Re: repairing table splits?

[leonard lopez]

I ust did some last weekend on an Ethan Allan piece. The splits were open (up to 1/8 inch and 2-3inches long) and I could not pull them back together with clamps. Even if I could, the amount of pressure being used indicated that a glue joint would just pull apart again. I found that I could make wedges of wood that I could slide into the openings. Then I just used yellow carpenters glue to hold them in place. I did have trouble getting them to take stain. I would suggest that anybody using this technique fit the pieces and stain them before using the glue. After the glue dries, you can top coat them.

Len

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David Emery wrote:

I have an old table that has a couple of cracks/splits along > the grain where pieces of wood were glued together. These > do NOT run the full length of the board, so it's not a good > idea to completely separate them. But I'd like to pull the > splits together, in part to strengthen the wood, and to make > it look better. > > What I propose to do in my ignorance :-) is to put some > Gorilla Glue into the crack, and then clamp the piece back > together. But I'm not sure if I can force the Gorilla > Glue into the relatively thin crack. Alternately, I can use > yellow or white glue (which I can thin to make it run into > the crack. > > Please respond to this posting, or send me a private note > to emery, which is an account in the com domain at the host grebyn. > > Thanks in advance! > > dave >

[Ed' stuff]

Hi Use Hot Stuff - it is the equivalent to Krazy Glue and works perfectly. It as dilute as water and will get into every part of your cracks. I have never had a joint come apart using Hot Stuff. Available from Lee Valley.

Ed

[Ed' stuff]

PS - Clamp it up well right after you put Hot Stuff in the Crack. Ed

[Ed' stuff]

Hi Bob Great ideas there. Call me behind the times or what but what is a Bow Tie Butterfly type repair and how do you build it? Ed

[Bob S.]

Ed,

Several types but typically you can purchase a bow-tie / butterfly template or make one out of some 1/4" material (hardboard, lexan, plywood) and purchase an inlay kit for your router. Try here to see it

here to see the brass router guide you make the butterfly's, you then place the template over the area where you want to inlay the butterfly. Typically, I make mine about 1/4" thick from walnut, ash or maple - depending on the look I want. Rout out the inlay area, clean up the corners with chisel or razor blade and then glue in the butterfly. With it positioned across the crack, it prevents the crack from expanding.

Bob S.