Re-adhereing butcher block

[Crank1]

I bought a really sturdy table off of Craigslist, with metal lets and a 30" deep by 92" wide butcher block top. The table is old and has been used and abused. I see some separation of the wood sections in the top and was hoping someone could point me to a good adhesive to stick these back together, my BIL has some really long clamps I can clamp them tight with that I'll get off of him if you all could recommend a good glue. Thanks

 

[betterbillt]

My Glue of Choice is titebond 3. You probably should run it through a jointer.

 

[Keep]

My Glue of Choice is titebond 3. You probably should run it through a jointer.

Cannot see anyone running a 30x92 piece of wood through a jointer.

Get some wood glue, thin it out a touch so it will flow into the cracks. Squeeze the glue into the slot until it runs through the other side. Clamp over night and you are all set.

Once thats done sand an refinish the top so it does not dry out anymore.

 

[Crank1]

Yea. I can get some syringes at work, we use to inject resin into composites and really get it down in there. about 4/5 of the depth of the bench didn't have any stain on it any more, and the back 1/5 only did because it was underneath a piece of sheet metal shelf.

Is titebond a wood glue? And what works to thin wood glues?

 

[djjsr]

Titebond is a wood glue and one of the best. Don't thin it. The Tightbond III is slower drying and will probably be thin enough to flow into the cracks. You may have a problem if the cracks have crud in them.

 

[moonlight_ken]

Find a hardwood lumber store or cabinet shop and they will likely have a large drum sander that you can have the top run trough to get it flattened.

 

[Crank1]

I'm not too concerned with the flatness of this table, it is only slightly off, but fine for the beating I'm going to give it. I just want to stick it back together so it doesn't further come apart.

The cracks look pretty clean in the between, they aren't separated too bad, but it's obvious they move. I'll have to try some of this titebond.

 

[betterbillt]

Cannot see anyone running a 30x92 piece of wood through a jointer.

Get some wood glue, thin it out a touch so it will flow into the cracks. Squeeze the glue into the slot until it runs through the other side. Clamp over night and you are all set.

Once thats done sand an refinish the top so it does not dry out anymore.

Actually Dinner was done and had to cut my response short. Squeezing glue in it is only a patch, I assumed he should cut down the crack and make two boards or three boards out of it. Then he shouldn't have a problem running it through a jointer. I know it can be done because I do it all the time. If he wants it done right he need to fix the original problem. There is a stress on that section and it needs relief. Only then will the crack go away. If he's not taking it apart it would make sense to use a resin or a epoxy to repair the crack. I've never work with resins but epoxy seem to work fine for me. I buy it in a kit at the HD. If you need to fill any larger amount of crack the tubes will not be enough. They sell it in a box and i find, that's the way to buy it.

edit: I remember repairing one crack in a bakery that opened up all at once. it ran like three feet or so. I repaired it with titebond 3 and it's been holding now for 5 years. You might be okay if you can get enough glue in it. I'd just be sure you have enough in there before you clamp it up. You also might repair one at a time if you don't have enough clamps. Another thing, don't un clamp for 24 hours. Be sure it's in a warm area or the glue wont dry. It say's on the bottle 30mins but thats for unstressed joints.

 

[Crank1]

I'll have to snap a pic of it, but the separation is very minute. But it's just enough that I want to stop it from continuing. I'm not looking to dissect the table. It has steel anchors pressed into it, and has 6 bolts on either side holding it to the legs, which support the entire depth of the table, so I doubt it's going to get wider.

 

[Crank1]

You can kind of catch a glimpse of it in this picture, from my thread on my new compressor.

 

[wnstwolf]

I had a similar issue with my "used tops" Titebond worked wonders. What I also did to help keep it together was to put the entire thing into pipe clamps, tighten, and then on the back side, far enoug away from the base cabinets on each end just like yours, I ran two 3" strips of oak trim glued and screwed to the underside to try and keep the things tight. Let it sit overnight put in place and for the most part you do not see the 3/4 inch strips.

 

[MoonRise]

To 'fix' it, you should remove any 'crud' in the opened joint/crack (cause almost no adhesive will work well with 'crud' in the way) and then use an adhesive to 'glue' the joint back together and clamp it all up until the adhesive sets and bonds (overnight in the clamps is usually more than plenty for a non-stressed joint, usual recommendation is 24 hours minimum in the clamps for a 'stresssed' joint).

All that assumes that the original joint configuration was 'correct' (decently flat faces of the wood edges being glued together and no big gaps or such).

Obviously, to glue the crack back together you have to get the 'glue' down into the joint. Sometimes you will want to spread the crack open at least slightly (get your mind out of the gutter there ) in order to ensure you can get the adhesive down into the joint.

Titebond is a pretty big name in wood glue. Titebond is 'the' (or one of the) original 'yellow woodworking glues'. Works nice, when used appropriately. Titebond II is a water-resistant (when dry/cured) yellow woodworking glue. Titebond III is another water-resistant (when dry/cured) yellow woodworking glue.

http://titebond.com/woodworking_glues.aspx

Used 'properly', all of the Titebond woodworking glues typically make a joint that is stronger than the wood itself (the wood will rip its own fibers apart apart before the glue lets go!)

Another 'common' choice for 'gluing' something together may be an epoxy (single quotes used because epoxy is an "adhesive" and not a "glue", technically). Epoxies come in many many different 'flavors' or formulas, so RTFM and use the appropriate product for the task.

When clamping the wood together, do NOT crank the clamp(s) so tight that all the 'glue' is squeezed out of the joint!

No 'glue' in the joint = nothing to hold the joint together

Tighten the clamps just tight enough that there is just a thin even line of 'glue' in betweeen the pieces of wood being joined (about the width of a pencil line is usually good there) and just a little bit of 'glue' gets squeezed out of the joint to the surface (no squeeze-out and you either have the joint still too 'loose' or not enough glue in the joint in the first place).

Glue dripping all over the place means you are making a mess and wasting glue.

Of course you could go all-out and rip (cut apart, not 'peel' apart) the joint apart, plane or joint the edges as needed, and then glue it all back together.

Although a 'properly' made joint in wood using modern adhesives is usually stronger than the wood itself, you might want to mechanically pull the wood strips together with a cleat (underneath the top as mentioned above) or you can drill through the side of the top and then put a piece of threaded rod through the new hole and clamp the top all together that way. Usually not needed though.

 

[c_mccann]

attack it from the underside. Rout a 6"X4" rectangle hole 1/4" deep and glue a 6"x4" piece of wood into that hole directly on the area of the crack/separation. Ooze 15 minute epoxy into the crack on the top afterwards to fill the gap.

 

[2chipped]

Clamp,then Kreg jig 4 screws underneath /run several 12 in timber screws horizontal for a tempfix.

If you want it done right,you will have to split, joint,and glue it...you can't paint over rust,or glue **** together.