glue joint gaps - can it be fixed

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Hi all
I was gluing up what would have been a leg for my workbench.
I'm using dowels for alignment. Problem is the new dowels I am using are a bit longer than the old ones. using the same setting as before I found out that I didn't drill deep enough dowel holes and now I have gaps. is this fixable or do I chalk it up to the cost of tuition?

467803

[Mel Fulks]

You could work in some glue with something real thin ,old spring from a broken tape-measure is good for that. I wouldn’t worry about small
error on a work bench. But I would not use dowels for alignment on that project, maybe some cheap tape ,or some small nails driven
“toe-nailed” at the ends until glue is cured.

[Scott Winners]

tuiton I think. We are in dry season north of the equator. Can you slice apart, redrill at a different delta Y , and reglue with shorter dowels?

You are going after it in spite of severe location restraints. Significant respect to you.

[Steve Eure]

I'm with Scott on this one. I would rip it down the joint and re-glue. If you are worried about the size of the kerf and losing a bit of width, then use a thin kerf saw blade or do it on a bandsaw if available. Outside of that, if it is a structural matter, you may need to start from scratch. I would try ripping it first. What have you got to lose, except time.

[Jim Koepke]

Another voice for the price of tuition.

We often learn more from our mistakes than our successes. (this has made my learning legendary)

One possible solution would be if you can find or make a shim to fill the gap. Use epoxy glue as it is good for filling gaps. It would either need some cut outs to get past the dowels or be inserted from both sides.

Another would be to plow a slot over the gap and glue in a spline. Turn the pigs ear into a silk purse?

jtk

[Jason Buresh]

Another tip would be to mix some sawdust with epoxy or wood glue and work it into the joint.

But, being this is a workbench, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Put that leg in the back and facing the inside or something. If it was a furniture piece, always remember you can put the crappy side towards the wall

[Dave Anderson NH]

I would saw them apart for a start. Afterward trim the remaining dowel ends on both pieces flush with the main wood surfaces. This time just reglue and clamp. With careful alignment while clamping there is no real need for alignment dowels.

[John Jardin]

Great wisdom by my friend from NH.
Hello Dave.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi John,

Glad to see your still alive and kicking. The guild is now 31 years old with almost 700 members.

[John Keeton]

While sawing them apart and re-gluing as Dave says is an excellent solution, if you are already to final dimension with the offending leg I would favor a saw kerf and glued in spline. If you use the walnut, with a good grain match it will never be noticed.

[lowell holmes]

I would try Jason's approach on scrap and see how it works. What do you have to lose.

[Steve Jenkins]

Using either a dado blade or router rout a full length groove just a hair wider than the stripe and 1/8-1/4” deep and glue in a new piece

[Joe A Faulkner]

How thick are these legs? If all you need is a cosmetic repair, you could cut a 3/16ths deep dado the entire width of the accent piece and then glue in a 1/4” thick veneer face and plane it down

[Phil Mueller]

…or if the gap is thin, just buy some commercial veneer and glue it in. For a workbench, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. We all like our benches to look good, but really, if it’s just cosmetic, perfume it up a little and move on to building stuff.

[Tom Trees]

As said you will have to rip it down the middle again.
Since it sounds like early days yet in regards to the glue up, is there another leg which would benefit more aesthetically with the centerline "feature".

[Lee Schierer]

I would rip the piece of red oak off the two pine boards, clean up the edge of the pine. Make a new red oak piece and glue it up with or without the dowels.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

not sure I understand - all 4 legs will have a walnut strip running through it.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

update: I ripped the wanut in half and I'm going to plane it out. redue the glue up - that way at least the maple doesn't go to waste