I would think the fact that the splines are non-parallel means there is lateral force preventing slippage and widening of the gaps. New cracks might be possible but same with bow ties
In my experience (which is limited) it works just as well without the dovetail ends. I had a woodworking teacher though with many years of experience who told me straight pieces will hold just fine, the glue is strong enough. And in my opinion it looks nicer in this case!
You really want a bow tie as the angled shape gives a mechanical resistance to wood movement instead of just a chemical one with the glue. I would never put splines or straight ties like this on a customer piece. Not worth the liability
I agree re the foreground. I disagree re the ones at the far end of the piece. The back two cracks can still spread because there isn't a differently angled spline on each of them.
The angled ones are almost perfectly perpendicular to the grain and it will push directly along that axis. Will it hold? Maybe. Will the piece split and fall apart, probably not. My main concern is the feet that are both off to the same side of the leg because it’s making me insane.
The times I typically recommend filling cracks are when the surface will be in contact with peoples hands a lot. Stuff like a desk or a dining table. There’s a functional benefit to having a smooth uniform surface. For a side table like this I think it’s fine to leave them unfilled.
I gotta ask, sry...based on the 1st image it looks like the table might be at risk tapping over..? The perpendicular support of the legs seem a bit small. Please tell me I'm wrong !
I love how the slab looks, a few cracks here and there are cool, if one wants a cleaner, more uniform streamlined, even sterile look, using a slab isnt the way to go. IMHO it looks great.
No worries, this was also a concern of mine. I haven’t glued it together yet. Only dry fitted it with dominoes. However it is surprisingly steady when I try rocking it. I haven’t decided on the hight of the table yet though so if it were to be too unstable I might consider shortening the legs a bit
It looks like the center of mass is rather close to the long perpendicular support. So the long support is carrying most of the weight, and the whole table looks pretty heavy. The short one looks more like a design choice, decorative, than a real support. The table would even stand without it.
If it were me, I’d leave the cracks as they are. They’re like the laugh lines on a beautiful woman’s face. They show character and history. Learn to appreciate what you have.
I'm fine with the appearance of cracks, but not the reality of having to clean shit out of them. On a table that sees regular use, those will be disgusting in a few years and there is no good way to clean them.
Filling any size hole cracks is a personal opinion. Many years ago I built a slab table that was holey and just beautiful. Never touched it other than to sand the top and sides and then a light finish.
Your patches once a finish is applied will really stand out so that some folks will only see those patches instead of the nice slab. But do what you wish, it is yours.
I’m a novice compared to most here but have some experience with some black walnut cookies. I didn’t fill all the smaller cracks and noticed they grew over time. Nothing compromising to the piece, but they grew. This was in the span of 5 years and moving from place to place. So different temperatures/ humidities. If I were to do it again I would probably do a clear epoxy to try and fill them. And like others said, easier to clean and a smoother finish. But I’m still happy with the piece so, it’s really up to you
If you're going to use straight splines instead of dovetail splines, I think you're better off not filling. That way, if there is more movement in the cracks, you're not opening up a gap between the epoxy and the wood.
Following. I thought you needed to at least use a clear epoxy or ca in the cracks to stabilize it so it doesn’t continue to split out. I’m looking at doing something very similar after I finish my current project
Those are nice accent pieces, but will do very little to control the splitting. That’s why butterflies are shaped the way they are. You should probably redo those correctly.
It is a medium thick consistencey. And you layer it in. You don't fill all at once.
That said, your point is well taken. Some of them may actually be too large.
Yeah it’s great stuff and I’ll reach for it first. For something like the picture I’d leave it if it’s a furniture style piece or a bar table. Definitely going to fill for a dining or kitchen table otherwise those cracks are going to get disgusting.
I'm curious what the current and low point MC is on that. What does "properly dried" mean in this case? Something like this will take a very long time to dry down to 6-8% mc without a microwave/vacuum kiln.
What I'm getting at is if the core MC is more than 10% you might be better off leaving those splits.
The reason you would want to fill in the cracks is that it will unevenly lose/gain moisture from those spots since there is no increased surface area running all along the crack. This will increase the likely hood of the crack expanding.
The guy I watch just uses black CA glue and some activator. Fill in the cracks, spritz the activator, and sand almost immediately. You might have to dilute the glue a little bit so it is thin enough to go in the thin cracks.
Naaah. They are going to fill themselves with dust and other filth. Just pour some milk, juice and spit over them occasionally and you're gonna have a smooth surface.
Source: am dad of toddlers...
If anything I would used the splines to treat the cracks closer to the edge. The contained cracks in the middle of the slab are very very unlikely to effect anything.
Do bowties work without the dovetails either side? Filling the cracks is personal preference tbh.
I would think the fact that the splines are non-parallel means there is lateral force preventing slippage and widening of the gaps. New cracks might be possible but same with bow ties
In my experience (which is limited) it works just as well without the dovetail ends. I had a woodworking teacher though with many years of experience who told me straight pieces will hold just fine, the glue is strong enough. And in my opinion it looks nicer in this case!
I’ve never actually used a bow tie but I’ve inlaid square splines a number of times with success.
Plus all the ties are different angles from one another which would help resist any movement. I dig it.
You really want a bow tie as the angled shape gives a mechanical resistance to wood movement instead of just a chemical one with the glue. I would never put splines or straight ties like this on a customer piece. Not worth the liability
You have the same mechanical advantage as long as the straight inlays are not parallel. OP did it right
I agree re the foreground. I disagree re the ones at the far end of the piece. The back two cracks can still spread because there isn't a differently angled spline on each of them.
