Tell me what I already know

[Aaron Liebling]

Making a bed post and the top cracked while screwing in the bed rail fastener plates.

Anyone disagree that I've got to make a new leg?

The wood is sapele if anyone thinks that matters.

463457

[johnny means]

Inject some glue, remove the screws, then clamp it shut. Why waste a finished leg?

[johnny means]

Oh, and use a properly sized countersink bit when you screw the hardware back in.

[Rick Potter]

In addition, someone once posted that you can use a shop vac to suck glue into cracks before clamping. I tried it once and it worked.

[Sam Puhalovich]

I would drill into the crack for a dowel to ensure a good glue joint ... inserting-it about a 1/4" below the surface ... then glue-in a hole-plug with the grain going in the proper direction. For an insurance: install a 2nd dowel going cross-grain ... under the other plate.

[joe maday]

It's hard to see how long the leg is, but, I'm guessing it is the foot post and not the headboard post. If you have the wood, make a new leg or better.......a new pair of legs. The short amount of grain above the mortice/screw would give trouble in the future...good to happen now...make that area taller to give more strength....There is a lot of racking force for being so close to the top of the post..... Use this leg to maybe find a proper/ better diameter pilot hole. Sapele can be very splintery..and screwing that close to the end is looking for trouble down the Road......my 1 3/4 cents

[Mark e Kessler]

I wouldn't, keep it open like that or open a little more then push glue in using compressed air and a low setting, clamp....Done...

[Robert Mayer]

I try to only buy the screws that have the vertical slot cut in them. They are far less likely to split the wood.

[Bill Dufour]

Oh, and use a properly sized countersink bit when you screw the hardware back in.


Why countersink?
Bill D.

[Wes Grass]

I'm not in any way a furniture maker, but I'd guess this is another reason to use rift sawn material for legs in addition to creating a consistent appearance on the faces.

As for edge grain, drilling a cross hole for a dowel to take the screw threads is a really good idea.

[Lee Schierer]

If you drilled a pilot hole it was improperly sized. When ever screws are put in that close to the end of a piece you run the risk of the wood splitting. Screws tend to act like wedges when there is no pilot hole or it is too small. Even the so called self tapping wood screws can cause split ends.

[Aaron Liebling]

I drilled a pilot hole, but I think it was 1/16 or so too small. Lesson learned!

[Von Bickley]

Before I built another leg, I would route a groove across the crack and insert a matching piece of sapele.

[Doug Garson]

Is this something you are building for yourself or for a client? If for a client I'd make a new one, if for myself I'd repair as others have suggested, inject glue, clamp, drill correct size pilot hole and reinstall screws. Alternately, I assume this is the top of the leg, any chance you can patch the holes, flip it to the opposite corner where the patches would not be noticeable?

[Aaron Liebling]

The client is my wife. She'll be ok with it. It's for a modern bed (headboard attaches separately) where all four legs are the same. I'll hide this one back by my head where no one will notice it.

[johnny means]

Why countersink?
Bill D.

First, to get a properly sized pilot. Second, a shallow countersunk area prevents the wood from cleaving open as a screw is driven in.

[Jim Becker]

First, to get a properly sized pilot. Second, a shallow countersunk area prevents the wood from cleaving open as a screw is driven in.
Yea, I often use this technique myself. The "countersink" is only a subtle chamfering of the edge in this case, but it serves to keep material that the screw threading pulls on from interfering with the mating surfaces.

[Bill Carey]

................. I'll hide this one back by my head where no one will notice it.


As others have said repairing it is relatively easy, but if you have a hard time letting go of things, and you'll see it every night when you go to bed, make a new leg. For me, it would haunt my dreams for months if I saw it every night.

[johnny means]

Properly glue and clamped, this crack will be invisible and as strong as if it had never happened. There is absolutely no reason to remake it

[Frank Pratt]

Properly glue and clamped, this crack will be invisible and as strong as if it had never happened. There is absolutely no reason to remake it

This.

And no need at all for dowels; they just add complexity & would look weird. Just make sure the pilot bit is sized right. It should be the same size as the root of the screw, but with some hardwoods, you may need to go up a size. Use an off cut of the same wood to test for pilot size.

[Jim Dwight]

Repairing it is perfectly viable, especially since it is for you. I would sand and refinish the end after blowing in some glue, removing the screw, clamping and letting it sit 24 hours. It should be hardly visible.

I also agree with the comments about strength for racking loads. Vertical loads - the main load on the leg - it doesn't matter how long the leg is. But if you move the bed and sometimes when you move on the bed, it wants to lean the legs. When that happens with a leg with so little material above the screw, it will want to crack again - or crack another leg. But it may not happen. So I would glue it up, refinish the top of the leg and hope for the best.

I only use these type of bed rail fasteners after trying several types. I never put a dowel in but I do use as long a screw as possible. Same thing on the end of the rail. Some of the beds I've built this way have been used for a decade or more at this point and all work fine - no issues. So I do not recommend adding any dowels. But I would use a minimum 2.5 inch screw for the screws into the rail. Holding power in end grain is not as good but with a good long screw it is still fine. In the leg you are going into long grain so I don't understand why anybody would dowel that - waste of time in my opinion.

[Doug Garson]

Couple additional suggestions, when you insert and tighten the screw, clamp the piece so the screw can't force the crack open and add low friction furniture glides to the bottom of the feet to minimize racking stress on joints when moving (added bonus it protects floor if hardwood).

[Steven Woodward]

1. Cut a slot through the crack, and then glue in a spline (as already suggested)
2. Cut 2 or 3 slots perpendicular to the spline and glue splines in those cuts.
3. Drill pilot holes as large as possible to still get a good grip on the threads. Check first on a scrap of similar wood.

[Aaron Liebling]

I find the wide range of opinions and options really interesting! Great to see so many different approaches to any given situation.

For now, I've glued and rescrewed. Worst case, I'll replace the leg, which really isn't THAT much work.

[Jim Becker]

You did what I would have likely done, Aaron. I doubt it will fail again but as you say, if it does, there's a remedy.