I have a old pestle with a wooden handle and ceramic head. The 2 have come apart. The wooden screw which sits in the head is too small to hold, even with glue. I need to pad it out somehow. It was padded with paper but is this the best solution?

Tess, June 2023

I'd be tempted to use a 2-part epoxy adhesive.
Carefully mask the parts near the joint that would show glue smears.
Mix up a large dollop. Shove some in the hole and smear some on the screw thread.
Press and / or screw one into the other, making sure there's enough adhesive so that the excess squishes out (and only onto your carefully applied masking).
Wipe off the big gobbets of squidge
It might go off quick but leave it for a couple of days to harden thoroughly.
You might need to use a pot of sand or even soil to let you stand the thing vertically whilst the epoxy cures.
Once curing is complete, peel off the masking and carefully use abrasive paper to trim back the hardened epoxy.

Ejrj, June 2023