A little help please

[Mike Null]

My granddaughter is taking woodworking in her senior year of high school. Her first project was a laminated cutting board which came out beautifully. The second project, a chess board not so good, and that's where I could use some advice.

The board is fine but it is set in four rabbited mitered sides and glued with yellow glue. She must have glued the board in place before assembling the mitered sides. Anyway, the miters are open and the board is glued in such a fashion that the miters can't close. We could use walnut powder and glue to fill the miters but the right way is to disassemble the whole thing and re-assemble and re-glue it.

The question is, what is the best way to remove the board from the rabbited sides without doing damage to a very nice chess board. It appears to have been glued at the bottom of the rabbits to the bottom of the board.

[Paul F Franklin]

A pic would help, but without a pic I'm thinking to just saw off the 4 sides and then cut away the old rabbited pieces with two cuts each on the table saw. Of course that would mean making a new frame, but there's probably no way to get it apart without damaging the existing frame.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hey Mike, Warmed up vinegar will often soften/dissolve aliphatic resin glue (yellow glue). A small amount dribbled along one edge at a time might remove the border without undue damage.

[Mike Null]

Thank you Dave. I'll give that a try.

Paul, thank you. I'm trying to avoid that but if necessary, we will add a drawer for the chessmen. But that'll have to wait until after graduation.

[Todd Trebuna]

What about opening up the miter a little bit and placing splines in the joint?

[Bill Dufour]

I see cross grain problems in the future. How about cut the joint open with a tablesaw cut at 45 degrees. Then glue in a contrasting wood. or metal spline.
Bill D

[John TenEyck]

Whoever is teaching needs some remedial education on wood movement.

John

[Rich Engelhardt]

This is bound to be unpopular but...
I would do nothing.
It's only her second project, she'll learn a lot lot more by letting her find out how to fix the mistake.
The only advice I would give is - ask the teacher.

After graduation - then is when you can "fix it".

[Ron Citerone]

Maybe just let it stay the way it is instead of showing her the problems. It might be better to use the time for the two of you to build something new together as a Grandfather/Granddaughter project. Just my thoughts on it.

[Jim Becker]

I think it's perfectly fine to talk about it...by asking her leading questions that help HER think through things. That's how a good teacher (and parent/grandparent) actually teaches. It's about thinking things through. It's also how everyone has to learn how to make decisions and not just about woodworking. "If I do this, what are the possible consequences?" Don't "tell" them...help them work it out.

[Richard Coers]

As was mentioned, it will probably pop open the miters this spring as the solid wood board expands. Chess boards are usually better off being made from veneer because they are almost always set inside a frame.

[Mike Null]

Just a bit of an update. I used the vinegar and was able to separate the sides from the top with the aid of a dead blow hammer. I used the hammer gently so as not to do damage to the top. The vinegar did its job.

I think the shop teacher just gave the kids the materials and turned them loose as there's hardly anything that was done right. Even the board is glued up badly in terms of precision, though the glue application was well done. Anyway, we're going to have to make new sides as the ones I removed were cut to the wrong size.

She lives about 40 miles away so we'll have to wait until she graduates to begin the rebuilding process.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

[Bruce Wrenn]

No matter what kind of sides you add, when top expands (and it will) the miters will again open up again!