Hi,

In re-doing a rustic oak staircase yesterday I accidentally split one of the old treads along its length. The split was not straight, but I decided to attempt to re-glue it. After gluing and clamping I generated substantial glue squeeze-out, and the final joint is practically invisible, suggesting that I obtained a pretty good alignment and mating of the two surfaces. Nonetheless, I wonder about the strength of the resulting "joint".

Obviously, the most conservative approach would be to not risk a future breakage by simply replacing the tread (although it would then no longer match the other stair treads ). My non-scientific tests of the joint by standing on it indicate no weakness, but I am wondering if there is a more scientific basis for rejecting my repair efforts.

Thanks in advance for anyone's insights.

Bob