Thread: How to fix splinter in tabletop?

Hi Fuzzie,

I would wait for everything to dry well and then glue under the splinter...if it's visible. Otherwise you may be able to just leave it if it's out of the way. I know having finish on the wood isn't ideal but you won't get something that matches the gap left by the splinter exactly so maybe just use some epoxy to glue it back down and then resand.

Alternatively you could cut out a symmetric piece and replace with a similar grained piece, it would take longer but may produce a nice result if you take your time. Another option which may or may not suit since there are no photos would be to make a feature out of it. I've done that sort of thing before where i routered out a section on a corner and inserted a thin piece of alternate coloured wood into the slot to make a feature out of it....obviously a lot more work though.

Just throwing some ideas around. My instinct would be to let it dry and then use epoxy and clamps to get the splinter down as close to the main wood as possible and produce a nice clean join.

Good luck and please do post some pics if you have time.

Cheers
mat

Thanks Mat for the quick reply! Here's a pic of the splinter. The first couple of mm is missing, but the rest is intact.
split.jpg

Before applying glue, can you get some solvent on to it to remove the oil? you may need to try flooding it with solvent a couple of times, soaking it up each time. Then let it dry well before gluing it back in place with epoxy.

The appropriate solvent will depend on the type of oil. You will probably need to repair the finish, as the solvent may upset what you have already done.

My approach would be to glue in a slip. I think regardless of how you attempt to clean the surfaces there will likely be adhesion problems. It may work for a while, but can you afford to find out otherwise, the hard way?

Bite the bullet and do a proper repair.

Cheers
Bevan

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

I've been building a frame and panel tabletop out of some second grade timber and am at the point where I was applying a Danish oil finish.

I was rubbing in the oil with a synthetic white pad and a little sucker of a splinter on the inside of the frame snagged the pad. It didn't break out but split down into the wood and now is a couple of cm long and deepening into the frame.

It is tempting to cut the splinter out and glue in a replacement slip, but is this the best solution? Would it be better to just glue the splinter back down? The split has obviously been flooded with Danish oil at this point in time. What glue would be suitable to use on freshly oiled wood?

I would glue the splinter back down, but PVA may not work on the oiled surface. Maybe use a bit of clear silicone or mix up a little bit of two part epoxy resin and apply a very small but slight excess amount to the underside of the splinter, once dry cut/sand the excess off with a stencil knife and a small, high grit count piece of sand paper... The dry resin will be clear and cover any gaps, and at most look like a resinous imperfection in the wood.

Then reapply oil all over. I think that the glued surfaces should be oiled before gluing. That way the underlying colour will be transmitted through the resin/silicone and hide any little gaps between the splinter and the substrate.

I would go for epoxy rather than silicone because it can be sanded. Always try it in a bit of scrap first.

I think a few experiments on scraps are required. I guess it depends on how the Danish Oil catalyses. Since the first few mm of the splinter is missing, the repair is never going to be invisible.

One thing definitely not wanted is the splinter ever detaching again, it would be a most unpleasant to be wiping down/polishing the table one day and be skewered by that! That thought alone makes me want to just drop in a patch!

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

That thought alone makes me want to just drop in a patch!

Yep, my point, so to speak!!

Cheers
Bevan

FWIW I did a quick check to see how Titebond Original and Titebond III might react applied to a danish oiled test piece. Without any attempt to clean the pieces with solvent, I used some day old oiled scraps and stuck some sticks to a board. After only about 6hrs set time the sticks split rather than give up adhesion. If I were to try it for real I think I would go with Titebond III after solvent since it is the one recommended for use with dense and oily tropical woods.

On further inspection of the splinter it was clear the edges were woolly and damaged enough to require some sort of filling. I did not really want to fill things with epoxy and decided to go the route of cutting out the splinter and gluing in a patch.

Fingers crossed, will wait and see how it cleans up........

For the record here is the patch glued in place. You can also see in this pic where I used blue painters tape to protect the surfaces as I fitted the patch and where the tape adhesive has removed some of the finish.
patch.jpg

Finally the patch leveled with the surrounding surface and refinished with oil.
trimmed.jpgoiled.jpg

Out of interest yesterday when I was cleaning up I used a scraper to test what was left of the test sticks on the oiled board now that they've had a couple of days to cure. The Titebond Original bit came right off, the bit stuck with Titebond III is still holding on.

Looks to me like you have had the best possible result.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

For the record here is the patch glued in place. You can also see in this pic where I used blue painters tape to protect the surfaces as I fitted the patch and where the tape adhesive has removed some of the finish.

Thanks for the posts Fuzzie - Well done! Like a true scientist!.. I wish that companies did not make it so hard to learn from these sorts of experiments... Titebond I is described as an aliphatic resin... all that "aliphatic" means is that the molecules in the compound are long and straight and do not contain benzene ring like structures. The datasheet for Titebond III says that the material is a crosslinked vinyl acetate material, vinyl acetate as in poly vinyl acetate (good old PVA), and suggests that you would have done as well with any garden variety PVA glue.

But hey! now you know and we all know as well...

The patch looks fantastic!

Warm wishes,

Jorge