What should I do with this hairline crack in cherry board?

[Gary R Katz]

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Last year I bought several cherry boards from a cabinet shop that was closing down. I assume the boards were there for awhile and were stable. I'm presently building a pair of cherry bedside tables and want to saw this board in half then glue the 2 pieces as the top of one table. The first pic shows the underside of the board; notice at the center there is a knot. The second pic is a close up of the end of the board and shows a hairline crack part way up the board. Originally the end of the board had a wider crack completely through the board. I sawed this end as far as I could but I still have this crack which I think is caused by stress from the knot.
I want to glue this hairline crack to prevent it from getting worse. I drilled 3 tiny holes part way through and tried to insert CA glue but it didn't work. I'm thinking I should try epoxy but I don't know how to get it in the crack. Additionally, I don't even know if I should worry about such a small crack. Any suggestions?

[mreza Salav]

West system epoxy, use syringes and inject some into the holes you drilled until is squeezes out from other parts. I'd use a packing tape around and the end of the board to prevent glue from spreading everywhere.

[Jeff Ramsey]

Have you considered a butterfly (also dutchman)?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_joint

[johnny means]

Here is how I stabilize a crack/split. It's a bit more than a hairline, but it works for that too. This is a credenza toland will get an epoxy fill and butterflies after being stabilized.

[Mike Henderson]

You can also use your glue of choice (but not CA) and blow it in with compressed air. I put glue, such as Titebond, on the crack, then come back with compressed air and blow it in. Repeat several times. Then clamp with whatever clamps you have that will put the strongest pressure on the board to close the gap.

I assume that face is going to be the bottom of the table, not the show side.

Mike

[I'll add that I've done this many times and haven't encountered any failures. Glue is stronger than the wood so if it failed, I'd expect a new crack and not an opening of the glued one.]

[Gary R Katz]

I like the syringe idea and definitely like the packing tape. I'll looking into the West system epoxy. Thanks!

[Gary R Katz]

I thought about a butterfly but wanted to avoid the extra project.

[johnny means]

The problem with injecting sticky stuff into splits is that you can never clean the mating surfaces. If the movement continues all you end up with is a crack with a mess of cracked glue down the middle.

[Gary R Katz]

Mike, this sounds like a clever idea and it might just work, especially if I open the holes up larger. Thanks!

[Prashun Patel]

I think that crack came from cupping stress at the apex of that flatsawn area, not necessarily a knot.

I don’t think you would lose much aesthetically if you just ripped each half down that split and re glued the boards possibly even reorienting them.

Those wide, flat sawn pieces might possibly be prone to seasonal cupping even if you could successfully glue that crack, so splitting the board along the stress point and reorienting may result in a long term more stable top.

Ymmv.

[lowell holmes]

Or drill a hole in the end of the split and put cherry peg in the hole.

[Rob Charles]

+1 on the peg or dowel at the end of the hole. I had had success with a vacuum used in combination with a syringe to help in moving the glue through a crack. I will have to try the compressed air trick.

[Gary R Katz]

Prashun, I think this might be an excellent idea. Some of the other wide cherry boards are cupped and it would make sense to split this one since it's already cracked.
Thanks for the idea!

[Gary R Katz]

Lowell and Rob, I'm worried about gluing in a peg on the underside because the wood is barely 3/4" thick.

[Doug Garson]

Agree with Lowell, you need to drill a hole at the end of the crack. The purpose of the hole is to blunt the end of the crack so it cannot continue to grow. Not sure what the holes in the middle of the crack accomplish other than maybe help get glue into the crack but you should be able to get the glue in without the holes.

[Andrew Hughes]

I was thinking the same as Prashun. The crack showing up in the center of the cathedral grain is not a good sign.
Ripping down the center and re gluing the two halves is what i would do.

[tom lucas]

I agree with Prashun and Andrew. Just rip it and glue it back together. Though I would use dowels to keep the join strong and flat. In general I do this with wide boards because it reduces cupping. It's rare that the aesthetics are adversely affected.

You could drill at the end and fill with dowel, but I think that wouldn't look as good as just ripping and re-gluing.

[Derek Cohen]

Another alternative is to simply saw off the end of the board. This assumes, of course, that you can spare the length. But it is a way to avoid a spreading crack.

If retaining the length, and the crack is indeed hairline and likely to become lost in the surface figure and finish, I would add a butterfly from below, where it is not seen.

