Repair crack in wood cabinet


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Old 09-29-15, 12:43 PM
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Repair crack in wood cabinet

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Size:  22.0 KBAfter 27 years this crack appeared. It's about the thickness of a piece of paper. What is the best way to repair it? I do have the paint to touch up after the repair. Thanks for your help.
 
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Old 09-29-15, 12:48 PM
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What's the back side look like?
 
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Old 09-29-15, 01:47 PM
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I forgot to mention that the crack goes through to the back.
 
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Old 09-29-15, 01:49 PM
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I asked simply because my thought would be to inject glue into the crack with a syringe and then clamp the pieces together. It does not look like a wide enough crack on the front for this to be easy so unless the back is more so, you may need to gently pry the pieces apart a bit so you can get the glue in there.
 
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Old 09-29-15, 02:31 PM
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That's what my plan was. Should I use Titebond wood glue or Gorilla glue? Is it possible that the crack could open again? How about adding a #6 trim head screw from the edge as added security? Thanks for sharing your expertise.
 
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Old 09-29-15, 04:00 PM
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Adding a mechanical fastener means you are relying less on the glue, just be careful that you don't split the wood with the screw. Might want to drill a pilot hole first.
 
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Old 09-29-15, 04:58 PM
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Non-foaming polyurethane or cyanocrylate would probably be best, depending on the age of the piece. Woodworking shops like Rockler would have a large selection (and have things like syringes and squeeze bottles with needle applicators), box stores should have at least one kind of CA (pretty sure HD has a version made by Loctite) that's made for wood. Titebond could work, but without knowing what kind of other finishes might be under that paint on an older cabinet, there might be issues if there's a previous oil/stain finish that soaked into the wood and got painted over years later.

Be careful with gorilla glue, their basic stuff is a foaming polyurethane glue which will foam out of the crack and cure like that (at least that's what happened when used it to try to fill a crack in something, luckily it was a non-visible member on a theatrical set and didn't need to either look good or last long...). Gorilla does make some non-foaming products which should be fine, just make sure you know what you're getting.
 
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Old 09-29-15, 09:56 PM
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Can you step back and post a wider view? The trim head screw is a good idea, but you need access to the right side of the door stile that's split.

Ideally, you would clamp the door from side to side before drilling a tiny pilot hole for the trim head screw. This will pull the pieces together rather than push them apart. If you can do this you would probably only need a fill stick to hide the crack.
 
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Old 10-03-15, 01:35 PM
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[ATTACH]56911[/ATTACH
Photo shows the completed job. I used Titebond glue with a syringe, pushed the glue in with a razor blade, clamped it, when dried filled slight depression with wood filler, sanded & painted. Thanks to all for your suggestions.
 
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Old 10-03-15, 03:28 PM
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That's a really good repair job. Better than some pros could do.
I can't see any signs of the door being painted or touched up.
 
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Old 10-03-15, 04:23 PM
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Thanks for the compliment Handyone. I'm not a pro but when I do something I try to do it like a pro by using the right tools, materials & techniques.
 
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Old 10-04-15, 03:50 AM
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The main differences between diy and a pro are the knowledge and speed. The nice thing about the forums is we can supply the knowledge Don't know how long it took you to make the repair but it's obvious you put forth the effort and care!
 
 

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