I'm on crack

[Jamie Schmitz]

Not personally thank goodness. So I have had this piece of nearly 2" thick oak which had been stored outside for at least three seasons develop a crack at both ends but on different longitudes once I cut it up for a bench top. Crack developed after a couple of weeks. There are 5/4" deep mortices on the bottom side.Luckily or fortunately I let it sit before gluing up.
Questions:
1. Should I glue it now or let it sit for a while longer?
2. Should I clamp it or just try the vacuum trick to simply draw the glue into the crack?
3. Epoxy or regular wood glue?

PS -there was a smallish crack on the bottom before I started but I cut it back about 4 inches.

242132

[Mike Heidrick]

Get a dealer with a kiln.

[Jerry Thompson]

I had a similar crack in the end of a 4/4 piece of maple. I first tested to see if the crack would close with two clamps. It closed and I used the vacume trick and liquid hide glue. I got squeeze out, wiped it up and left it clamped for a couple of days and it is still OK. That would be almost two years ago.

[johnny means]

Get a dealer with a kiln.

Yeah, because kiln dried lumber never checks:rolleyes:

[Peter Quinn]

LOL. I've made 1000's of stair treads in my current job over the years, many of those out of white oak. White oak has a notorious reputation for checking. Dry it well, 7% moisture, cut off the end checks, start working it......it cracks. Bring it in from storage, a bit wet/dry as the case may be, let it sit in a heated/cooled space.....it cracks. Look at it the wrong way...it cracks. Its not a rare or unusual event with WO, just an annoying regularity. Perhaps you didn't actually cut all the crack out? Perhaps you did. I've had some marginal success using PVA type glues to keep the checks from spreading, I've had better success with west systems. Seems to plug the cracks and keep them from advancing. Most times we leave WO objects long so they can be cut to final length just before installation and theoretically finishing which may help minimize cracking. I've never seen one actually split and fall apart from this, but the ones that want to crack seem to keep cracking an inch or two no matter how much you take off. Weird.

[Alan Schwabacher]

Charles Neil has an approach to fixing a check.

http://www.cn-woodworking.com/invisibly-repair-a-check/

[Jacob Reverb]

Charles Neil has an approach to fixing a check.

http://www.cn-woodworking.com/invisibly-repair-a-check/

That's pretty slick!