Hi. New subscriber and poster to this forum. Am trying to repair a octagon-shaped frame to a display case owned by my neighbor. It is part of a "infinity case" made by her husband. Two of the glue joints broke (15+ yo) as shown in the pics 1 & 2. I have cleaned up the glue very carefully not to change the joint angles, but as you see there are some differences. My inclination on how to proceed is to glue it back together as is, but concerned there may be an unsightly gap on the one joint (Pic 4). Would adding some oak saw dust into the glue in that joint help? OR I might be able to file on joint in Pic 4 to bring it closer to closure. There is a full wood shop and tools available to me in our complex.
(06-29-2021, 01:20 PM)gkellar62 Wrote: Hi. New subscriber and poster to this forum. Am trying to repair a octagon-shaped frame to a display case owned by my neighbor. It is part of a "infinity case" made by her husband. Two of the glue joints broke (15+ yo) as shown in the pics 1 & 2. I have cleaned up the glue very carefully not to change the joint angles, but as you see there are some differences. My inclination on how to proceed is to glue it back together as is, but concerned there may be an unsightly gap on the one joint (Pic 4). Would adding some oak saw dust into the glue in that joint help? OR I might be able to file on joint in Pic 4 to bring it closer to closure. There is a full wood shop and tools available to me in our complex.
Please let me know your recommendations.
Did you put a clamp on it, dry, to see if it pulls together? That might be the reason it popped apart to begin with , angles were a bit off and maker pulled it together. Have you checked the angles to se if they are correct? Off the top I think the angle is 135*. Someone here will know for sure.
Ed
Every time I try to 'fix" something like this it comes out worse, or at least no improvement. While the sawdust trick could work, I've never seen it work out to my liking (YMMV). My recommendation would be to glue it back together without trying to close that gap. Filing or otherwise removing any wood is not reversible, so has even greater risk of being a disaster. It appears you put biscuits into the joint and that should keep it from separating again. I suppose one of the other joints might fail, but I'd call it good at that point. If there is a need for a perfect frame I think I'd just make a new one.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
One way is to clamp it first then run a thin saw right down the center of the joint. You may be able to only have to do one. Dove tail saw would do the best. Put tape on the wood right next to the joint. I have done this but take your time.
My thinking is in line with Ed's and Fred's. It looks like there's a small gap at the interior angle on both failed joints. I'd bet that each of the original cuts was just a hair over 22.5 degrees. In a sense the break is a good thing since it will have released the strain all around. Repairing the joints without trying to "fix" the geometry seems like the better course for the long-term stability of the piece, as long as the fit with the display case is ok. After the repair, a wax pencil or burn-in wax might be the easiest way to match the color of the finished frame and make the gaps less conspicuous.
Thank you friends for all your replies. I am going to go with the wax pencil approach and not remove any more wood.
The remaining question is do I apply glue and snug up the parts with a clamp, not creating too much pressure; there needs to be some gap space left for the pencil wax, right? Or maybe I will need to wipe off some glue and expect the glue will not close the gap on the inside?
Glue on all surfaces, including the biscuits, and clamp tightly without deforming the structure. The wood-to-wood contacts make the joint - wood glue provides no holding strength in a gap. The wax pencil is only cosmetic, and you want to minimize the area you have to fill. If it looks ok without any filler, all the better!
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