As you can see, I’ve got this super gnarly crack in my KUSA zebrano sarado. Goes vertical all the way down and starts from the small cup all the way through to the hole that the ken fits into. I’d rather not break or cut the cups all the way through to split it evenly just to repair it, any tips on how to fix it?
I had that before and I just used so gorilla glue and poured it as much as I could and put it in a clamp and it hasn't given me any trouble since. Can't even tell it was there. @KeeganS
I have no clue or experience but I would assume that wood glue would be the best thing for this. Probably go to a Home Depot or something and find something good and maybe even a clamp to hold it together while it dries. My only concern is that it will probably split again when you push them sarado down on the sword. I’m sure if you don’t push too hard it will stay together but you will probably have to play with loose cups. Also if you do get it on tight any hard catch or drop may break that again.
The trick is going to be keeping the glue from leaking all over the ken while still getting enough into the crack itself. There are a lot of wood specific glues but most I've seen have the consistency of Elmer's so don't really flow into cracks well. Maybe you could thin down some with mineral spirits then use a syringe to get it into the crack. As for clamps, I've had really good luck with these since they have removable rubber contact areas and seem to deform for odd shapes better than steel or hard plastic.
I telling you wood gorilla glue has the consistency of crazy glue and it goes in the cracks nice. You literally could not tell by looking at it at first glance
@g00dr0 found a related thread and merged yours so we could keep all the info in one place. You might also check out these glue-centric threads: Gluing the Spike: Alternatives to Super Glue? How to superglue a spkie? Preferred glue Also if you're feeling particularly enthusiastic: