Darn crack!

[stoutman]

My cherry table frame is assembled and I was doing some final sanding and noticed a small crack up at the top of one of the legs. It can be seen form the top and the side of the leg. I am guessing it was there all along, I just never noticed it until now. I don't think it was anything I did wrong, but It bugs the crap out of me. It is only a hair line crack. I took a little glue and fine cherry saw dust and made a paste and worked it into the crack with my finger pretty good. I let it dry and sanded and scraped. I also applied glue to the top of the leg and worked it in. From the side, the repair blends in well with the grain and is barely noticeable.

My question is this: Do I have to worry about this sucker opening up over time? If it opens up I think I would be able to clamp it back with a little glue and maybe rout a groove across the crack on top of the leg and inlay a piece of wood 90 to the crack. I'm pissed. My second question is: Does this kind of crap always happen with a project? It seems that there is always something that goes wrong that appears to be out of my control.

[todd]

Your only option at this point to to burn the table and start over... ;-)

todd

[Bruce T]

If you wanted perfect, injection-molded epoxy & crushed pecan shells from Banladesh might be just the ticket!

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I'd drill a small hole at the end of the crack and they do the filler thing.

Yes.

[Leon]

The thicker stock you work with the more likely it may split. I would not worry about it until something actually happens, if anything actually happens.

[hard_way]

If it were easy everybody would be doing it.

You could set up a jig for your router and create a deep mortise in the top of the leg and glue in a plug with polyurethane glue. Just make sure the grain of the plug is going the same direction as the grain in the leg, and if possible set the mortise at least a quarter of an inch from the outside edge of the leg, other wise a thin bit of material will just split away in another spot when the wood decides to move again. Good Luck!

Part of the joy of furniture building is the oppertunity to solve problems. That is why I gave up my job in industry, to do it full time years ago. Just didn't want to take another order for the same old blah, blah, blah, widgit. Give me a tough problem to solve anyday over that.

On the other hand, I notice minor anomalies in my pieces, and others, because my eye is trained for it. My wife and I went to visit some relatives who had lived in their house for four years, but had never noticed that half of the turned posts in the balcony railing had been installed up-side down.

[tom]

It's a design feature, but one that probably only you will notice. Tom

[bremen68]

Think of it as adding character.

With any project there will always be several items that don't go quite the you'd planned. Thus the need for creative engineering, adaptation, and ingenious repair. ;-)

[mac davis]

no, that's only one option.. The other is send it to me.. I'll put the leg with the ugly deformity against the wall where it won't be noticed..

If all else fails, I'm sure that a little black latex will hide the brads until the glue dries.. Mac

[fredfighter]

Usually the crack is found at the top of two legs.

This will fix it:

[Teamcasa]

You knew the job was dangerous when you took it! Yes - It always happens. Anyone can slice up wood and make something. A craftsman will hide or design around flaws so they work to his advantage.

Dave

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[Hambone Slim]

...about the best you can do with something like that.

Yes. Best bet, leave it alone, let it shrink to where it will, fill the fissure someday with colored wax or colored shellac. Shellac's a little more elegant, wax is easier.

You obviously failed to pray to Ganesh, the god of luck and wisdom, before starting the project. You might also want to make an offering to the Tiki gods to help defend against checking sprites in the future.

Hope this helps!

-- Timothy Juvenal

[gadgetman]

A common solution I have used a few times is to fit a patch or dutchman. Not as hard as it sounds. Chisel out a shallow groove say

1/8-1/4 inch, find a piece of matchin wood grain and color, use a matching glue color, glue it in, plane or sand it off and voila, a lot of times you can't see it wothout a magnifying glass and not likely to crack again Oh yeah, I pretty much only cuse crystal clear 5 minute epoxy (from a hobby store) mixed with as much matching sawdust as possible to fill it, then heat it a little to get out air bubble , leave it rounded on top or several layers as it shrinks a little. I always notice this stuff too, but realize no one else will. Hope that helps, Mike R