Should have been simple, but it never is.
One of the panels in a drop leaf style table split right on the joint. This is a very old table and the client didn't want me to re-do any of the finish on it. Normally a split can fairly easily be glued back together, like breaking a pencil and sticking it back together. But No,,the boards would not line up again. Start to clamp along the ends to the middle and the opposite end was about an eight inch apart. And with the glue residue there I didn't trust just forcing them back together again and expect good results.
So with the boards with their original finish on them,, I decided to run them through my jointer. One face out, the other face in. Now they lined up perfectly. I also added 9 biscut joints while I was at it, working from the back of the boards.
Now since this is a drop leaf table, there is a cove along the one edge where it lines up with the main top. To facilitate clamping without damaging the 1/4 inch lip along the cove and be able to spread out the load, I made a router bit to match the cove. Once I ran this bit over some scrap Basswood ( soft) I then just added two more pieces to it and was able to make a long piece that fit perfectly over the cove along the edge to allow me to clamp securely. I then baloney cut this piece for each clamp used. The load is now placed on a stronger surface and the clamping force is directly in line with the top. I still alternated the clamps top to bottom though.The photo explains it better.
Once the top was together again I was still faced with a slight chipping , if you will, along the seam from the jointer. Not much, and the customer wasn't expecting a perfect finish considering the constraints , but I couldn't let it go.
Using a very fine liner brush I ran a tiny bead along this seam and then carefully flattened it. I then duplicated the patina to match the rest of the surface. There is still a slight seam, more visible with a bit of wax build up in it in this shot, but it's acceptable. Let me refinish the top and it could be gone.
Like I said, should have been simple.
I also included another carving ( I usually post on the carving threads) of a project I recently completed. The rest of the photos of the carving , and several threads related to it can be found there. And a frame, made out of cedar for a sign. It too is over on the woodcarving forum.
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