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Re-assembling a Broken Wooden Mask

How to Reassemble a Craft Piece That Has Broken Into “1000” Pieces

My DH is a Klutz. It’s OK for me to say that because my dear hubby admits it himself. The picture above shows what was left of our beautiful hand-carved African wall hanging after he accidentally knocked it off the wall.

It didn’t really break into 1000 pieces; it only looked that way.

We’ve never been to Africa but bought this in Epcot Center about 15 years ago. We were both taken by the beautiful detail. Plus the carver was actually there working on a new piece so we met the artist and could see how our plaque had been painstakingly done.

The plaque just shattered when it hit the tile floor. In the upper right of the photo are the tiniest shards – some less than a quarter inch long. This was a repair project worthy of the most patient of crafters, i.e. not me!

But I was motivated. We both love the plaque and it carries memories of a wonderful vacation. Looking at all the tiny pieces reminded me of a segment I once saw on National Geographic.

A professional restorer was trying to repair an ancient unfired clay pot that had been roughly reconstructed by an earlier archeologist. Every move she made damaged the pot even further.

It was a total disaster and my heart went out to her for the loss and for her embarrassment. As I undertook the restoration of our wall plaque, I wondered if I would fare any better.

It took me four days. If you look very closely at the repaired plaque shown above, you can see some of the seams, but most people won’t look that close.

You could use a jeweler’s loop for such close-up work or do what I do. I use reading glasses, so for very close work I put on two pair.

There are a few tricks to gluing wood and putting a puzzle like this back together again.

Thin some PVA glue like Elmer’s with a little water. The thinner the glue the longer the time to come to tack but the thinner the seam will be when dry.

It’s a trade-off. Have a moist paper towel handy to wipe off excess glue.

First examine every remnant carefully for fractures. I found several animal heads, legs and design crosspieces which were cracked but still attached.

Very carefully prying the fracture apart to avoid breaking the piece completely, dip a toothpick into the glue, then drip and force it into the crack. Press and hold gently until the glue sets. Wipe off any excess glue that is squeezed out of the crack as you press. Set aside to dry.

After stabilizing all the pieces, you need to figure how to approach the reassembly so that everything comes cleanly together at the end.

This varies according to what parts are left most intact.

Since the two side pieces of our plaque were the largest, I worked from the outside in.

The patterns for each row are so distinct – giraffes in one row, elephants in another – that it was pretty easy to figure out where the pieces went. That is except for the very tiny ones where no pattern was visible.

Find two larger pieces which fit together. Hold them in place to see if there are any tiny pieces missing, as well as to determine the contact points which need glue applied.

Any tiny pieces need to be inserted during this step since you may not be able to wedge them into place after the two bigger pieces have dried together.

The photo above shows me gingerly holding two large pieces together. The giraffe head on the right was one of the tiny pieces which needed to be attached at the same time.

There is no way to put this assembly into a vice or brace until the glue sets. It really needs to be hand held.

When pretty well set, you can prop the piece on its side to finish drying – making sure not to put any pressure on the new joints. Because of that, it made sense to work on one side of the plaque and prop it to dry; then work on the other side and prop.

After three days of piecing, gluing, holding, wiping, holding some more and propping, I was ready to put the two halves of our African hand-carved plaque back together.

Most of the ends met very well but a few did not. What to do? Thin wood has some flexibility so I applied glue to all the joints, held the “good” ends tightly together and gently pressed the “misfits” into place.

It was probably only a half hour but it sure felt longer that I had to hold the whole assembly tightly in place. Because of the force I was exerting to re-form the shape it had to be pretty well set before I could let go. Next I took a heavy thick rubber band (the kind that asparagus comes bundled with) and gently pulled it around the section of the worst misfit. Then I set it aside for the glue to cure.

After another 24 hours, the reassembled plaque was ready to re-hang. To prevent a repeat disaster, I put clear glue dots on the points where the plaque touches the wall. Wish I’d thought of that before!

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