African Wood Carving Cracking

[jbpatton]

Hi,

I have no experience with wood carving but have a wood carving that was specially made for my mother-in-law while she lived in Africa. It has a lot of sentimental value to her and I was wondering what the recommended course of action would be to repair/stop the cracking that is developing. Thanks for all your help in advance! Attached are some pictures of the problem.

[STAR]

I am only new to carving so the advice I give you should be followed up with further research to see if it is a feasible option. My advice is based on the fact that wood is wood, be it in a carving, a turned option, a pen or in any timber.

That split looks pretty deep so the first thing I would do is to use some Thin CA glue of the type pen turners use. Then I would pour it into the crack, the thin should run right to the bottom before it hardens up. This will seal up the bottom of the crack. Then I would use a two pack epoxy mix, the thinner or longer hardening the better to allow it to run down into all the little crevices.

Doing a bit at a time building up layer after layer. Now, the tricky bit, what to do with the top layer so it does not look like an epoxy filled gap.You could try several options. One, if it is an ebony like gaboon ebony and the color is dark and consistent you could try to obtain some and cut it into a veneer like sliver to be inlaid into the gap like in marquetry. A coloured wood putty could be used but I don't think the end result would be satisfactory.

Ebony is not cheap though, especially when experimenting. Even though I am in Australia I know your Woodcraft store has small pieces of ebony, Not cheap though. There are a few other options but I am not sure.

Stopping the cracking is not the most difficult thing, preparing the finish so it looks blemish free is the predicament.

Pete

ps.

I would wait to see what other advice you get.

[Donsexton]

I can fix it, it was carved in green wet wood, tropical hardwood cracks when you put it in a heated and air conditioned humidity controlled enviorment. I lived and worked in Thiland, India, Africa and Philippines. But I am an old white guy from the south what do I know.

[STAR]

Don,

I only posted to give the O.P. some reply. My answer was qualified. We respect your opinion as you work with logs and trees.

How would you approach the problem ?

Pete

[Paul_Guraedy]

The main crack is large and it appears others are starting. I hope that you get advice that allows you to repair the carving. I, personally, would not attempt it. One observation, the carving is not ebony. It has been stained to appear such. This was a common practice in east Africa when I was there in the 1960's. Uusally the surface was colored with shoe polish. If you can hide the cracks, you could stain the whole thing as the original carver appears to have done.