETA: Oh yeah, forgot the offset issue. Maybe belay that last.......... I'm not much on wood dowels, but for your intended purpose, I think they will be fine. You can overthink some things, not that I've ever done that.............
 
I have been a woodworker for 40 years and today's glues are stronger than the wood itself. If the fit is not tight try an expanding glue such as Gorrilla glue. Make sure the surfaces are clean and free of any oil residue.
 
I have been a woodworker for 40 years and today's glues are stronger than the wood itself. If the fit is not tight try an expanding glue such as Gorrilla glue. Make sure the surfaces are clean and free of any oil residue.
is that gorilla wood glue, or all purpose gorilla glue?
 
You could also pour the whole hole with epoxy and then drill it.

Isn't/wasn't there a thing about epoxy pillars once upon a time? Not advocating that, just trying to remember.........

There's no way I would use any type of wood glue for that if I had any other choice. Sizing the end grain would help, but I still wouldn't like it. Epoxy.

Will this be visible from underneath? Need me to turn you some walnut dowel? Let me know.
 
I am gonna say do not use the gorilla glue. Gorilla glue sticks can make an excellent bond but the gap size is more crucial than people think. Although gorilla glue can fill gaps well, if the gap is too large, the glue will foam up and it won't be any stronger than Styrofoam.
The only problem with filling with epoxy and then drilling for dowels is that you need enough gap to hold enough epoxy. Don't make the dowels fit too precise.
I would say a good epoxy doesn't need any filler but make sure to give the parts scratches or divots for the epoxy to form a mechanical bond. Jb weld is a good one if the epoxy will be hidden by a floorplate and the action. West systems epoxy is also good. I am not a fan of most of the hardware store epoxies.
 
I have posted previously about fixing a cz 455 pillar project where the pillar holes were not aligned right.
I decided to go the direction of increasing the holes to 3/4" and plug them with a dowel, then redrill 1/2" holes in the correct location.

Considering that the dowl will not have contact with the stock around its entire circumference AND that clamping will be a challenge, is epoxy or wood glue the best way to go?

I was going to go with wood glue, but I'm concerned about not being able to clamp things down. However, I do have a fixture idea if wood glue is the better option.

Any feedback is much appreciated, and I think you in advance,


View attachment 1213982View attachment 1213985
How far off are they. If I could I’d bolt the pillars to the action. Enlarge the holes large enough so they will fit, and bed the whole works with devcon. Coarse you gotta line everything up- u could figure that out.
 
This goes for any wood stock epoxy work...
Mix your epoxy, paint it on to the parts and let it sit. It will soak in, brush more on. Eventually the epoxy will get to be about honey consistency and the wood will stop pulling it in. Thats when you put the two parts together. Any sooner and the joint will dry out and come apart sooner or later.
 
You could also pour the whole hole with epoxy and then drill it.

Isn't/wasn't there a thing about epoxy pillars once upon a time? Not advocating that, just trying to remember.........

There's no way I would use any type of wood glue for that if I had any other choice. Sizing the end grain would help, but I still wouldn't like it. Epoxy.

Will this be visible from underneath? Need me to turn you some walnut dowel? Let me know.
It will not be visible from the bottom but thank you so much for the offer. I really appreciate that.
 
This goes for any wood stock epoxy work...
Mix your epoxy, paint it on to the parts and let it sit. It will soak in, brush more on. Eventually the epoxy will get to be about honey consistency and the wood will stop pulling it in. Thats when you put the two parts together. Any sooner and the joint will dry out and come apart sooner or later.
This is the same reason not to clamp the heck put of epoxy joints. Wood glue starts to cure in half and hour and may actually form a chemical and also a mechanical bond with wood. Epoxy can take a couple days to cure and while its curing, it can will into the fibers of the wood.
If you squeeze out too much epoxy from the joint and it has time to wick into the wood, it may not leave enough between your surfaces to keep the bond. Thats probably why they do secondary bonding like Alex said when they do things like build airplanes that you don't want to fly apart in midair.
Variations in the wood surface will effect your bonding, like wood density, pore size, contamination. How wood is cut has an effect on whether the wood pores are open like planing or smashed shut when sanded.
I usually put big scratches or some roughness to give a better mechanical bond with epoxy. It seems like it works. I also slather things like the stock with epoxy and then the action, pillar etc and in the time it takes get this done, I imagine the wood pulls in some of that epoxy.
 
This goes for any wood stock epoxy work...
Mix your epoxy, paint it on to the parts and let it sit. It will soak in, brush more on. Eventually the epoxy will get to be about honey consistency and the wood will stop pulling it in. Thats when you put the two parts together. Any sooner and the joint will dry out and come apart sooner or later.
can't get any better advice than this.
 
Thank you all for all the great feedback. I decided to do a little test for the heck of it and thought I'd share the result. I drilled holes on the edge of a maple board to simulate the situation going on in the stock. One plug was glued with 3, the other with J-B weld (the one in the double syringe). Neither was clamped in any way. After 24 hours, both could withstand me standing on them (180lbs) and a pretty good smack with a 16oz claw hammer.

So I feel pretty confident it will hold up either way. That said, I think I'll go the route of using epoxy and letting it dry in and turn honey consistency as described above.

Thanks again all.
 

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