A small finger joint cutter?

[Toller]

A friend has a 80" x 37" cherry table they let several candles burn down on. It actually burnt out maybe an eight inch of wood. The top is 1 1/4" thick, but I think sanding the damage out is probably hopeless; presumably the wood will be discolored deep into it, and it might be 3/8" to find clean wood. Turning the top over won't work either, as the bottom surface is quite imperfect. That leaves ripping the damaged 12" out, putting new boards in, and sanding it down. The problem is the joinery used. The top is all 2" wide boards that have a sort of finger joint between them. It is flat for an eight of an inch at the top and bottom, and then 4 pairs of fingers, each about an eight of an inch. They are rounded, and project about an eighth of an inch.

Getting an exact match is too much to ask for, but I can't find anything even close. Any suggestions, either on the cutter or alternate methods? I will take a router bit, a shaper cutter, or maybe even a molding head for my table saw.

[Toller]

But am open to all suggestions.

[Charles Spitzer]

slot cutter of the correct thickness? you could just run a pass, raise the bit, run another pass, etc.

[Rick]

I'm sure others make them too-probably $$$$$$$$

[John McGaw]

Finger joint router bits should be available from just about any manufacturer. Big furniture makers use a big automated finger joining machine for such work and an exact match is virtually impossible. But if the board(s) in question is not on the edge of the table the actual joint used between boards is not going to be visible anyway, is it? All that will be seen from the top is something that looks like a butt joint. Joining the boards could be a simple as cutting a slot into the ends of the two boards and gluing in a spline.

But, if the area of the burn is not that extensive, depth not mattering much, my first thought would be to inset a "dutchman" patch to cover the burned area.. Or just leave it as it is and call it "character". If you find a 200-year-old cherry table in an antique shop and it has a burn in the top you will probably be charged extra for it. '-)

[Toller]

Unfortunately those fingers are about 3/8". I need 1/8".

[Rick]

When I look at the full size drawing, there are 12 fingers across 1

3/8". Print the drawing and measure them yourself.

[Rick]

Unless you're talking about the depth instead of the width....

[Rick]

You may also want to ask here...

Might want to have someone who builds quality furniture take a look at it too.

[buffalobill]

insert family photographs or decorative labels and do the clear thick multiple coats of polyurethane. [research required for product see paint dept at home depot etc.]

[DanG]

Would there be any reason to consider decorative inlay? If the damage could be incorporated into a pattern of inlay type work it might be striking. Here is an example, I think one of these medallions properly centered would make the table quite a show piece.

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

[HerHusband]

A few ideas come to mind...

1. If you have access to a wide belt sander, run the whole top through the sander multiple times till you get down to good wood.
2. Rip the top into widths that will fit through a planer (12" typically), plane down to good wood, then reglue the top together. Sand and refinish.
3. If you do not have access to either of the above tools, you may be able to build a "sled" of sorts to flatten the top with your router and a straight bit. LOTS of passes back and forth, but it should work in theory.
4. Flip the top over and try any of the above methods. Depending on whether the top is worse than the bottom, this might be a good option.
5. 80" isn't that long. You should be able to cut out the damaged section and replace it with a single board.
6. Assuming this section isn't on the edge of the top, the joinery won't show anyway. Use scarf joints, or slots and splines to join boards together. Then cut out and replace the damaged section.
7. Depending on the construction of the table, maybe you could just cut out the damaged section and make the table smaller? For example, 80" x

35". It's unlikely anyone would notice a couple of inches difference.

1. Forget about repairing this top and just build a new one from scratch.

Anthony