# two boards coming apart after 2 months of final build



## brown down (Mar 2, 2010)

in the photo below, where the two top boards of cherry join together in the middle, are now coming apart after the project has been completed for a couple of months now. I know when i glued these together i had plenty on them. they are the only boards that were joined together that are doing this???? any ideas how to fix or stop it from going any further????


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Problem is grain direction..*

The 2 pieces, one has long grain, the other end grain, so they are moving at different rates.
If you saw the boards apart, joint and flip one around so the long grains are matched, I think your glue joint will be much better. JMO  bill
BTW it will look much better too!


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> The 2 pieces, one has long grain, the other end grain, so they are moving at different rates.
> If you saw the boards apart, joint and flip one around so the long grains are matched, I think your glue joint will be much better. JMO  bill
> BTW it will look much better too!


 
agree & also suggest biscuits or dowels or a blind spline


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## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

I don't see anything wrong with your glue joint. It looks like the boards that your top were built with were from a crotch or limb area which is going to be prone to have weak grain or separation. Cherry is bad about shake anyway. A couple of ways to handle that would be to inset a few butterflies across the crack or fill the crack with epoxy and cherry dust. 
I think a well made repair adds to a piece of furniture.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

How can you all tell by looking at that picture that one board is end grain and the other long grain? My eye ball is just not sufficiently experienced to make that call.

Would it not be very strange for a board to have end grain on the long side? 

George


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## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

I can also see that it has a crotch grain to it which unfortunately has both end and long grain to it. I would do as woodnthings suggested and flip that board on the right.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Glue Joint Failure*

Movement is the cause of joint failures in most cases if the joint was properly made initially. Long to long usually never fails, end to end is not the strongest, and mixing the grains will usually lead to the condition above. If there were nothing "wrong" with the joint it would not be separating. So, the fix is not going to be easy, but unless you want to butterfly it there is no other choice but to redo it.
There is real nice pattern on both boards and they could look like bookmatched or close if sawn apart and reglued. There is no indication if the endcaps are glued on, but that is a possible issue also. 
If it were my project or my repair job I would go to the trouble and 
rip it apart, joint the edges and reglue. Yes, you'll lose about 1/4" of width, not a big deal in my opinion.


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## Texas Sawduster (Apr 27, 2009)

*Flip it.*

Yep, saw the boards apart at the glue joint, flip the right one in the picture over or end for end, after re-jointing the sawn surfaces, and re-glue. If there is a concern about the glue joint moving, especially under a static type load, like a weight on a table top, then use a couple of dowels in the middle to help support the center.


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## brown down (Mar 2, 2010)

the problem i have with doing that, is that they are biscuit joined. every piece on the top is biscuit joined from the end pieces to how the whole top is joined together. i don't see how i can take it all apart without destroying it!!!!


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Screw the bisquits!*

If it were me I'd just set a straight edge the shoe edge distance from the cut and use a quality circular saw blade and rip it down the existing joint.

And before C man says "I don't use bisquits" I will. since they don't really add strength, just help in alignment .....sometimes.  bill


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

I like Bills suggestion the best, but if you really didn't want to cut it in half... 

Could you inlay a strip of contrasting wood down the center that would hide the middle joint?


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## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

I still do not see how sawing the two boards at the glue joint, flipping and then re joining is going to solve the separation at the wild grain.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*This is only my theory*

Here's the way I "see" the grain since I'm not there in person it's pretty hard to tell what's really going on. I see some long grain and some end grain (wavy lines)
I also see the lighter and darker colors that would look better mated together if flipped. Now they are on opposite edges. That's just my opinion. bill


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> Here's the way I "see" the grain since I'm not there in person it's pretty hard to tell what's really going on. I see some long grain and some end grain (wavy lines)
> I also see the lighter and darker colors that would look better mated together if flipped. Now they are on opposite edges. That's just my opinion. bill



I agree Bills idea is the best way to fix the problem and it will look better.


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## JohnK007 (Nov 14, 2009)

I think I'm in Mizer's camp here. I don't see any separation in the glue joint. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough or are we talking about this checking in the left board.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Who knows?*

But based on the question, I thought it was the glue joint......
Quote:
i*n the photo below, where the two top boards of cherry join together in the middle, are now coming apart* after the project has been completed for a couple of months now. I know when i glued these together i had plenty on them*. they are the only boards that were joined together *that are doing this???? any ideas how to fix or stop it from going any further????

If the checking is the problem, then Cherry dust and epoxy.... bill


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