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Cracks in Mahagony slabs - what's your technique?

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  a1Jim 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have a couple live mahogany slabs that have multiple cracks in them. They will be joined to create my dining room table. I am at the stage where I did a surface plane on all the pieces (with a router jig that worked excellent!), and now wish to reinforce all the cracks with epoxy (or another technique I'm not aware of to achieve the same result).
I have always heard Eco-Poxy is the best. Also the most expensive.
I'm sure this has been asked before, but are there any other solutions to reinforcing and/or filling those cracks? Are there cheaper substitutes that can get the job done? Are there any other completely different techniques that will achieve the same result?
I want to hear them all and learn what my options are.
Thanks,
 
#2 ·
The epoxy by it's self may or may not be enough to stop the cracking. You should consider butterflies across the cracks. The simplest way is with a template and router. You could also cut them out by hand and the inset, but a tight fit is a lot of work by hand. Google up butterfly / bow-tie templates to see what is available. Also look at West System epoxies. Very good products.
 
#5 ·
Before being in a big hurry to fill this crack you have to evaluate what caused it, in my experience, the biggest percentage of the time cracks appear it has to do with one of the following, building with wood that has not dried enough, poor joinery choices due to disregarding wood movement or a drastic change in the pieces location ,"i.e.", moving from a hot dry location like Arizona to Washington state a high humidity location. If the crack appears due to the disregarding of wood movement then patching, filling, and or installing a dutchman may not cure the problem in the long run, because the wood will still want to do what wood does (move), only correcting the joinery problem that is trying to restrict the wood's movement will ensure a long term repair of your choice.
 
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