Need help with repairing a broken carving

[santagibbs]

My son in law was given a Hummingbird with flowers etc. Somehow it got broken.. It was carved by Curtis and they brought it to me to be repaired.. Hel...lo? I have used the dowels to peg things together, but I think I am going to need some avice on this one.. The Hummingbird had his bill in the flower and it broke off right at the flower.I haven't a clue how to get the rest of the bill out of the flower as it is glued tight. If it can be retrieved , then what do I do with the shortened bill of the hummingbird. The bud broke off like the bill did and a leaf .. I think I know how to repair the leaf but not the bill and the bud. Could anyone help me with this or is it a lost cause? I am going to try to post a picture of it before it was broken. If I have not forgotten how to do it.. Thank's so much for your help..Charlotte

[Donna_T]

Charlotte,
Here's some thoughts...if the hummer was glued into the flower with superglue, you might try a drop or two as acetone to unglue the hummingbird beak from the flower. Use sparingly as it can affect the colors used to paint the flower and surrounding material that it might touch. Once the beak part is retrieved, use a micro drill bit to drill a hole into the beak's two parts to allow afine brass wire to be glued into the bill before it's glued together. (Hint, Charlotte: once the hole is drilled into one side, insert a piece of wire that just barely sticks out of the hole. Line up the two beak parts and press the wire into the other side. This creates a dot that you will drill into to make the channel for the brass wire AND keep it in alignment with the already carved beak. Does that make sense? I'd use as big a piece of brass wire as can -- about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the smallest size of the beak. And I'd drill it at least 1/2 to 3/4 " deep into the beak. This wire will add strength to the repair. Then you can glue it back into the flower.

It's a beautiful carving and I hope you save it. The most simple fix is to use a drop of super glue on both broken surfaces, let it sit a few seconds and then press the two parts together. Hold without moving for 2-3 minutes.

Donna T

[santagibbs]

Thank you Donna for your good suggestions. This was carved over ten years ago so I don't know for sure, but pretty sure it was glued with wood glue. I do have all these tiny little hand drills and remember Curtis using them . He knew just how to make the right hole for the wire and you couldn't pull it out after he put it together.. with out glue.. I was amazed.. I will consider both ideas... If I have steady enough hands.. Thank you so much for your time to answer my question .. I appreciate it.. Charlotte

[Claude]

Charlotte:
If you don't have brass wire, you could use a segment of a plain old paperclip. Experiment with your micro-drills to find the right size bit and have at it. You should be able to repair the bud the same way as the beak. Also, for the superglue, to glue the wires into the wood, I'd suggest the very runny liquid type, not the gel type, as you'll want the glue to flow down into the hole before you insert the wire segment...

Claude

[santagibbs]

Thank you Claude for your suggestions. I have stainless steel wire..these are all things that Curtis used. I am not sure of the size . About the Micro -drills, Are those the little hand held drills that are very small..There are many sizes that are here.. Some are so small that Curtis would thread them through a very small sea shell he carved . He made a garland for Santa to hold with that drill and wire. He would thread the wire through it and bend the wire in a bracelet for it to attach to another carving like and anchor etc. Thank's for the suggestion on the runny type glue. I know it's a challange and I just notified my daughter to see, if she wanted to trust me with the risk..lol Thanks again , Charlotte

[Claude]

I have a couple of different sets of drills for my dremel. One set is, I think, from 1/64th inch up to 1/8th inch. The others are even smaller and came in a large case with other dremel tools. Some of these are down to 0.005 inch diameter, I think. Looks just a tad bit larger than a hair... I don't have a separate hand drill of the bits, so if you have one of those, that would likely be better than the dremel.

Claude

[santagibbs]

Claude , I thought you and Donna might be using a dremel.. I don't have any drills, that small for my dremel, so I will have to use my hand drills. I even thought about cutting the bill off at the head and replacing it with another. I would still have the problem of getting a wire into the bill at the point of the flower. I think years ago, a guy showed Curtis how to put a wire in the body of a hummingbird and attaching it to another part of the carving..being a flower etc . and let the hummingbird hover over the flower.. Of course you would see the wire.. He made some very small hummingbirds like that and the wire wasn't very visable . Thank you and Donna for your help and I will figure out one of the ways to fix the bird.. Charlotte

[santagibbs]

This is the way he did the two little hummingbirds , by attaching a wire into the body of the Santa or the base of the plant..Charlotte

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

If it were me, I would first rig up a support mechanism...for the bird to hold it in place and then would try the 5 minute epoxy, leaving the beak in the flower and just trying to reattach the bird.....not sure if thats right, but its what I would try first.

[santagibbs]

Hello Dave, could you suggest what kind of support? Did I fall of of a turnip truck or what? We never used epoxy around here as Curtis was alergic to it but not me. He repaired a pipe in our motorhome in the bathroom and when we got to Orlando to go to a show ..his head started swelling and it was so bad it make his ears stick out like Doppey's on Snow White and the seven little men.. Bless his heart.. Where do I get the epoxy? Wal Mart's ? That sounds like a good idea to me..Thank's Charlotte