Suggestions for repairing a broken chest bottom

**mythgarr** · 14th January 2021, 07:05 AM

I built this chest for my daughter about 10 years ago. The bottom is glued into a rabbet in the side panels - removal isn't completely impossible but there's a good chance I would cause irreversible damage to the sides in the process. The bottom is cedar, I think somewhere between 1/2"-3/4" thick. There's some 4" tall molding around the base (the top of the molding on the outside lines up pretty closely with the bottom). The crack isn't a failed glue joint, the wood itself has split along the grain.

The crack is wide enough that I shouldn't have any trouble getting glue in but I'm not sure how to get good compression. I might be able to screw a block on each side of the crack from the bottom of the box. Once that's done I can clamp the two blocks together until the glue sets. I might be able to attach the blocks using painters tape to the block & bottom with a layer of CA between them - I wouldn't have to worry about marring the surface or accidentally using screws too long but I'm not sure if the CA would be strong enough to withstand the clamping.

Once it's repaired I'm planning to reinforce the bottom to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

NOTE: I should have taken a wider shot. The front of the chest is on the left of the photo, the back is on the right.
Broken_Chest_Bottom.jpg

**twosheds** · 14th January 2021, 08:17 AM

I'm thinking the timber base has further dried out after construction and, because the base is glued into the rebate, it has been unable to move to accommodate the shrinkage. The timber has then split along the grain.

I would seal under the crack with masking tape and fill it with a thin epoxy, like a casting resin. It might take a couple of pours because some of the first pour will no doubt find its way past the masking tape.

This is a quick and nasty fix but the easiest.

The 'proper' fix would be to remove the base, reglue it with cramping presssure and re-install it as a floating base to allow for seasonal movement.

Well thats my 2c for what its worth,

Regards
Twosheds

**mythgarr** · 14th January 2021, 08:48 AM

That's a possibility I hadn't considered. I didn't describe the full damage - the front stile & rail has completely separated (about a 2cm gap). The top of the chest has a similar crack to the bottom, and the hinge has been bent. It looks like she stuffed it with everything from her floor, climbed inside, jumped around, closed the lid with something in the way (I'm betting it was a stuffed animal due to the lack of any tell-tale scratches or dents) then jumped on the top a few times.

The chest was constructed when we lived in a desert, we now live in an area with higher humidity. Damage due to swelling would make more sense than drying out but I'll take a closer look. If the bottom has shrunk your suggestion of epoxy would be a good fix.

**mythgarr** · 16th January 2021, 01:07 AM

@twosheds Thanks for the suggestion, it steered me away from some making some bad decisions. After turning the chest on its side I can see that the bottom isn't cracked all the way through. As near as I can tell it swelled, breaking the side and causing some cupping on the inside. Since it's fully glued in there was nowhere to go but up and the bottom cracked. This wasn't my daughter's fault at all - the plans I followed just didn't allow for the sort of change in humidity that it went through.

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Suggestions for repairing a broken chest bottom

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