Wide board split in transit: what to do?
prbayliss
| Posted in Wood and Materials on
I just received two 15″ wide 30″ long and approximately 3/4 thick walnut boards that I bought on eBay last week. They suffered damage in transit and have cracked along their length about 4 inches from one edge.
I’m thinking that I can just open the crack, carefully apply glue using a glue brush and clamp. I don’t think that you will see where the crack was. One of the boards will be used a the top for a small end table. The other a panel for a door for a small cabinet.
Does anyone see any reasons that this approach would not work or have any other advise on how to proceed. I could of course just saw out the crack and edge joint as standard, but I’d rather not lose the width if possible.
Many thanks,
Paul
Edited 8/16/2008 2:24 pm ET by prbayliss
Replies
First thing to think about is why did they crack. If they are cupped you might want to go ahead and rip them and flatten the boards if they are flat go ahead and glue the crack. I use a lot of recycled wood and have to deal with cracks every now and then and I've glued the boards with cracks many times and it comes out just fine most of the time you can't see where the crack was. Good luck.
ZABO
Hi Zabo,Thanks for the response. I suspect that the reason for the breakage was a combination of how the boards were packaged and less than careful handling. There were some other narrower boards in the package, so it was quite heavy ~70lbs.There's almost no cup in the boards, so I may just glue the cracks rather than ripping and glueing.Many thanks,
Paul
Hi Zabo,I opened up the crack, glued and clamped. All went well and it looks good. Don't think that I'll see the join after I hit it with the smoother. Hopefully it won't cause a problem later :)Many 'thanks for the confirmation.Regards,
Paul
Hi Paul
You will probably never see the crack again. I would not take very much of the surface off with the smoother however. You don't want to go too far down where you might expose the crack where it might not have sealed as completely as on the surface, leave well enough alone maybe just a little scarping or light sanding to get the surface smooth.
ZABO
Hi Zabo,Good point. Thank you for the help!Regards,
Paul
FWIW, for future use and for the elightenment of others reading here, a good trick for this sort of work is to wedge the crack open just a bit, put a shop vac under the crack and apply glue to the top of the crack. The vac helps suck the glue through the crack.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Is the grain running off the edge where the crack occurred?
Hi PanBroil,The answer is yes and I suspect that you are thinking that the board has internal stresses which have contributed to it splitting/cracking. I'm having second thoughts about using this board for its original purpose of a table top. I'm thinking that saving it for another project, but ripping and edge glueing it may be a better idea. I think after I rip and glue the board may be a little to narrow for my top.You've got me thinking!Many thanks,
Paul
Having spent a lot of days handling boxes a UPS, I would hazard a guess that the way they were packaged, combined with the transport belt or stacking in the truck split the piece, but that it may be perfectly sound.
I could easily split a piece of 15-inch wide 5/4 oak, simply by putting a 1x2 piece on the floor, laying the oak on top of it, standing on one side, and heel kicking the other.
Look at the grain orientation, on the end of the board. If it is pretty much straight up and down, you shouldn't have any problems using it as a table top.
Edited 8/17/2008 11:57 pm ET by Jigs-n-fixtures
I'm just saying that part of evalauting a board for a project is grain running severely off the edge. It would probably be okay for certain furniture parts but not for others. If the grain happens to be particularly attractive at that point (and it frustratingly often tends to be) then you have design decision to make. That's all part of it.
Leave the crack and inlay a dovetail key to keep it from splitting further. It would make for some visual interest for your table top.
Sean
Hi Sean,I like the idea, but for this project it's not the look that I was going for. Think a small federal style end table. I'm starting to think that I may save this board for a later project. In which case your idea may well work.Best regards,
Paul
Edited 8/17/2008 10:29 pm ET by prbayliss
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