To resize a piece of furniture, I had to break a joint between end grain and side grain held together by screws and glue. I have shortened the end grain piece and now need to attach it to the side grain piece. Problem is some of the side grain tore out when I broke the original joint. How should I fill the tear out and then what glue should I use?
Replies
Post a photo... too much guesswork here.
Saw, chisel or route out a slice to remove that tear out. Substitute a rectangle of smooth wood to remake that end. When you glue it up again, use the same glue for the patch piece as you use for the reassembly.
Any patch should match the grain of the main piece, as far as possible.
Personally I'd hand-saw out a rectangular rabbet on that end then use a hand router to make the sawn-out area flat, smooth, of an equal depth across its "floor" and otherwise easily patchable. I'd then make the patch a little over-size and glue it in to the sawn-out area, clamping until dry.
When dry, I'd plane the patch down to make the end the same size as it was originally, hopefully with no patch-gaps showing and a reasonable grain match.
Lataxe
PS Fillers are going to interfere with glue, so I'd avoid them.
I don't have tools or material to patch with wood. That's why I asked what filler to use to fill tear out and what glue to use with filler.
As Lataxe says, replace the wood in that area. Look around the piece, sometimes you can find an invisible spot to harvest the patch from.
I don't have tools or material to patch with wood. That's why I asked what filler could be used and what glue to use after filling.
Filler will make the joint weaker. It's cosmetic, not structural. And since you'll be putting these pieces back together, no one will see it.
I might think about leveling the area with epoxy. One it has set, use more epoxy to join the two parts together, and put the screws back in.
I also might think about using construction adhesive, then screwing them back together.
If that area is not going to be seen, I would not even think about filler.
Thanks. I ordered some JB Weld woodweld before reading the comments suggesting structural epoxy. Now I am confident it will work.
Structural epoxy such as J B Weld. It will act as filler and adhesive.
As Gulfstar said, if you use epoxy, be sure to use one that is specified as a "filler" (I think that would include JB Weld). Most clear epoxies, of the 5 minute variety, are formulated as a glue, not a filler. Companies like System 3 produce structural epoxy with fillers that are made for the purpose.
It will depend a little on what the joint is going to be expected to do.
With ordinary adhesive it will be at a rough guess half as strong as it would be if it were smooth. That may well be enough for what you need.
You have three options in addition to the thick epoxy.
1. You can shave off a little of the surface to make it much smoother. This does not need to be deep. It will alter how the piece joins, but depending on what it does, this may not be noticeable.
2. You can simply accept the weaker joint - if this is a chair part then that is probably not ideal, but for most tables, half-strength would be sufficient.
3. You can consider an extra screw, or simply rely on screw fixings for strength. Pieces not subject to significant racking forces will last well.
Yes. And, if it's a table, they sell special corner brackets designed to hold table aprons to legs. Those tables have neither glue nor joinery to hold them together. It's not how I would choose to do it, but it works.
Coupla dowels might help if you can't patch it, but if you have the tools to resize the furniture you can likely do the patch. Since you cut down the other side you probably have the material. Try to make the good fix, you can always resort to a filler if it fails.
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