Should I Fill A Crack in a Piece of Furniture
fossilhunter
| Posted in Wood and Materials on
I have a bachelor’s chest I made out of Austrailian jarrah, which is a very dense exotic. After 25 years, I noticed an exterior crack on the right side of the cabinet. The crack can’t be seen from inside the cabinet. It runs from the top of the chest about 3/4 way to the base but the crack is only “open” about half the way down. I’d say the crack opening is 1/32 to 1/16″ wide at its widest point. I’m refinishing the chest and am trying to decide if I should put a small amount of glue in and sand that surface to fill in the crack or just leave it alone. Not sure if filling will make the crack expand more. Any comments would be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.
Replies
I'm usually looking at epoxy, but that is to stabilize a crack. In this case, after that many years it is stabilized crack.
You could simply leave it, or if its bothering you, I would go with a tinted wax filler stick.
That looks like a failed glue joint, filling it will eventually fail also. If you can identify the reason the joint failed and take it apart you can repair it. If you just want to refinish it you can call it "character" instead of a crack and just go with a wabi-sabi view.
I thought it was a failed glue joint at first but there is no crack on the inside of the cabinet. Wouldn't there be if it was a glue joint. Also, I didn't show all of the crack in the photo and at the lower end, the crack isn't straight. It's more jagged. Thank you for responding.
the piece of furniture was made 25 years ago but the crack is recent. Do you still think it has stabilized?
Looking at the grain on either side it appears to be a glue joint to me. The jagged area may be the wood shearing from the joint above widening. Agree you could try wax filler or the lacquer sticks that melt in and see how that holds up overtime. Otherwise I’d call it character and enjoy it as is.
Guess I misread you. No, if the crack is recent, then it may not be stabilized. Even still, its a cosmetic issue.
May be related to unequal drying outside vs. inside. Has the piece been moved recently where that side might be exposed to sun or a draft?
I'd go with the wax filler and not worry about it.
The piece was actually in a climate controlled storage unit for 2 years so no light at all and prior to that it was not in direct sunlight. Although I didn't notice it at the time, the crack may have occurred when it was moved. Hard to keep an eye on movers at all times. I'll just go with the wax filler and consider it character. My main objective was to keep the crack from getting worse. Thank you all for your responses.
At 25 years I would call it a classic and leave it. If it is in a spot that annoys you every time you pass by the piece, a wax fill would be my choice.
Hey guys
I'm a newbie....when you saw wax fill, do you mean a product like Varathane wood fill stick or something else. If you have a brand name that would be helpful. many thanks
A friend had a similar problem. He opened the crack with a thin, serrated filet knife and clamped it closed. He used one of my favorite glues on it, Old Brown Glue. That stuff's hard as it gets.
Mikaol
Mikaol......the crack doesn't go all the way through so I'm concerned about regluing this cabinet
Have a look at these from Lee Valley. I like that they are on the softer side and colour match quite well.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/supplies/finishing/wood-fillers/20069-wax-filler-sticks
that's what I needed. Thank you oxmach.
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