Expert: maura macaluso - 9/4/2009

Question
Thank you, Maura, for your answer regarding repairing a broken African Blackwood sculpture. It was excellent and very helpful. I have a Blackwood sculpture of a giraffe that I obtained in Tanzania that is cracked about 90% the way through a leg, but not completely broken off. I can pry the wood about 1/8 to 1/16 inch open on one side but it will not be easy to get a thin layer of glue evenly distributed on both sides. Is it best to break it the rest of the way and then try to repair using your suggested method or is it possible to fix it without that drastic measure?

Answer
Hi Richard,  I am not there to see the crack but your description is pretty good and I am picturing it as I type.  What is important here is not how much you can get it apart but when you squeeze the crack closed, does it line up and fit back together perfectly.  The problem is that sometimes when only part is cracked with part hanging on, it can sometimes warp a slight bit and not go back together right.  Lets hope that it is a perfect fit.  If so, get enough glue(titebond  II or III wood glue) into the crack so that it completely fills it. You probably won't need much glue for a leg repair depending on how big the sculpture is. Have a damp rag handy so that when you do squeeze it back together, you can immediately wipe off all of the glue that is squeezing out.  You will need to clamp this and allow it to dry at least 12-24 hours before touching.  Watch it for the first few hours to make sure to wipe up any glue that might weep out. This will prevent a bigger problem later of having to scrape off any dried glue.  Small quick release clamps are pretty cheap and available at any decent hardware store.  If this giraffe has legs that are not attached to a stand, you may even be able to use tightly wound rubber bands to use as clamps to hold it tightly in place. Before putting the rubber bands on, it is important to make sure there is no glue weeping out so the rubber bands will not get glued to the statue.  Please before you walk away from the giraffe, make sure it is properly lined up so that you don't come back later to find it has glued in the wrong position. You have a window of about 15 mins to get this all right(glue, squeeze together tightly and clamp, then check position) before the titebond glue begins to set. If you need any other assistance, write back again. Thanks for the question and good luck with your repair.   Maura www.carvinginnyc.com