Fixing this mesquite crack?

[Aaron Dunham]

This crack (pictured - extends to pencil line) has developed on the edge of a tabletop I've recently glued up. It is not a split that goes through all of the way; rather it seems to be associated with a ring. I straightened the edge with a straight bit on the router and you can see the chip I got, even when taped. This wouldn't be a big problem to me if I was going to leave the edge as is, but I have not done the edge detail yet (top will get a steep 1/2" round, bottom will get a bevel on the order of severity of a raised panel). My concern is whatever epoxy or CA I use will not go deep enough to prevent tearout when I do the edge. Any suggestions that might ward off this problem?

Thanks in advance,

-Aaron

[Stuart Johnson]

The crack is going to be there and visible no matter what you do so why not show it off. When turning bowls out of Mesquite I will fill cracks with epoxy dyed black. In this case you might want to use a Dremel and widen and deepen the crack with maybe an bit of under cut. Of course if you want to get real fancy you can pack the cut with crushed turquoise and then fill with thin clear epoxy.

[Chris Padilla]

Wood: a fickle medium!!

For the tearout....are you routing in the correct direction? That grain is climbing uphill from left to right. Just checking. This can be a huge problem with flatsawn material near the center where you have grain changing direction on you. You'll need to stop and move the router when you hit the grain change OR use a good sawblade in your table saw or guided saw system to straighten the edge instead of a spinning router bit.

The only true way to rid yourself of that split is to cut the board at that point and reglue and hope it doesn't happen elsewhere in the wood. Or, "celebrate it" as Stuart suggested.

Can you give us a shot of the whole top?

[Aaron Dunham]

The crack is going to be there and visible no matter what you do so why not show it off. When turning bowls out of Mesquite I will fill cracks with epoxy dyed black. In this case you might want to use a Dremel and widen and deepen the crack with maybe an bit of under cut. Of course if you want to get real fancy you can pack the cut with crushed turquoise and then fill with thin clear epoxy.

Yeah, I just don't like filling mesquite with colored epoxy. I like the knots and inclusions in natural form, and I feel filling them with colored epoxy detracts from the look. This top I am trying to keep especially clean, as I put two racing stripes of fumed mesquite in the glue up - I'm shooting for a very specific look and pattern. I might end up doing the rip and re-glue suggestion.

[Aaron Dunham]

For the tearout....are you routing in the correct direction?

I had the same thought, but I had to take about a 1/4" off of each end of the top to square it up. That provided me with the opportunity to try it both ways on several passes and it chipped in both directions. I was chasing that chip all the way into the final cut line!

[Chris Padilla]

You could also route out the crack just a wee bit deep and inlay some matching mesquite. I wonder in time if the crack will appear along the length of the table?! I have a feeling....

[John Lucas]

If the crack isnt going to get any worse, I would use shellac sticks and hot knife. If you don't have, I am sure woodcraft has them and th ehot knife. They will come in handy once you gain some experience. It is easy. Select one color that is the same as the background color of the board. Then select a stick that is same as the middle color and then the darkest. With the knife hot, pick up a little of the light and scrape it across the crack. Do this as many times as it takes to fill the crack. Then use th ehot knife to level the top surface. Let it cool. Then take the middle color aand pick up a very little bit and daub it on the light filler. You can use little strokes to copy of the grainof that portion of the wood. Do this over the length of the crack. Then do same with the darkest color. The colors will blend together as little or as much just by melting -- do not over work the area. when cool, sand flat to the table surface and re-check your work.
Once it is perfect, finish the top the same as you would normally but dont use any finish that is alcohol based.

[Jim Becker]

If you want to leave the crack there (not fill it), then perhaps you should both highlight and "fix" it with a butterfly. This will keep the crack from getting longer as well as serve a decorative purpose.

[Mike Schmalzer]

I pretty much learned woodworking on mesquite, and while filling the cracks with black epoxy is pretty commonplace you can also use a good superglue if you don't want it show. The glue will settle into the crack and then you can apply more while sanding and the crack will fill. I find little cracks all the time and do this regularly. Bellow is a table with the cracks filled with black epoxy.

Mike

[Chris Padilla]

Mike,

That is GORGEOUS! I just love the character and color of mesquite! You appear to have found some rather longish boards! Those are rare in mesquite. Looks like some bookmatching going on as well! Do I spy some "rivets" in that lower left corner?

[Mike Schmalzer]

Thanks. No rivets, but that gives me a good idea. It is a 6 pinned ziricote spline joint. The key runs the whole length of the miter. Big boards can be tough to find and even harder to pay for. Here in Tucson there are a few good mesquite sawmills at our disposal so finding decent mesquite isn't to bad.

In regards to the crack you can also just use clear epoxy and once you oil the wood it is really hard to see. I am just impatient so I like the super glue. I wouldn't worry about the crack getting bigger over time, Mesquite is about as stable as you can get.

Mike

[Chris Padilla]

Note to self when in Tucson...pick up some mesquite....

[Aaron Dunham]

In regards to the crack you can also just use clear epoxy and once you oil the wood it is really hard to see.

What an awesome table Mike! The above is the way I think I will go. I was concerned about visibility through the finish, too, so this seems like a decent solution.

[Michael Wildt]

Hi,

When you machine the edge, can you avoid machining the section you expect tear out. Then go back and 'feather' that in by hand such that you basically bridge the two machined sections by recreating the profile by hand.

Michael

[Calvin Crutchfield]

I remember Norm filling in Mesquite with a black resin. Looked good, I want to get some mesquite, just so I can fill it.