I have a nice piece of timber maybe 400mm long which I really want to use and get the maximum out of it has been weathered and after being planed is beautiful. It has some fine surface checking which may plane out. I plan to make some saw handles and maybe some matching turned handles out of the left overs. My concern lies in there may be some fine checking that runs through the piece and I don't want to crack or split it.


So other than filling the surface or impregnating the timber with resin is there any thing I can do to maintain the integrity of the wood? If it does split can it be glued back and hidden???

It may work out fine I just want some insurance, as I really like the timber!