Early Access Video: Fixing the Cracked Slab
Added 2022-09-02 17:49:53 +0000 UTCFriends:
I was just up in Connecticut visiting my family, and my brother asked for help. He has this massive slab table and it has developed a huge crack...a crack that was only getting bigger. We needed to stabilize and fill that crack so my brother's family could keep enjoying their table.
Of course, I was away from my shop with only limited tools and supplies. I had to diagnose and fix this table without spending all of my vacation on it. Come along with me as I think my way through this problem and work for the trickiest customer of all...family!
Happy Saturday!
--Rex
Comments
Thank you rex
Floppy Jaloppy
2023-05-28 05:27:56 +0000 UTCFascinating stuff, Rex. Really like the "real-worldness" of this.
Helge
2022-09-10 19:44:01 +0000 UTCI have no experience with using epoxy on slabs. So this video makes me want to possibly dip my toe in the water (certainly not in the epoxy) and fill in some cracks on a rough sawn butternut slab I have. Thanks!
Scott Alderfer
2022-09-06 12:14:45 +0000 UTCYou got ahead of me! Yup, I'm going to need a follow up video in a couple of years! ;) I'm not convinced dowels will hold that amount of tension and my experience with epoxy says that it's not adding any strength in that application - maybe even the opposite.. I think it might require a mechanical 'ikea-type' solution.
A1BASE
2022-09-06 04:59:01 +0000 UTCAnd here's the downside to the hobby.... That dining set has held up for years. There's very little wrong with it. But as a woodworker I HATE everything about it, only because I can see how I would have done it better / differently. Would it have made any difference to the actual usability of the item? I doubt it.... That straight-from-sawmill finish on the legs is killing me. X) To be clear - this says volumes about me, and not about the produce or buyer.
A1BASE
2022-09-06 04:46:19 +0000 UTCAnother great video Rex, and I agree it is the best woodworking forum on the net, though I haven't posted in a little while. Life takes over sometimes 😉
Shane Thomas
2022-09-04 02:57:33 +0000 UTCGreat job Rex vulnerability is a noble strength
Paul Mouradian
2022-09-03 21:40:31 +0000 UTCExactly what I was thinkin'
Frans van Ballegooijen
2022-09-03 15:05:19 +0000 UTCThanks for pointing out the dog. Too bad he didn't sit on one of the benches.....then you would have had a bench dog to use too.
John Hiemstra
2022-09-03 14:37:11 +0000 UTCNow we want to see the icicle!
Henrik Ubbe
2022-09-03 14:24:45 +0000 UTCI would think the epoxy, by sealing the inner surface, would slow the rate of water evaporation/absorption. Can't hurt, and it might help!
Robert Garlinghouse
2022-09-03 10:44:12 +0000 UTCHave tools will travel. Makes want a minimalist toolkit video for a toolbox to keep in your truck/car. I know you did one early in but would love to see one. I may do one on the kit I am putting together for my son as a starter kit mostly from harbor freight
Billy Schwake
2022-09-03 03:03:33 +0000 UTCI am a bit worried to discover that you bring a saw and a chisel on vacation... and probably a little bunch of other tools in a finger joint toolbox. Have you ever considered carrying a Swiss knife? Well done anyway. ;-)
Pierre-Olivier Fineltin
2022-09-02 23:52:52 +0000 UTCPerfectly sensible solution. I too find myself wrangled into little projects for my family when I visit. Most recently, my sister had a wobbly table. I said, you know what, I'm a professional woodworker, let me fix this. She said it had been driving her crazy! I started thinking of all these different fancy solutions to fix the wobble. Maybe I could cut some shims for the legs. Maybe I could trim some parts. Turns out, I just needed to tighten a few screws, and, presto! Fixed the wobble. Sometimes the best solution is not the fanciest or most highly technical. Excellent video as always!
Robert Quinn
2022-09-02 23:15:06 +0000 UTCAs a patron on Patreon, ur welcome! lol. Great on-the-spot fix, Rex. My bet it that it will hold up just fine, but as you say, time will tell. Creativity involves chances and responses to conditions and resources. Cheers.
John Shufelt
2022-09-02 22:38:17 +0000 UTCVise grips will give the same pattern as the ribbed dowels you buy at the hardware store. I have been doing it that way for 30yrs at least.
Paul Boegel
2022-09-02 21:32:23 +0000 UTCfirst, the table saw, now epoxy... I have to say I like it. Customer is always right but I would still use bowties on the underside where they wont be seen. It is surprisingly fun to make them even with very limited skills
Otakar Schön
2022-09-02 20:06:21 +0000 UTCNice repair Rex. I don't know of anybody else that carries tools on their vacations. You are amazing. Thank you for the video.
Matt Evans-Koch
2022-09-02 19:37:11 +0000 UTCWhat about adding bowties NOW to the bottom? Wouldn't be visible, but would still add more stabibility?
Braden Mabry
2022-09-02 18:28:55 +0000 UTCGreat video, Rex. Going above and beyond the call on vaycay! One question, though. Wouldn’t butterfly keys on the underside along with the epoxy work, if you need to make another repair? At least they wouldn’t be visible.
Sean O'Neill
2022-09-02 18:24:33 +0000 UTCIt’s not a river table but a muddy puddle table. You could become the muddy puddle table guy! :)
Robert Bullock
2022-09-02 18:17:46 +0000 UTCI like the vise-grips idea because the moisture in the glue will expand them back out to full size and full contact.
Meryl Logue
2022-09-02 18:14:52 +0000 UTCGreat work as always Rex. One thought I had that your brother could easily do is to cut some kerfs into the bottom of the slab. Length wise with the grain so the slab can move more freely and perhaps avoid another split.
Stephen Ellis
2022-09-02 18:12:57 +0000 UTCWould love a check-in next year!
Meryl Logue
2022-09-02 18:12:34 +0000 UTCVery similar to me first reaction!
Meryl Logue
2022-09-02 18:12:09 +0000 UTCVery informative. Shows what a few tools and some ingenuity can do. The best part you don’t get lost in perfectionism and do something that you can be proud of. I know you don’t like dragging family into the videos but I wanted to see if your brother looked anything like you. Seriously it’s great to do something with him. Those are some of the best moments.
Richard C von Brecht
2022-09-02 18:05:19 +0000 UTCI use a pair of vise grips to leave grooves on the sides of a dowel.
Paul Boegel
2022-09-02 18:03:12 +0000 UTCThe swearing is the perfect response that I have had a few times when a pour goes wonky.
Ethan Chitty
2022-09-02 18:02:15 +0000 UTC
