Tiny check/crack. Fixes??

[Craig Behnke]

I just glued up a hard maple breadboard and I see an incredibly thin hairline check/crack on the end of the board. Looking at the end grain view I see the crack is about 0.5 inches deep into the 1.25 inch thick board. Looking at the top i see the crack travels about 1 inch long. It's (now) obvious the end of the board was checked and I didn't catch it.

It's about 50% humidity here in VT. It's not a dry state, so that's probably very normal. I had the board in my shop a week before working with it.

I don't even think I could get the thinnest feeler from an automotive feeler gauge into the crack. It's barely noticeable...but I do see it.

I wouldn't worry about it if the board for me, but this is a paid job I'm doing for a co-worker and I want to see if I can salvage this board. I don't want to shorten the board because it's just the right length that the buyer ordered and it's massive and I have some raw material costs and time and effort into this.

I have thought of trying to do some spot application of CA to seep into the wood, but i'm not sure if that is a lasting fix. I also thought of using my router and a 1/8 inch spiral bit to router the cracked area and then make a perfect fitting plug and titebond III it in there.

What are other options that might be easier/better?

Thanks.

[John Lanciani]

Pay job = do over. Gluing an end check is rarely successful in the long term and trying to plug it will just look butch. Consider the lesson to be the price of doing business.

[Bill Space]

How about discussing it with the customer and giving them the option of accepting the piece at a discounted price, or waiting for a "perfect" replacement?

I don't know what a breadborad is, but if it is to be used perhaps a slight crack at the edge will not be an issue in their minds...

[Richard Coers]

Why not rip it open. right down the crack, then glue it back together. The width will only be 1/8" narrower. If that's unacceptable, glue an 1/8" back in to get the original dimension.

[Wade Lippman]

Captain Tolleys! http://www.captaintolley.com/
An amazing product. I had a creeping crack in chest lid 5 years ago and thought I would have to remake it. A couple drops and it has been solid ever since.
I don't know why this product isn't more popular.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Craig
What all the others have said. I would not use Titebond III on maple that is going to be seen, it leaves too dark of a glue line for light colored woods. Tom

[Jeff Duncan]

Richard got it, rip it down the center of the crack and glue back together. Anything else is just begging for problems down the road.

good luck,
JeffD

[Rob Holcomb]

If you have and are proficient with a band saw, you could rip it with that and decrease the amount of waste.

[Lee Schierer]

Here's a simple trick for getting glue in a tiny crack. Put a bead of glue on the surface and then use a piece of unwaxed dental floss to work the glue into the crack just like flossing your teeth. Once you get glue worked in wipe off the excess on the surface and clamp up the piece. Be sure to sand it again after the glue dries so you don't leave any residue on the surface to mess up your finish.

For a through crack you can put glue on the surface and suck it into the crack with your shop vac from the back side or thread the dental floss throught he crack and work the glue in.

Note to Mods: This tip should also get moved to the Tips and Tricks post.

[Craig Behnke]

Why not rip it open. right down the crack, then glue it back together. The width will only be 1/8" narrower. If that's unacceptable, glue an 1/8" back in to get the original dimension.

Thanks for all the replies and ideas, it's really appreciated.

I used the advice of both Richard and Bill and I wound up getting another sale out of it!!!

I brought the board in to show the customer and give her several fix options. Another co-worker saw the board and asked if I could make one for them also for the same price. Answer: YES!

It was a striped board to begin with (maple, walnut), so I ripped the section with a crack, copied it on the other side, then inserted additional walnut stripes. The one PITA part is that both of the new stripe inserts sit where I routed some grab handles on the underneath of the board so it's a little more than just gluing it up. But I learned a lesson and got another job.

I'll take it.

[Myk Rian]

Richard got it, rip it down the center of the crack and glue back together. Anything else is just begging for problems down the road.

good luck,
JeffD

And leave 2 rows thin? I wouldn't buy it.

[Craig Behnke]

And leave 2 rows thin?

Wrong assumption,...and I wouldn't sell it to you with that crankypants attitude.

Two rows weren't thin, the board was made with multiple stripes of varying width and the two new stripes look fantastic.

[Jeff Duncan]

And leave 2 rows thin? I wouldn't buy it.

Yeah I don't understand why you would assume anything was thin or where you read anything about multiple rows in the OP? Maybe you got some additional information the rest of us missed:confused:

JeffD

[Myk Rian]

Maybe all the facts of the makeup of the board weren't set in front of us?
If all facets of it were the same size, it would definitely show if a 1/8" kerf was cut, and glued back together.
Apparently, the sizes are different, (which was not indicated) so a 1/8" kerf may, or may not show.

Don't worry Craig. I wouldn't buy it from you.

[Jeff Duncan]

Myk, I think maybe we're thinking about totally different things? I'm thinking this is a flat board to cut bread on....an elongated cutting board if you will? As such your looking at a piece of wood, or two, or 3 glued together and then maybe shaped, or at least edge profiled, in which case nobody would ever know if there was 1/8" of wood missing as the sizes are arbitrary? Kind of like looking at table top and trying to spot one randomly sized board that's thinner than the other randomly sized boards:cool:

Now it turns out he has used some different woods to kick it up a notch, so then it could make a difference, but of course we didn't know that from the original post.

JeffD

[Myk Rian]

This is what I consider to be a cutting board.

http://www.endgraincuttingboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/End-Grain-Cutting-Board.jpg

[Jeff Duncan]

Ahhhh I see,.......and that's what I would call a checkered cutting board:D