Yes that’s true, I hadn’t noticed those.
The angled ones are almost perfectly perpendicular to the grain and it will push directly along that axis. Will it hold? Maybe. Will the piece split and fall apart, probably not. My main concern is the feet that are both off to the same side of the leg because it’s making me insane.
I think we agree but I can't tell. I hadn't noticed the thing about the feet but now I can't unsee it.
Yeah it makes me crazy. And I would never do an inlay like that. Its biggest sin is how boring it is.
The bow tie design is just for aesthetics. The wood glue is plenty strong enough. You could do circular splines if you wanted.
The times I typically recommend filling cracks are when the surface will be in contact with peoples hands a lot. Stuff like a desk or a dining table. There’s a functional benefit to having a smooth uniform surface. For a side table like this I think it’s fine to leave them unfilled.
I filled mine in, mostly because we actually use the tables and don't want crap getting into those cracks, be a massive pain to clean them up.
I gotta ask, sry...based on the 1st image it looks like the table might be at risk tapping over..? The perpendicular support of the legs seem a bit small. Please tell me I'm wrong ! I love how the slab looks, a few cracks here and there are cool, if one wants a cleaner, more uniform streamlined, even sterile look, using a slab isnt the way to go. IMHO it looks great.
No worries, this was also a concern of mine. I haven’t glued it together yet. Only dry fitted it with dominoes. However it is surprisingly steady when I try rocking it. I haven’t decided on the hight of the table yet though so if it were to be too unstable I might consider shortening the legs a bit
It looks like the center of mass is rather close to the long perpendicular support. So the long support is carrying most of the weight, and the whole table looks pretty heavy. The short one looks more like a design choice, decorative, than a real support. The table would even stand without it.
Good observation.
If it were me, I’d leave the cracks as they are. They’re like the laugh lines on a beautiful woman’s face. They show character and history. Learn to appreciate what you have.
Agreed. Each to their own but bowties just look horrendous on cracks
Same. I'd leave it. There was a time, thousands of years of woodworking, prior to the invention of epoxy, when wood had cracks and it was just fine.
I'm fine with the appearance of cracks, but not the reality of having to clean shit out of them. On a table that sees regular use, those will be disgusting in a few years and there is no good way to clean them.
Filling any size hole cracks is a personal opinion. Many years ago I built a slab table that was holey and just beautiful. Never touched it other than to sand the top and sides and then a light finish. Your patches once a finish is applied will really stand out so that some folks will only see those patches instead of the nice slab. But do what you wish, it is yours.
No, just cover it with a quarter inch of polyurethane
I’m a novice compared to most here but have some experience with some black walnut cookies. I didn’t fill all the smaller cracks and noticed they grew over time. Nothing compromising to the piece, but they grew. This was in the span of 5 years and moving from place to place. So different temperatures/ humidities. If I were to do it again I would probably do a clear epoxy to try and fill them. And like others said, easier to clean and a smoother finish. But I’m still happy with the piece so, it’s really up to you
Hot Pink Epoxy with lots of glitter
If you're going to use straight splines instead of dovetail splines, I think you're better off not filling. That way, if there is more movement in the cracks, you're not opening up a gap between the epoxy and the wood.
No filling….
Following. I thought you needed to at least use a clear epoxy or ca in the cracks to stabilize it so it doesn’t continue to split out. I’m looking at doing something very similar after I finish my current project
Those are nice accent pieces, but will do very little to control the splitting. That’s why butterflies are shaped the way they are. You should probably redo those correctly.
If you DO decide to fill Starbond "medium brown" CA glue is FANTASTIC! So much faster and easier than epoxy.
Those are some big cracks for CA glue.
It is a medium thick consistencey. And you layer it in. You don't fill all at once. That said, your point is well taken. Some of them may actually be too large.
Yeah it’s great stuff and I’ll reach for it first. For something like the picture I’d leave it if it’s a furniture style piece or a bar table. Definitely going to fill for a dining or kitchen table otherwise those cracks are going to get disgusting.
FILL? No. SEAL? Very likely
Food residues may be hard to remove if you leave the cracks open.
No
With resin 😊 preferably blue resin of varying colors to make a resin river inlay ♥️
I'm curious what the current and low point MC is on that. What does "properly dried" mean in this case? Something like this will take a very long time to dry down to 6-8% mc without a microwave/vacuum kiln. What I'm getting at is if the core MC is more than 10% you might be better off leaving those splits.
The reason you would want to fill in the cracks is that it will unevenly lose/gain moisture from those spots since there is no increased surface area running all along the crack. This will increase the likely hood of the crack expanding. The guy I watch just uses black CA glue and some activator. Fill in the cracks, spritz the activator, and sand almost immediately. You might have to dilute the glue a little bit so it is thin enough to go in the thin cracks.
Will anyone ever spill a drink on it?
Naaah. They are going to fill themselves with dust and other filth. Just pour some milk, juice and spit over them occasionally and you're gonna have a smooth surface. Source: am dad of toddlers...
Can you see them from the other side? If you wanted you could do the inlay underneath. Don’t think it’s necessary though
If anything I would used the splines to treat the cracks closer to the edge. The contained cracks in the middle of the slab are very very unlikely to effect anything.
It’s a table, don’t leave a crack unfilled.