Disaster! Dining Table Repair

[KlausK.]

Man Steve,

when I saw the first 2 pics, I was shocked. This great and new table that seriously impacted! Seeing the further pics, my smile came back. You fixed it great. As mentioned already, now the table has a history.

Klaus

[pdb]

Yup, username checks out.

(I also have way too many books, and since we're moving now, I realize how heavy they are. Still, it's one more bit of old technology - like planes, handsaws - that I just don't want to give up.)

Great repair. I'm sure you won't notice it in a week's time.

[AHill]

Outstanding tutorial on your fix, Steve!  I took, am glad no one was hurt.  The nice thing about solid wood is its ability to be repaired.  That repair would have been a lot more difficult, if not impossible were it veneered plywood.

[Bibliophile 13]

Thanks for the kind words--and the sympathy!

I did repair and reinforce the valance. At it turns out, the brackets holding the valances on were attached with wood screws that were not appropriate for the application. I'm a little surprised that this didn't happen years ago. A few books are going back up on one of the three valances in the room, but it's the one above the workbench (where a collapse wouldn't be catastrophic), but no more books are going on this one.

[overland]

Nice job! When my dad and I built a new top for our cherry dining room table (a Shaker-style trestle table), we screwed up and cracked the top in one place. But we glued it up and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who notices--or even knows of--the flaw. My only suggestion is to replace the pine with a piece of cherry. I suspect it wouldn't need to be as thick as the pine you used. In any case it would look better. Probably no one would even notice it's there.

[WoodTinker]

Would bread-board ends have prevented the split?

[BaileyNo5]

As they say, "Life is messy - clean it up!".  Or in woodworking terms - "Things break - fix 'em!".  That was quite the save, which is of course the true measure of a woodworkers ability.