My name is Charlie and I have a crack problem...

[Charlie Barnes]

I was planing some pieces of cherry that will be glued up into raised panels. The cherry has been stickered and air dried for a couple of years. Some of the boards have very small "cracks" in the grain. I'm calling them cracks, but voids may be a better discription since they don't go through the board (aren't visible on the other side). The panels will only have the front side visible in the finished project, so I can orient the boards so the voids are on the back side.

I have been working with kiln dried oak almost exclusively for the last 10 years or so and I'm not used to seeing anything like this. Has anyone else had a similar experience when working with cherry? Will these voids cause a problem if the boards are glued up into raised panels? I don't want them to open up into a real crack or split.

Thanks.

[Sean Hughto]

These types of "defects" are common in cherry. I call them pitch pockets, but that may not be technically correct. Unless very large, they tend to be just part of the wood's charm and pose little to no structural issue.

[Lee Schierer]

I agree. Those are pitch pockets and will not cause a problem. They are natural voids in teh wood, which generally fill with hardened sap. If they are hollow, fill them with a dark wood filler and sand them flush.

[Michael McCoy]

I've had good luck making a past of sawdust and epoxy and it usually winds up looking like a gum streak (no void).

[Frank Trinkle]

Thank goodness your "crack problem" has to do with wood!

I was worried your jeans didn't fit!!

[Scott Vigder]

Thank goodness your "crack problem" has to do with wood!

I was worried your jeans didn't fit!!

I was afraid it was drug related and he was crying out for an intervention...

[David DeCristoforo]

That's exactly the reason god gave us putty.

WOOD FILLER....I MEANT WOOD FILLER....

[Peter Quinn]

So the I think the deal is the sap dries, it shrinks, the wood around it shrinks less, you get these voids. I wouldn't seek them out when selecting lumber but I wouldn't cut them out either. A little putty....uhumm...wood filer or grain filler should work nicely. Add it early in the process before final sanding or planing, should disappear.

[Dave Verstraete]

Charlie
Sometimes , if you find enough saplines, you can use them as an accent.

[Doug Shepard]

Well at least you're not showing signs of the dreaded Plumber's Crack.

It's just part of being Cherry.

[Steve Clardy]

I leave those defects as is, as its just part of the cherry that is often in the boards.

[Jim W. White]

I actually seek out cherry boards with sap/pitch pockets. I think they make the cherry much more interesting!!

Jim in Idaho