A Damaged Collection Box

In the workshop we have a vandalised collection box for repair. Sometimes these repairs work out and sometimes they don’t. But you’ll never know unless you try. We view these repair of damage projects a little like a jigsaw puzzle tho’ slightly more challenging. We start by laying out the pieces to see what we’ve got and which piece fits to what. A little bit of dry fitting parts gives us an indication of the sequence of reconstruction. One could say that the sequence of reconstruction will be everything.

And so we start. In this case with two of the bigger pieces. Having the right clamping equipment makes a tricky job much easier. As the woodworker’s mantra goes ‘you can never have enough clamps’. We’re using some Japanese mini sash clamps which are just right for this job. Now for a digression. A big collection of clamps can be a mighty expensive proposition for any woodworker. Building a collection takes time. We’re lucky in that a fair few of ours have been donated to us, the bulk of the others have been brought inexpensively from boot fairs. Having said all that it just so happens that these Japanese clamps were purchased new.

On such jobs we use a variety of adhesives. On this one we used PVA, superglue and epoxy resin. Each glue has its own characteristics that can be used advantageously in a repair. If repair work interests you the ‘moral’ gleaned here is learn you glues. Worth noting that whilst superglue is a glue that its name suggests glues everything it doesn’t. So you need to learn your glues, what they do, how long they take to set etc. Slowly, piece by piece the broken bits are glued together. And here we’re part way done. The joins can be seen but after finishing the hope is that they will disappear.

Sadly the some areas have missing parts so these are filled. The carved cross area is a case in point.

This cross area will be painted to hide the joins and hopefully enhance the finished job.

And here is the finished job.

A final note worth adding is that apart from sequence being everything patience is a prerequisite for such work. Its taken us a touch under a month from receiving this job to completion. Much of the time was spent waiting for glue to dry and cogitating the next move.