Replies

1. 
   user-52008 | Oct 13, 2006 12:36am | #1

   Checked lumber will only get worse. Filling the cracks with epoxy is a stop-gap measure likely to fail in the long run. If the checks are on the ends of the boards, I'd cut them off and burn the scraps in my wood stove. In the middle of a timber, the conventional approach is to treat them with a butterfly.

2. 
   JeffHeath | Oct 13, 2006 03:13am | #2

   Dovetail butterflies and epoxy.  Since it's a rustic table, a few smaller checks won't matter too much. Before butterflies were cut, I'd squeeze the check together with a clamp just a bit, to put some of the pressure on the butterfly.

   Jeff

1. 
   user-211435 | Oct 13, 2006 06:32am | #3

   I have used epoxy for this same purpose, with the end result being that I was building rustic furniture. 

   I prefer to fill with the epoxy, then joint 1/32 off the surface to get my finished face.

   I wouldn't clamp the board together first.  The epoxy is just a filler, not a repair.

   Hal

   http://www.rivercitywoodworks.com