walnut dining table repair

[Polly]

  i have a rectangular walnut dining table that was made locally by omish at mays lick ky  it has got a little bu bu on top edge where two pieces fit to gather any suggestions where i might get it reworked say within 100 miles of maysville ky please advise  thanks

[WV Sawmiller]

  A picture would sure help define your boo boo better. I am no wood worker but I did see one trick where people had a ding in a piece of furniture and they put a damp wash cloth on it then put a hot iron on top of the cloth and it swelled the wood back out to its original level.

  Good luck.

[Polly]

their is a wood border or edge board around outer edge of the top of the table by it being rectangular he cut the angle of the strip about one eight  to long causing not to fit in snug leaving a crack sorry i dont know how to post pictures  thanks

[21incher]

Is that strip running perpendicular to grain? If it is the gap could be caused by seasonal movement. 

[WV Sawmiller]

their is a wood border or edge board around outer edge of the top of the table by it being rectangular he cut the angle of the strip about one eight  to long causing not to fit in snug leaving a crack sorry i dont know how to post pictures  thanks

   Could you cut that excess length off with a coping saw? That is thinnest saw blade I know of. Might mark and score it to make sure the saw followed the line you wanted to cut when when cut through remove that excess length and let it snap into the proper place.

   If that doesn't work remember - Free advice is worth what you paid for it. Good luck.

[Polly]

 :( :(  after attempting to repair the top i think the best solution is to start over so i would like to buy a 60 inch by one inch round solid walnut natural finish top this would mount  on a 19 inch x 30 inch walnut  base wood screw each corner of the base the top could have 1 inch x 2inch support around the under edge of the top or something similar to reinforce the top anyone in ky area know where i might get this made and approx price if so please advise i do not expect to get this for nothing and will pay a reasonable or market price am not going back to amish man who built it  no explanation needed  please let me know who i could contact thanks and have a good day thanks polly

[grouch]

Pictures really would help.

How to post pictures on The Forestry Forum

[Brad_bb]

Sounds like it's a bread board table and the long boards have shrunk leaving the bread board stick out past them.  Also sounds like one of the long boards has checked  pretty good.  I would not give up on it.  Shrinkage is not unusual with a new piece if only air dried wood was used.  The crack can be epoxied.  The bread board being longer can be trimmed down with a hand plane but you also want to make sure it's not going to swell beyond the breadboard.  So if the table has been in the most humid conditions it's going to see, for a good number of months, then you can plane it.  If it were the middle of winter when things are very dry, I'd say don't!  In winter it's dried out and shrunk to it's smallest, so If you trim it then, come summer it will expand beyond the bread board.  I have a small walnut end table I made with Maple bread boards.  The first year it shrunk in winter and the breadboards were 3/16ths exposed on each side.  In summer it expanded back some leaving only 1/16th on each side.  So I decided not to do anything.

[low_48]

Solid wood moves every year, no matter how old it is. Flat sawn is the worst. I've seen people even trying to use steel and angle iron to control wood movement. It can't, and something has to give. I'd just live with the character, because you can't fool Mother Nature!

[PA_Walnut]

Sounds like another woodworker not understanding provisions for wood movement. If breadboard ends are attached without slots/pegs that allow for movement (or enough) it will crack. No way around it.

I'm amazed and how many tables I see that are "picture framed" with edging on all 4 sides. It's a guaranteed formula for later failure.

I built a wide board top with 2 boards, that has breadboard ends. From summer to winter, it will move a full 1/2"+! 

Adequate drying, equal finish on both sides, and a little winter humidity added to the house, will all help.

Good luck!