Advice on a repair to a wooden chest

[davemere]

Hello all. I'm entirely new to woodworking and am seeking some advice on a simple repair.

I recently acquired a wooden chest, about 3' x 2' x 2'. The chest lid has been broken off at the hinge, that aside it seems in pretty good nick.

The attached pictures shows the section where the wood has spintered at the hinge point. The hinges themselves are in good condition and I could screw the lid back on with new nails if not for the missing section of wood. What's the best way to approah this repair - a new piece of wood in the broken section? Some sort of filler material? And what tools might I need for this repair?

Hope this is the right place for this! Looking foward to the discussion.

 

[Wildman]

if you have the missing piece, glue it back on then screw ( with new screws not nails) after making some pilot holes. Fitting a stay or preventer will stop it happening again.

 

[davemere]

if you have the missing piece, glue it back on then screw ( with new screws not nails) after making some pilot holes. Fitting a stay or preventer will stop it happening again.

Hi Wildman. I'm afraid I don't have the missing piece, the chest arrived as is. Should I fashion an replacement piece of wood for the broken section, then glue that in place? I'm not sure what wood the chest is made from.

Also, what does a stay/preventer look like and where might I get one?

 

[charvercarver]

Hi,

To make the repair with a new piece of wood you will first have to square off the damaged section to get a useable glueing surface. The simplest way of doing that would be to rout out a groove along the whole piece large enough to take you back past the damaged section. Then glue in a slightly oversized piece of wood and plane it down to the exact size. The wood looks like pine with a dark stain, though I could be wrong.

Edited to add: I'd try a few different stains on scrap first to get a good match and once you have glued and planed the repair to size, sand the whole repaired board before you stain.

 

[Billy Flitch]

What you need there if you no longer have the chip is a graving piece. As said try your stains out on scrap pieces till you are happy with the results then dovetail a piece into the plank transferring the stresses into the middle of the plank, flush the graving piece then stain fit hing,end of job, good luck.

 

[davemere]

What you need there if you no longer have the chip is a graving piece. As said try your stains out on scrap pieces till you are happy with the results then dovetail a piece into the plank transferring the stresses into the middle of the plank, flush the graving piece then stain fit hing,end of job, good luck.

Hi Billy. I've read up on this a little and I understand graving pieces and pre-staining sections to test in advance. I don't quite understand "transferring the stresses into the middle of the plank" though. Could you tell me more about this?

 

[Billy Flitch]

Hi Dave its nothing complicated like most things in woodwork its really quite simple.

Lets look at whats happened the lid has dropped and the hinge has yanked the screws out of the chest taking a piece of the chest with it.
When you repair any thing it must be left just as strong as before and best practice says when possible even stronger.
If you cut the ends of the graving piece square the you will be relying on the glue to hold the piece in place so cut the ends on a splay the longer ends towards the center of the plank on the chest. Lay the graving piece on the chest and mark the chest with a knife where it will be in place leave the piece proud on the top and the back and this can be pared of after every thing is set.
When you fit the hinge use the same gauge screws but longer. so now you have a chemical fastening (the glue) a mechanical fastening (the screws) plus you have introduced a joint to the piece a dove tail.
The dove tail means that both sides of the joint are being used to hold the graving piece in place and therefor transferring the stress to the back of the graving piece IE the middle of the plank.

To stop this happening again it would help if as said a chain or a desk top stay was fitted to the lid.

have fun Billy.