Table repair: Split Leg

[ArbitraryGuy]

After moving, I noticed that one of the legs on our dining room table has a split running down from the bolt along the grain of the wood.  The split can be seen on opposite sides of the leg and runs around 6 inches long.  Is something a guy who built a shoddy birdhouse 25 years ago in Cub Scouts can fix himself with minimal tools?  If so, how would this guy go about fixing it?

[Jack]

I'm no furniture maker, but I'd do the following:

• Put wood glue in the crack
• Clamp the crack shut
• Let the glue dry and remove any excess that oozed out of the crack
• Refinish if necessary (Note: probably more trouble than it's worth)

[GuitarStv]

Yep.  Glue and clamp should work fine.  Make sure to wipe off the glue before it dries and the process is a whole lot easier.

[Greg]

In case it isn't obvious, I'd remove the leg from the table to work on it if possible.  Doing this kind of thing on the workbench makes for a better repair.  Also, look into the cause of the split, you may want to add a washer to spread the load or something like that.

[ArbitraryGuy]

Thanks for the advice all.  Glue and clamp seems like something I can do.

[Emg03063]

If that doesn't work, wrap it in fiberglass & epoxy.

[GuitarStv]

If that doesn't work, wrap it in fiberglass & epoxy.

If we're going the ugly route, just cut a 2x4 to height and screw it in with a couple 3" screws.