What's the best way to fill in an accidental cut in rough sawn cedar?

[Josh Davidson]

I'm building a cedar pergola and was cutting decorative tails in my beams this weekend that are 2x12x16. I was using my circular saw to make some angle cuts by setting a speed square to account for for the offset of the blade from the saw's base plate. Well, on my third board I stopped paying close enough attention and accidentally started cutting from the wrong direction (about 5" different blade offset) and ended up cutting about 2/3 up the board before realizing the cut was too deep.

Is there any way to correct this screw up that won't be noticeable? I'm staining the boards with a semi-transparent stain in a natural cedar tint. There won't be a structural issues as the cut is starting from what would be the bottom of the board and it's not bearing any additional weight near the cut. I was originally just going to scrap the board, but they're fairly expensive ($115 locally) and require a pain-in-the-ass drive to get.

[mreza Salav]

Take a piece thickness of the blade kerf and glue it back in. Then cut where you want it.
Done it in the past and worked fine.

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi Josh,
Looks like you've been a member for 7 years and just got around to posting? Well, glad to have you with us! You'll likely get a number of answers and ideas. Here's mine......

If I understand you right, you have a cut that is 2/3 the width of your board and perhaps half as deep as the board is thick? If that's about right, I see two solutions.
* idea #1: cut a piece of the same material to the width of the saw kerf and the depth of the cut. Use it to fill the goof. Use a waterproof glue and sand or wire brush to texture. [Edit: This is what Mreza is suggesting too.]

*idea #2: fill the goof with 2 part epoxy. If leaving it clear bothers you, you could experiment on scrap with how to best match color and texture. Ideas might include mixing in some of the same sawdust, mixing some of the stain, etc. I'd personally prefer this idea if I could figure a way to get close to a color match.

Good luck! Please close the loop back with us and let us know what you decide to do and how it turns out. That makes us all a little smarter (plus it's a really nice way to say "thanks for your help guys".:))
Fred

[Mike Henderson]

Take a piece thickness of the blade kerf and glue it back in. Then cut where you want it.
Done it in the past and worked fine.

I've done this also and it worked fine. You can cut a piece off the offcuts from the other pieces.

Mike

[Josh Davidson]

Hi Josh,
Looks like you've been a member for 7 years and just got around to posting? Well, glad to have you with us! You'll likely get a number of answers and ideas. Here's mine......

If I understand you right, you have a cut that is 2/3 the width of your board and perhaps half as deep as the board is thick? If that's about right, I see two solutions.
* idea #1: cut a piece of the same material to the width of the saw kerf and the depth of the cut. Use it to fill the goof. Use a waterproof glue and sand or wire brush to texture. [Edit: This is what Mreza is suggesting too.]

*idea #2: fill the goof with 2 part epoxy. If leaving it clear bothers you, you could experiment on scrap with how to best match color and texture. Ideas might include mixing in some of the same sawdust, mixing some of the stain, etc. I'd personally prefer this idea if I could figure a way to get close to a color match.

Good luck! Please close the loop back with us and let us know what you decide to do and how it turns out. That makes us all a little smarter (plus it's a really nice way to say "thanks for your help guys".:))
Fred

Yes, long time lurker :) Here's a picture of the damage:

371116

[Pat Barry]

I've done this also and it worked fine. You can cut a piece off the offcuts from the other pieces.

Mike
Obviously, make sure to try and match the grain pattern as best you can. The offcut will be all end grain so it will be fragile but you can glue it in easily enough. Since its not structural it doesn't need to completely fill the existing kerf, just look decent when its done.

[Keith Pleas]

How about cutting it all the way through and glueing it up as is? I don’t imagine the shorter length would be noticeable.

[Grant Wilkinson]

+1 on Keith's advice. Cut it all the way across and glue it back together. You'll lose 1/16". I wouldn't think in an outside pergola that you would notice that 1/16".

[Robert Engel]

Crossgrain patches can stick out like a sore thumb but if you're not staining it should be alright.

If that doesn't work, do cut and reglue with a floating tenon.

[Al Launier]

The ideas noted above to continue cutting through the boards is the best suggestion as it will allow for grain matching. Plus, gluing it with epoxy would make it weather proof. If concerned, you could even blind dowel or biscuit the ends in addition to epoxying.

[Jim Becker]

Take a piece thickness of the blade kerf and glue it back in. Then cut where you want it.
Done it in the past and worked fine.
This. Always fill with wood and if you're really careful, you can often create a piece the virtually disappears into the grain pattern.

[mreza Salav]

Here is one case I cut in the wrong face of a Mahogany post I was building for an entry door; I realized it about a foot or so into the cut and stopped. The second picture is the fixed up result. Hard to notice at all (though this was along the grain):

371142371141

[Vince Shriver]

Keith is spot on. I'd use dowels in the glue-up.

[Pat Barry]

How about cutting it all the way through and glueing it up as is? I don’t imagine the shorter length would be noticeable.
WOn't this be an endgrain to endgrain glueup? I tend to think of these as no-no's

[Frederick Skelly]

WOn't this be an endgrain to endgrain glueup? I tend to think of these as no-no's

My thought exactly Pat.
Fred

[Al Launier]

WOn't this be an endgrain to endgrain glueup? I tend to think of these as no-no's
You are correct, end grain glue-ups are weakest, but in this case there would be no loading on the end of the board & doweling or biscutis would secure the end even moreso beyong the gluing.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'm sort of surprised by the responses so far.....

A good tradesman would hide his mistake.....a great craftsman - - would celebrate his work! - as in - feature the mistake in some way.

IMHO - I'd create some sort of artistic flair & repeat that theme on each post.

[Bradley Gray]

Rich,

You sound like a Jazzer - If you play a wrong note, repeat it 3 times!