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So my son brought this broken bed rail over to see if I could fix it. He said the bed is an antique. Wood ID is not my strong point so here are 3 shots of it. The first one is the inside of the rail, second is an edge shot where it was split, and the last is the outside of it. Anybody know what this is?
thanks,
Carl
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No clue. You thinking of replacing the broken piece? I'd be inclined to just glue up the broken piece, maybe reinforcing it with screws, dowels or through bolts, hiding the hardware with plugs and refinish for camo.
Phil
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It's actually split along the entire length. It could be glued together but I think the end result would be pretty bodacious. I would rather remake it.
carl
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Birch?
Once Favre hangs it up though, it years of cellar dwelling for the Pack. (Geoff 12-18-07)
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If it was a clean or nearly clean break I'd reglue it as well unless I had a very compelling reason to rebuild it.
As far as being an antique, it's doesn't look that old to me. It almost looks like pine or douglas fir. Maybe popular. It's hard to tell because it almost looks like a rift sawn board face. Nonetheless, it's a wood that doesn't stain evenly.
Even if you identify the species, getting the color right will be a challenge unless you're a solid finish guy or willing to do a lot of trial and error work with the forum's help. You will also be spending some bucks on some supplies.
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Since it split the full length I'd ask what wood would best replace both the boards.
Or glue it back together and splice a piece of plywood on the inside. That way you wouldn't have to worry about matching the color which could be a problem.
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pine and since it is an antique you want to re glue the piece you have. run two or three dowels through the break from the bottom, if it will make you feel better.
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I also think it's pine or birch, but not antique. My thinking is the stain isn't really appropriate to antique pine. A couple of years ago, I repaired a bunk bed frame that looked very, very similar to yours with the same stain. I matched the stain exactly with a red mahogany stain from the BORG.
Still Learning,
Allan Hill
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The person who told my son it was an antique probably didn't have a clue. Could be it was made in the 60s/70s and they think that's old. I hope I can find some pine without knots in it. Mahogany might not be a bad second choice. I'm also looking at gluing the original back but I don't have high hopes for that fix.
carl
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Face grain looks like pine with a fruitwood stain. If you had some pine all it would take is a little stain to see if it matched well enough. That said the grain shot on edge looks like red oak, go figure.
End grain sometimes tells a better story, but the real thing is making a match of what you see, which is the face grain. I'd try pine and a reddish stain, not cherry.
Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya
GW
