Big crack while creating a mortise

[glenn bradley]

I clamp the area if there is a chance of splitting.

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Your area would not cause me to clamp the material automatically. It looks like there was plenty of materiel surrounding the cut(???).

[Jim Koepke]

Luis, search on > butterfly keys woodworking < to add a bit to your solution on this if you are going to repair the crack. It can add a distinctive look and help to prevent the crack from reopening.

Dutchman - Butterfly Key Patch.jpg

There are many options on the repair. Please post again to let us know how you proceeded on this project.

jtk

[Luis Reyes]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions! I'm starting to think there was a small crack and I just didn't pay enough attention to it. I bought this as rough lumber and cleaned it up myself.

I've glued the crack back together and have some additional questions / comments:

1. This is supposed to be the top of a step stool mainly to be used by my young daughter. Should I just mill a new top since chances are the crack may re-appear?
2. Jim, I love the way a bow tie inlay looks! Maybe I should give it a try on this project as I have nothing to lose. Will it still work if I've already glued up the crack?

Luis

[Tony Wilkins]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions! I'm starting to think there was a small crack and I just didn't pay enough attention to it. I bought this as rough lumber and cleaned it up myself.

I've glued the crack back together and have some additional questions / comments:

1. This is supposed to be the top of a step stool mainly to be used by my young daughter. Should I just mill a new top since chances are the crack may re-appear?
2. Jim, I love the way a bow tie inlay looks! Maybe I should give it a try on this project as I have nothing to lose. Will it still work if I've already glued up the crack?

Luis

I wouldn’t mill a new top unless the crack comes back or you see something else.

[Ben Ellenberger]

You can glue a bow tie in any piece. In fact it you want to close up the crack before you inlay it.

[James Pallas]

I would be cautious about putting a board I knew was prone to cracking into a project that someone may stand on including myself.
Jim

[Rob Luter]

You can glue a bow tie in any piece. In fact it you want to close up the crack before you inlay it.

I would be cautious about putting a board I knew was prone to cracking into a project that someone may stand on including myself.
Jim

If you'd like to salvage the top and assure it's safe but not have a distracting bow tie repair, just do it from the bottom. It will be plenty strong. And to answer your question above, it's fine to add the bowtie after gluing the crack back together.

[Jack Frederick]

I watched a guy repair a windshield crack where the set a vacuum on the inside of the windshield and apply the glue from outside. I’ve since had good luck doing the same with getting glue into a crack.

[Tony Wilkins]

I would be cautious about putting a board I knew was prone to cracking into a project that someone may stand on including myself.
Jim

Would it be repairable/replaceable if he used Hide Glue in the joint? Would it be worth it to try if there was a problem later?

[Mike Henderson]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions! I'm starting to think there was a small crack and I just didn't pay enough attention to it. I bought this as rough lumber and cleaned it up myself.

I've glued the crack back together and have some additional questions / comments:

1. This is supposed to be the top of a step stool mainly to be used by my young daughter. Should I just mill a new top since chances are the crack may re-appear?
2. Jim, I love the way a bow tie inlay looks! Maybe I should give it a try on this project as I have nothing to lose. Will it still work if I've already glued up the crack?

Luis

I have glued similar situations with good results but to be absolutely safe, use a new board. If you hadn't chopped along the grain, the crack may not have appeared.

Mike

[Daniel Culotta]

I’m assuming James is less worried about repairability and more about the thing failing while someone’s standing on it.

FWIW if you don’t want to use a new board, glueing the crack and putting a butterfly on the underside should make it solid. Sucking glue into the crack with a vacuum or working it in with dental floss are both good methods.

[Luis Reyes]

Thanks all for the tips. I’ll have to try the vacuum or dental floss tip in the future as it had never occurred to me!

I’ve ended up going with two bow ties because I figured i couldn’t make it worse! I’m surprised at how “well” the bow ties turned out as I didn’t think I could do it but after watching a couple of your tube videos I got the confidence and they aren’t ok bad! I feel much better about putting the step stool into use once I do some sanding.

here are some pictures of my bow tie. I did it on the bottom as my wife didn’t like the look on top.

first picture is after glueing then in and the second one is after sawing it down (harder than I thought it would be).

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[Jim W. White]

I see no evidence of DRILLING OUT the majority of the material before starting to square the hole with a sharp chisel. This step is critical

[Mike Henderson]

first picture is after glueing then in and the second one is after sawing it down (harder than I thought it would be).

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When I inset something (like those bow ties) I make them just barely thicker than the depth of the area they go into. After the glue sets, I sand them flat.

Mike