Hi I have a wooden oak door . It is the main entrance door to my home. The door faces east and so it gets hot by the summer morning heat. In the winter it may get a bit wet by the rain. The door consists of pieces glued together. Two of these pieces are now detached up to the point where sunlight passes through the door. Their gap is about 1/8" or .25 cm wide and 2 feet (60 cmd) long. Is there a way to fill this gap? I tried using water based stucco but the next day it cracked. Thanks
Is the crack along the line where two of the pieces were glued together (the glue line) or is it in the middle of one of the "pieces"? Has the door warped or shrunk, or just a couple of the boards that make it up? How thick are the boards? Do you care if the crack fill looks like Oak? Based on your attempt at using WB stucco, I guess not.
The real problem here is not just filling the crack, but stopping the next crack from starting. Almost anything you fill it with probably won't have adhesion to the wood as strong as the original wood was structurally, so you've got to stop whatever caused it as well as filling it or be prepared to fill it (or another) again later. If the crack is along an original glue line, the above may not apply as the glue could have failed, not the wood - but 2.5mm is a pretty fat glue line!
In any case, a good epoxy will fill the crack. Use a needle file or hacksaw blade or sandpaper to clean out the stucco and any weathered wood inside the crack at the faces. Try to get to raw wood.
I'm lazy, so my methods are adapted to that failing. I'd back the crack on the inside with a strip of wax paper (maybe 1/2 wide) held on with masking tape. Kids plastic clay is an alternative. Anything the epoxy won't stick to. Mix up an epoxy (preferably gel) with micro balloons or fiberglass flock added, colored to get close to the oak shade. I use Brownwnells AcraGlas only because I know it well. You can get fancy and use a glue syringe to get the epoxy in the crack or just work it in with a putty knife. Use MEK to remove any slop overs before the epoxy sets. Careful with the MEK, it's nasty stuff - respirator recommended, gloves required. Let it set 24 hours, see what you've got, refill with more epoxy as required and let that cure. You can then sand the joint a bit and try to get some coloring on it to match.
This is really off the wall. If it is a raised panel door, I would consider removing the split panel and then routing the inside molded edge on the inside of the door. This would leave the inside edge smooth and square. When you put the new panel in, it would be held in place with an applied molding matching the pattern on the door.
For the raised panel, laminate a 3 ply panel with the middle panel grain running perpendicular to the outside panels. This should prevent the panel from splitting since you have made a plywood panel from oak.
If you use white oak, it will resist rotting as well.
Thirty years ago, there was a line of quality wooden doors that were made like I described.
My new Bosch Colt router would (soft start variable speed) would make short work of the routing. It would probable require using a pattern bit with a straight edge. (Just a minor gloat.)
Personally, I'd use tinted epoxy. Small amounts of artist's oil colors make a great tint medium.
If the door is a dark color, I'd probably tint the epoxy black. I use black about 80% of the time I fill with epoxy. Otherwise, I'd use a raw and burnt sienna to create a shade darker than the wood.
You may need multiple applications to completely fill the crack.
Mix up the shade on scrap before you do the real door.
Door is fine. The door consists of a "sceleton" into which 2 panels are fitted. The lower panel is the panel in question: The glue line of the boards that consist the panel got loose.
It is otherwise ok.
Well, a minor crack in the above mentioned "sceleton"
I am willing to buy if they are not too expensive.
Door is fine. The door consists of a "sceleton" into which 2 panels are fitted. The lower panel is the panel in question: The glue line of the boards that consist the panel got loose.
It is otherwise ok.
Well, a minor crack in the above mentioned "sceleton"
I am willing to buy if they are not too expensive.
REPLY:
SInce the door is finished natural, a certain amount of care must be exhibited to handle the "ooze out".
As someone else mentioned, using a hacksaw blade to clean out the crack is a good idea.
I'd use epoxy fairing putty made by mixing micro-balloons into laminating epoxy.
Practice tinting some putty and applying on some scraps to get close to a color match.
Push the putty into the crack with a paint mixing stick.
I'd putty one side, then turn over and putty from the opposite side to make sure the crack is filled.
Use clear packing tape to cover the wood on each side of the crack (epoxy doesn't stick to it)
Once putty is applied, clamp as required to close crack.
Allow putty to cure at least 48 hours before removing clamps. Use a sharp scraper to remove "ooze", then finish as required.
Thanks for the advice. I am not into the woodworking business, so can someone please elaborate on how to use epoxy and micro balloons and how to tint them ? Please give some brands of materials if possible (I live in a European island, and only some ebayers send items to where I live, so I want to know what brands I can use). About epoxy, I already have a BISON epoxy (the dual suringe kind of epoxy. I do not remember if it is designed for wood). Would this epoxy work? Please let me know of what kind of protection I need to use. I remind you that I need to FILL a crack more than glue two pieces of wood together. Thanks.
They said I should use a UV blocking paint because the 100F sunlight here will destroy the epoxy. Any suggestions as to which UV blocking paint to use ?
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