Fixing Gap in Joint

Article - November 19, 2007

This week’s question comes from Kevin. He writes:

Hello, I love your site. It’s really helped me get started and inspired to do more. I’ve not been woodworking very long, and have a question that may seem simple. I build staved hand drums and every once in a while my jointer will put a tiny dip on the end which leaves a hairline crack (can’t quite get a fingernail in it) between the the two staves about 2 inches long at the bottom (I could just cut the drum off 2 inches shorter, but I didn’t plan for this and that would mess up the design of this drum. I’d hate to toss the drum aside at this point, and the crack is tiny and the drum still passes my strength test of me standing on the drum. Is there a trick or technique to fill in that gap so it’s not as visible? The miniwax wood filler I tried has grains too large to fit into the cracks. Any help would be great. Thanks.

And here was my reply:

“Hey Kevin. For a crack that small, I would recommend cyanoacrylate (CA) glue and sanding dust. I usually us a medium viscosity. Just put a little glue over the crack and start sanding. The mixture of glue and dust will give you a pretty close color match. It will also destroy that portion of the sandpaper. And sometimes it does require 2-3 applications depending on the crack. Now I’m surprised you didn’t ask me specifically why your jointer leaves a dip at the end of the cut. The CA glue is the band-aid but adjusting the jointer is the cure. Any time that happens to me, its a clear indicator that my outfeed table is just a bit too low. Even an adjustment as small as 1/64″ can improve the situation. So I usually nudge it up a bit and take a test cut. You may consider recalibrating the outfeed table all-together. Good luck!”

Note***- Several folks have requested links to the specific glue I use. I use Medium the most, but I always have a bottle of thin on hand as well.

Quick-Set Glue
Quick-Set CA (Cyanoacrylate) adhesive has a clear, fast cure and strong bond for a variety of materials, including wood, metal, glass, rubber, ceramics and plastic. ..

Quick-Set Glue

Discussion

wilbur November 19, 2007 9:10 am

Kevin, you could also consider using hand planes to clean up the edge after the jointer before gluing up the staves of your drum. It sure does sound like what you are getting is snipe. You should adjust your jointer, but a hand plane makes fixing this very easy.

Reply
Denny November 19, 2007 11:04 am

Kevin, another possibility is one or more jointer blades maybe too tall and protruding above plane of the outfeed table. This would create the same scenario that Marc described. If your jointer has a non-adjustable outfeed table (like my old 6″ jointer) you’ll have to lower the blades to fix the problem. Remember to check each blade, all it takes is one to cause a dip in the end of the board.

Reply
Mike in St. Paul November 19, 2007 5:22 pm

Marc,

Do you know a good source for the CA glue you speak of? Rockler, Woodcraft, something like that? I assume just regular SuperGlue is not preferred.

Thanks!

Reply
Tom November 19, 2007 8:12 pm

Kind of a similar question here….anybody know how to fix a planer snipe? Leading and tailing 2.5″ of stock going through my planer are left with a tiny snipe. is this a mechanical problem? i cant figure it out.

Reply
Mike in St. Paul November 19, 2007 8:53 pm

Tom,

I know that lifting the back edge slightly when the wood goes into the planer and lifting the exiting edge up slightly when the board exits should help. You can also try tilting your infeed and outfeed tables up ever so slightly to help with this. If it is a lunchbox planer (like I assume it is) which is what I have, you can reduce it but it will probably always be there to some degree.

That’s the nature of the beast. I hope this helps. And I’m sure Marc will have some good advice for you too! :-) Good luck…

Mike

Reply
Vic November 19, 2007 10:30 pm

Tom, it’s all about the right tools. Get yourself a long straight edge. All will be revealed!

Reply
Al Navas November 20, 2007 5:34 am

Tom,

Snipe on the planer is typically caused by the board tilting either going into, or coming out of the planer.

Some of the newer planers have head-locking mechanisms, which help to a great extent in minimizing snipe. The best help I have found is to make sure the board goes in and exits perfectly flat. You might need to install some type of support on both ends, infeed and outfeed.

Note: The snipe can be user-induced; for example, if I tilt the board as I feed it, I can induce snipe on the leading end. Or, if I don’t support a heavy board on the exit side, snipe will (almost) always occur.

In some instances it is almost impossible to totally eliminate the snipe issue. What some workers do: Always make sure you have a sufficiently long board, machine your board(s), and cut off the offending end(s) after milling.

Let us know if this helps, Tom.

——- Al

Reply
Vic November 20, 2007 8:52 am

Sorry Tom, I didn’t pay enough attention when reading your comment. I was still thinking in terms of the jointer. The other advice for snipe is accurate for the planer. Some planer manufacturers have done a better job of correcting snipe than others. Basically, get your infeed and outfeed as level as possible(again the straightedge).There will always be a bit of snipe because of the forces involved with the operation. But, you can minimize snipe with proper support both in and out. Clean the rest up with a light sanding, scraping, or planing. If after doing everything possible you still have an unacceptable amount of snipe, either get a new planer(the low profile DeWalt is the best I’ve seen in “portable” the floor models tend to perform better) or plan for the waste.

Reply
Claude Stewart November 20, 2007 9:16 am

I’ve been using super glue for this fix for quite a while. I just make sure I get the runny stuff so that it soaks in. Sometimes I sand it in like Marc says other times I just take some sanding dust rub it in the joint and add a couple of drops of glue let it dry and then sand it off. It works well. Claude

Reply
thewoodwhisperer November 20, 2007 10:39 am

For those who asked, I typically use Rockler’s CA glues. Medium for most applications but occasionally I do use Thin.
http://www.rockler.com/product.....;sid=AFN86

Reply
PrettyMuchIRock/Taylor November 21, 2007 2:49 pm

Is he maybe experiencing snipe? Thats what it sounds like to me.

Reply
Ray Hanson February 12, 2008 4:16 pm

Your problem with plainer snipe can allmost be none if you make sure your infeed and out feed tables are leval and if you can adjust your in and outfeed roller pressure just a little bit so you can release some of that downward pressure on your wood one more thing you must make sure all your plainer blades are ajusted so that they are at the persistly cutting at the same depth as all three and don’t have them cutting to deeply or you will have someing new to deal with.
Ray.Hanson of Edmonton Aberta Canada

Reply
JOhn May 4, 2008 4:43 am

Snipe on a thickness planner is EASY to fix. when you run your board through the planner add too side runners that are longer than the piece you are running through. The only way the planner creates snipe is when it “falls off” the end of the workpiece and the rollers don’t make contact and the cutters then dip down and cut into the wood. You can even plane short pieces if you use side runners.

Reply
Richard schefke November 1, 2016 2:20 pm

Hello
I am a novice woodworker working on my third cutting board after watching your video on cutting boards.i have been putting mineral oil on them but on my third board I put mineral oil on but was wondering if on can put mineral spirits and vanish on top of this board.i actually got ahead of myself and put oil on first! Please help…..

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Fixing Gap in Joint

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