# Preventing end grain box splitting



## Madsailor (Aug 25, 2011)

Hello all,

The company I work for machines plastic and aluminum every day. One of our customers came to us and wants us to machine a 1 1/2" tall X 9" wide by 14" long box out of a single piece of Macassar Ebony. This is for a display case for a very expensive piece of equipment.

My concern is that the 1/4" thick end grain walls will check and crack no matter what we do. We have talked about the following: 

1) Lining the inside with fiberglass and epoxy (it will be covered with foam and fabric).
2) Covering the unit with epoxy, putting it in a vacuum chamber and evacuating the air from the wood for 10 minutes. Then it to atmospheric pressure causing it to suck the epoxy into the pores.
3) Wax to slow drying time

Does anyone have any comments, experience or other ideas?

Regards,

Mark Lambert


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