Suggestions for repair of chapel door arch

[David Anglin]

I would appreciate your thoughts and insights on a strategy to repair some linear cracks in a large door arch that goes above a quite large front door of a small, but beautiful chapel that our church community is building. The chapel is called a Daughter Shrine, of which there are 200 around the world, the original being in Schoenstatt, Germany. The chapel is only 600 sq ft but has many beautiful symbols and statues inside. The chapel is associated with a 100 year-old Catholic spritual movement known as Schoenstatt (“beautiful place” in German). By tradition, many of the objects inside are made in other countries, where there are more shrines and the craftsmen are familiar with the Shrine.
This arch, that goes over the front door, was donated by a family in Ecuador, shipped here and kept in what I feel was a stable environment for over six months in its original packing. On opening the crate, the linear cracks were found, but the rest of the door was intact.


I’m only a hobbyist, with more experience building fences, barns, pole sheds, and chicken coops than fine furniture, but it looks like the wood used in the arch is mostly flat or plain grained, which can shrink as much as 8 %, right? Plus, the band of wood enclosing the arch may be keeping the wood from expanding/contracting without generating strain. Perhaps the wood had not equilibrated in terms of humidity before construction/shipping.


We have 100 days till the Shrine is dedicated, with visitors from around the world. How would you go about dealing with this damage, and mitigating against the risk of the cracks recurring?


Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.


David Anglin
Austin, Texas






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[lowell holmes]

How sad.

Can it be disassembled? If so, perhaps the wood that has separated be replaced with an exotic plywood with veneer that matches the color. The carving looks to be in good condition.

I think I would look for an antique restoration expert in the area and see if they have any suggestions. They have disassembled pieces for restoration and probably have tricks of the trade.

[Sam Murdoch]

This would make me cry - which wouldn't solve anything. Solution? I agree with Lowell's suggestion to try to disassemble. The exotic ply and veneer might be the only real solution, but depending on how it all comes apart here is my thought -

At the very least remove the perimeter frame. Reglue the boards - add painters tape on the face along the seams before applying adhesive (Titebond II or III or clear epoxy to try to eliminate the need to refinish) and clamp. The painters tape will help keep the surface clean of glue residue. The back won't be seen will it?

The clamping might be done by setting the panel on a plastic covered plywood sheet then screwing blocks or some matching curved pieces to the plywood so that you can add wedges between the blocks and the curved perimeter of the panel to pull it all together. Be pretty generous with the blocks and wedges for best results.
Make sure as you clamp or wedge that you don't misshape the panel with too much pressure. Keep it flat as you pull it together.

You then need to accommodate wood movement with this assembly. If the panel was built to ride in a mortise in the frame you might be able to make the mortise deeper and keep it clear of glue. I'm guessing though that you might need to add some trim to the front and back - attached to the frame - that will create a deeper mortise for the panel to move. You might need to rabbet the panel edge for this to work.

Not a bad idea to hire a professional woodworker for this one.

Otherwise - I've got nothing :(. Good luck. Sorry for your troubles.

[Shawn Pixley]

As I see it, there are two problems.

1.) The "field" to the carving has split.
2.) The carving has broken in itself and to some degree separated from the "field"

To fix the field, first remove the carving. Disassemble the field completely and add loose splines between the field pieces. Allow for wood movement. The hill country weather there will subject it to a lot of movement. This needs accommodation in both the reassembly itself and how it is attached to the chapel framing.

Once the field is reassembled properly and allows for movement, start repair of the carving. As I see it, it should be able to be reglued along the splits. The bigger problem will be mounting it to the field. I might consider screws from behind in the center. Other screws from behind with slotted holes to allow differential movement from the "field." Make sure in installation that water can't get behind the carving.

Matching the finish may be a bit of tedious touch-up. From here, I can't see that it couldn't be repaired.

[Brian Holcombe]

A glued panel that wide in solid wood is a bit doomed in my opinion. Is it possible to remove the panel, saw it into heavy cuts of veneer and then apply it over plywood and attach the carving to that?

[John A langley]

David I would try fixing that from the back was some bowties you may not be able to pull it together but I wouldn't let that concern I don't think it's going to get any worse and I think it adds to its beauty and also might be able to find somebody that can fill it and then finish it what Sean says you want to protect it from the weather personally I think the last thing I'd want to do was take it apart

[John A langley]

You might want to try this from the back they work great

[Dave Zellers]

On opening the crate, the linear cracks were found, but the rest of the door was intact.

Do you know for certain that it wasn't like this when it was shipped? I mean, it's old. Of course it will shrink.

But I agree with the fix it from behind suggestions. I think if you (or anyone) messes with the front, you will likely regret it.

Those adapted Jorgensen clamps are awesome! I wish I could think of stuff like that. They could even be half that size, given the power of that clamp.

[David Anglin]

1. Sorry to not get back to my post right away, but got busy. I appreciate the input from everyone. We do want to see if the arch can be repaired. I am intrigued by the exotic plywood idea, but don't know how easy it would be to match/integrate with the door and frame, but then I'm a hobbyist at best. Clearly the design with the frame around the arch has not allowed movement. To answer Dave's question, I'm pretty sure this happened after arrival in the states. I probably have lost track of time- the door, frame and arch have been in storage for probably over a year as we gradually assembled the items inside the chapel- statues, carvings, the altar, etc. via donations as well as general fundraising for the chapel and landscaping work.

2. I'm wondering if forum members could help me locate a professional craftsman to help us with the repairs - on who is from the general Central Texas area. We're in Austin, but 90 miles away from San Antonio.
? Any ideas.

Thanks for your interest and thoughts.

David

To give you a little idea how intricate the chapel's inside work is, I'm enclosing some pictures of the inside and the altar, taken from shrines in other parts of the world.






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[Pat Barry]

I would only be thinking about the cracking of the carving, not the linear separations. Those linear separations are not in any way I see an issue. With regard to placement - Is this only seen from the side you are showing us? If not, what does the back look like? Second - this is a job for a professional restorer, not an amateur. I suspect there must be many in your area.