Repair cracks and splits

[Colarris]

Im putting a liitle project together with bits of salvalge wood and have found on one piece that as I'm drilling a pilot hole for a screw the wood is starting to crack and split. Is there anything I can buy that will hold it together and prevent the split getting worse?

 

[keith1]

Hi Colarris,
You can drill a hole at the end of the split and glue and insert a dowel, this will stop the split running any further.
Hope this helps.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Or get the wood hardener for decayed wood, and harden everything first. I believe it's CA. based. If it's tiny, use superglue.

 

[Colarris]

Thanks.
I picked up some WICKS multi-purpose wood filler and applied that. I left it a couple of hours and then tried the screw again. The stuff was still damp and the wood still split a little so that was no good. The screw is in but I guess the split got no worse so maybe it did help a little(?)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Multi purpose wood filler probably isn't the same thing as hardener, but either way, the idea is actually to let the stuff go off before doing anything - it's not surprising it didn't really work.

 

[Colarris]

How long should I have left it to dry? I've never used it before and the instructions are non existent. Is the wood hardener the way to go?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Anything that isn't two part should probably be left for 24hrs (or more) afaik. Feel free to contradict.

 

[Colarris]

Thanks.
I guess I really could have just used some wood glue. It is only a small crack and I could have simply smeared glue into it.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

if you're going to use pva...leave it 24 hours but also mix some sawdust (from the job so its a colour match) in with it before you smear it in.

For things I need to work on same day I use a 2 part wood filler which is a resin and hardener. That goes off very hard in a matter of minutes if its warm and can certainly be worked after an hour.

 

[Colarris]

Thanks for the info Bob.