A hickory board in the middle of a glue-up I just completed is exhibiting some major grain lifting on a flat-sawn section right in the middle. Card scraping and sanding aren’t helping because the surface where the problem is has actually sprung up a bit. Sanding just squishes the surface down flat temporarily, and it “springs” back up. I clearly should have inspected this board more carefully before using it, but now that I have, I’m hoping to find a way to recover. My thought is to force some 2-part epoxy into and under the lifting grain, and then clamp it down tightly until it dries. Followed by sanding. Has anyone done this kind of thing successfully? Any other options to recommend?
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What it looks like is "wind shake", or shakiness. This is splitting along the growth rings, rather than radially, which are usually called checks. I have had some success with the epoxy method; I might use long set epoxy rather than 5 minute, and apply a generous amount, so that it can penetrate deeper. After a few minutes, apply wax paper and clamp it down. Leave overnight at least. One problem you face with this is that the epoxy will also fill the pores of the hickory in the area. You may be able to get past this layer with the card scraper. Of course, only scrape with the grain instead of against it. If you go too deep, you may get past the depth that the epoxy has secured the split.
Shaky lumber can be really unpredictable, as the shakes can appear anywhere in the wood. I have just gone thru a large stack of red oak lumber that I've had since the late 1980s, much of it quartersawn from 46" and 38" diameter logs. We discovered after we got it dried and home that it was shaky, and couldn't use it professionally. I've just tried to get a few solid boards out of it for a bed for my wife and me; it was difficult.
Thanks - you describe the problem perfectly. I'll give the epoxy treatment a shot. Sorry about your red oak.
If you warm up your epoxy with a hair dryer it will become watery and go deeper in the crack.
I have had that problem with hickory but was able to run it through the planer enough to eliminate it. The last batch of rustic hickory was fine, just had to minimize tear out around knots. Hickory is unusual, I have had three different looking boards in my projects. One was pretty uniform and it showed the lifting. The other had dark sections, and the last one I worked with, the rustic, had knots with dark inclusions. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice. The hickory boards we're using show very dramatic color contrast. Makes for a very attractive headboard - if we can rescue it from this problem! The problems seem to be in the dark wood.
West System epoxy seems to have done the trick. We'll see how it affects the finish.
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