Best Glue for a Broken Meg?

[FossilNerd]

I went into my fossil room last night to get a little time to myself, but ended up finding a very unpleasant surprise. It seems that someone or something (I’m guessing cat or kids) knocked my Meg tooth off of its shelf. The resulting fall broke the tooth into 3 main pieces. The good news is that they fit together pretty well, and besides a few missing chips it should glue up nicely.

 

This Meg isn’t anything fancy but it holds a lot of sentimental value as it was the first fossil my wife purchased all on her own as a gift for me. I’d like to repaired it as best I can and so am trying to decide what glue to use. I thought about using a basic cyanoacrylate glue but I think that would be too thin and just soak into the pores of the fossil. Maybe a thicker viscosity gel type? Or… would some sort of epoxy be better?  Gorilla glue? Paraloid?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated! 
 

 

[Darktooth]

Definitely no Gorilla glue! It expands when it dries and will look horrible!

[Kane]

Agreed!

 

I wouldn't worry about the thinness of the glue. With superglue/cyanoacrylate, less is more. I usually ensure both ends to be glued are completely clean of even tiny motes of dust, apply a conservative amount of glue, and use clamps with padding to let it cure for a day. That said, I only glue invertebrates, so I'm not sure if the same would apply to meg teeth. Wait for a few more folks to chime in who have had that experience. 

[FossilNerd]

@Darktooth @Kane

 

Thanks for the input guys.  

 

I didn’t figure Gorilla glue would really be an option, but threw it out there since I have some handy. 

 

I’m in the same boat Kane, I haven’t glued anything except invertebrate material in the past. Superglue has served me well in those circumstances, but I have no experience with Meg teeth, or any other vertebrate material. 

[Kane]

Let me tag two vert experts on this to help you out!

 

@Ptychodus04 and @jpc

[jpc]

cyanoacrylate should work just fine.  If you want, put a wee dram of thin glue on the broken surface and let it set.  Then use another drop to actually glue the pieces together.  No need to clamp... or, I should say, I never do for clean simple breaks like this.  But as Kane said, make sure there are no motes of fossil dust in the joint first.

[Randyw]

I use these two on everything from grf fish to trilobites to oreodont skulls. The dap is a thicker quick set glue. the loctite is a thin glue good for seeping into fine cracks and stuff.

[FossilNerd]

Thanks @jpc and @Randyw. Cyanoacrylate it is! 

[Ptychodus04]

I agree with the cyanoacrylate suggestion on this one. It is plenty strong for a clean break with no weight bearing need.

[FossilNerd]

I took the advice of using cyanoacrylate and glued the tooth back together this morning. Specifically I used a thicker viscosity “gel” type. Regular glue would likely have worked fine, but I was able to control the application a little better since the gel doesn’t run everywhere.

 

Anyway... It looks almost like new. I can barely make out the crack that split the tooth in half (the gap in the root was always there). It blends into the enamel striations well.

 

Besides a chip on the tip and a small fragment missing from the back of the root, I can hardly tell that it has been repaired.

 

Thanks to everyone for the help! I really appreciate it! 
 

 

 

 

[Balance]

Sorry about your tooth! Looks like a nice clean seam ! 

 

For all y’all doing gluing of sorts check out Bob Smith industries. I use the three thicknesses of super glue regularly. The thin is like water. Get is nice and thick. The insta-set is a must have too. 
 

https://bsi-inc.com

 

Jp

[Randyw]

Glad it worked out! Looks great!

[SPrice]

Great repair job!

[Alex S.]

Great job! I'm glad it came together so well.

[trilobites_are_awesome]

@FossilNerd That is the glue I use! 

I am glad it turned out good!

[Fossildude19]

Nicely done, Wayne! Congratulations on the successful repair.