Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Cracks in stool legs!
Tara
Hello! I am not sure how I should proceed with the cracks on these legs! Client got some stools sent from France and it seems they split in the airplane.
The wood is very hard and I'm scared if i try to glue and clamps another crack will pop up somewhere else..
Any advise on what you would do? put water in to soften before glueing?
Or should i just fill and do touchups on top...
thanks!
educated guess
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
they look like cracks that occurred as a result of wet wood drying. Not much that could have been done to prevent. The kind of wood prone to this event is also bogging strong so the crack may have no significant effect on use of the leg. Based on the picture I would recommend filling with something. I have colored hot melt sticks that I could use to fill and match the color. This product is common to anyone refinishing, if you can find a refinisher. Otherwise I have no first hand experience on what else to use.
Don't bother clamping
Ellis Walentine
You won't get those cracks to close. Since the cracks seem fairly uniform, I would probably make long thin strips, planed to a somewhat gentle triangle cross section, brush a thin coat of glue on them, and pound them into the cracks. Trim them flush when the glue dries and selectively stain to match the color to the original. Fillers such as epoxy mixed with fine sawdust will also work, but if this wood is still moving, the cracks might get bigger (or possibly smaller) in which case your filler material could bulge out or open up new voids.
My 2¢,
Ellis Walentine, Host
Re: Don't bother clamping
Grant Smith
Yes, and..
I would consider what the typical humidity is in your area and try to make Ellis' proposed repair when the weather and the legs are at a local average, humidity wise. Assuming the client can wait.
Also take into consideration the value both tangible and intangible. It may make sense to do nothing if they are precious in some way. Better not to do too much and make it worse than to advise the client it should be left alone.
FWIW,
Grant in Iowa
Re: Cracks in stool legs!
Don Orr
If these are antiques or vintage and have some significant value to your client I would be hesitant to do much to them. I would like to wait and see what they do as local humidity changes. If they are indeed very old, those cracks may have been there a very long time and just opened up recently as they dried out in transit.
I'm no expert here but I would want to know what the wood wants to do on its own before any remediation.
Re: Cracks in stool legs!
Don Stephan
Is it known whether they were split before loading on the airplane? If new, get replacements.
Re: Don't bother clamping
Ralph Lipeles
To prevent further wood movement I would let them sit in a room temperature/humidity environment for a month or 2. Hopefully the customer would be told this first and agree.
Re: Cracks in stool legs!
Raj
I was wondering if the crack in the right leg in the picture might be in line with the wedge that was put in to attach the seat to the leg?? I would think the cracks are stress cracks and assuming that this is not an antiques, probably the best way to go would be to turn replacement legs to the same pattern and dye to match.