Posted on a train to Vienna

Derek

[Andrey Kharitonkin]

Sorry for post not related to topic but...




Posted on a train to Vienna

Derek

Have a nice vacation, Derek! I can confirm, it is beautiful already here. And also lots of good old furniture in local museums/palaces, I've heard.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Andrey. Just arrived, and staying in an apartment in Spittelberg for the next week.

Regards from Vienna

Derek

[Al Launier]

You can also use your glue of choice (but not CA) and blow it in with compressed air. I put glue, such as Titebond, on the crack, then come back with compressed air and blow it in. Repeat several times. Then clamp with whatever clamps you have that will put the strongest pressure on the board to close the gap.

I assume that face is going to be the bottom of the table, not the show side.

Mike
Mike, what a great idea! I'm hanging onto that one. Thanks!

[Rich Aldrich]

Just as others have proposed, my first thought was to rip it down the crack and glue back together. I have done this many times. Since it is at the end of the board it could have started from a checking type crack. I try to avoid using boards over 4". I rip the wider ones and glue back together to get rid of the cupping. However, I purchase skip planed lumber at 15/16 thick (and wholesale prices), so I have a lot of material to work with. the lumber has anchorseal on the ends that is put on prior to kiln drying.

[Pat Barry]

My first thought was to just cut that end off or get a new piece of wood.

[Bob Jones 5443]

I'll add my vote for Prashun's recommendation. Ripping through the crown will relieve the internal pressure. After the two halves respond, their edges might not even be square to the face, which would be a huge clue that the board should never have been left together. You would then just turn up the two halves and edge-join them back. You might choose to flip one of them to alternate the grain directions.

No more crack, far less seasonal cupping, and you'll have the satisfaction of making perfectly flat and square new edges. Good luck!

[roger wiegand]

I'm finally figuring out that I"ve spent way too much time and effort trying to save cracked wood (and eventually failing). Either shorten the board to below the crack or, as others have suggested, split it down the crack, removing that material and re-gluing.

[Alan Schwabacher]

Charles Neil Woodworking on YouTube has a video called "Invisibly repair a crack". It's a good method.

[Al Launier]

Charles Neil Woodworking on YouTube has a video called "Invisibly repair a crack". It's a good method.

Now that was ingenious! So much common sense to that fix. I'm going to save that trick for sure.
Thanks Alan!.

[Stan Calow]

YES the Charles Neil trick is brilliant.

[Gary R Katz]

There were so many excellent suggestions I was confused about the best way to go. After a few days I decided I'm going to rip the board with my band saw just to be on the safe side, then re-glue the board. Thanks for all the time and thought everyone put into this. I'll plan to post photos when I'm done.

[Dan Hahr]

There are hairline cracks that are repairable but usually they show up when the board is flexed or stressed in some fashion. A crack that is visible when the board is just sitting there does not want to close on its own. Even getting glue in the crack and forcing it shut might work, but you are definitely causing to wood to move in a way that it does not want to. Save yourself a lot of grief by using a board that is not trying to split itself. Several methods above will stabilize the crack but unless you really enjoy looking at it get rid of it.

If you have a small crack that appears on the end of the board when flexed, pulling glue into it and clamping works really well. Otherwise you’re going to use glue to fill a gap that is not going to be closed you should be using something like epoxy.

Dan

[andy bessette]

Drilling holes is almost always a mistake and entirely unnecessary; drilling just enlarges the damaged area. Many cracks can be repaired using saturating epoxy. But OP has chosen the best method (ripping and re-gluing) for getting rid of the earlier flubbed (drilled and CA'd) repair.

[lowell holmes]

I am late to the party, but I would consider ripping the board down the crack and gluing the halves back together.

[Jim Becker]

Also late to the party. My first choice would always be new material that didn't have a defect that was going to interfere with the plan. If the existing material needs to be preserved, I'd carefully get glue injected in the crack as far as possible and then clamp it up. It may or may not get a visible butterfly or other similar accommodation to strengthen the fix...that would be material and situation specific and might even be on the bottom of something that has a hidden surface if I didn't want the crack fix highlighted. My absolute LAST choice would be to rip and re-glue. While this is a subjective thing, I never rip wide stock and re-glue if it can be avoided and for me, that's generally 100% of the time.