Is this checking going to be a problem?

[Brian Seagraves]

After getting one side of a bookcase basically ready, I discovered this checking or hairline cracking. Do I need to scrap this board or do you think it will be fine? You can see it here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/08fp...kpk-OuJmu_DSEg


Thank you for the help!

[Mark Rainey]

Probably needs to be cut off. Building furniture is a lot of work - start out with good stock.

[Kent A Bathurst]

After getting one side of a bookcase basically ready, I discovered this checking or hairline cracking. Do I need to scrap this board or do you think it will be fine?

Where on the bookcase will this bit land? On the side of the case, on the inside? Somewhere won't be "in your face"? You'll know it's there but no one else.

I see this as a cosmetic question. Thin or maybe medium CA glue will weep into that crack, seal it up good as new. Sand vigorously to create dust to fill the crack. You can google "repairs with CA glue" or something like that - 7.3 jillion examples to see.

I wouldn't toss it.

[Lee Schierer]

After getting one side of a bookcase basically ready, I discovered this checking or hairline cracking. Do I need to scrap this board or do you think it will be fine? You can see it here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/08fp...kpk-OuJmu_DSEg


Thank you for the help!

Get some cherry colored wood filler. Press it into that crack with a putty knife. Once the wood filler is dry, sand it flush and proceed with your project. It will look like a natural grain variation.

[Ernie Hobbs]

if you have enough wood that you can spare that section, I'd cut it off. But, if you don't have that flexibility, try to put it in a place that you won't see it. If you decide to fill it, think about how your finish/color will react with whatever you use.

[Ron Citerone]

if you have enough wood that you can spare that section, I'd cut it off. But, if you don't have that flexibility, try to put it in a place that you won't see it. If you decide to fill it, think about how your finish/color will react with whatever you use.

I agree with Ernie on this.

[andy bessette]

Cut that part off and use it for firewood.

[Richard Coers]

When it goes several inches up the wood, that's a full blown crack. Try dry clamping and see if it closes. If it does, mask it off, apply glue on the crack, and pull it through with a shop vac. Then clamp. It would be a problem in my shop. I strive for perfection. That includes not shoving putty with a putty knife. If you use a putty knife for filler, it also fills the pores of the wood and you will see it from across the room. If I absolutely must use the tiniest bit of filler, I mask off the crack so all the putty only goes into the crack.

[John TenEyck]

Rip it down the crack, joint the parts and glue them back together. It has two pieces joined together already, so another joint wouldn't seem to matter.

John

[Prashun Patel]

If it were me, I'd just use it.

Functionally, I suspect the carcass will hold it together just fine. But if you want to make it look intentional (as I would have before I became tired and lazy), I'd be bowtie across the crack.

I'd only trim the board if there was enough length to allow it to be used up in the project. A basement of extra, single boards gets annoying after a decade.