How can a tabletop with a split 45 degree joint be repaired?

[agzol]

How to repair an oak tabletop?
The tabletop is approx 54 x 54 cm with a 14 cm wide and 2.5 cm thick outer frame. The frame length are joined at 45 degrees using dowels . One of the joints has failed and there is a 2mm gap. What's the best way to repair this. Applying glue down the gap and clamping doesn't seem possible given the 45 degree joints. Help!

 

[dzj]

There's an inherent design flaw there that's causing the split.
The middle part expands cross grain-wise and will always cause trouble.
Perhaps if you replaced it with some veneered mdf...but it's probably not worth the bother.

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

I agree with the above; seasonal movement of the centre panel will always cause the joints to open up, mitres have poor gluing strength at best anyway. The splines are not even orientated the right way to give the mitres any strength, either. Tablecloth?

Mike.

 

[rafezetter]

Tablecloth?

Mike.

I'm sorry but I had to laugh - As the others have said there's no way you can "fix" this as it is. If you are insistent on the design then the only real ways to do this are either veneered MDF for the central section, or reuse the current central section by creating a floating panel - many ways to do that, so I won't go through all that.

The splines in the mitres are also woefully inadequate both in size and shape; and as mentioned are going the wrong way - they should be fatter at the outside tips than the middle, like a bow tie. The way yours are provide no additional support to the joint at all.

Whatever method you decide to use, you'll have to completely dismantle the top to do it.

Edit: don't even think of just gluing and clamping, because it will just break again, and again, and again.

EDIT: If this was a bought item in the last year or so, take it back and get a full refund - because whoever made that has limited knowledge about wood (that's a more polite version), and neither does the retailer. If you are not sure what to say we can tell you exactly WHY this coffee table is inherantly flawed and not fit for sale as is.

 

[agzol]

Thanks for the replies. The furniture was bought approx 10 years old. I'd already had to redo all the leg joints using a biscuit jointer. No point trying to disassemble so looks like either a tablecloth or new tables and hopefully a wiser choice of design!

 

[paulrockliffe]

I'd either just live with it, or make some wedges to fill the gap and then live with it. Still looks nice, maybe put that corner where it's lesat visible too.