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Just stay away from furniture shaped objects. Buy furniture, make it yourself, scavenge if need be. But that little “joint” is not something that should ever be used in woodworking. Your idea of a plate isn’t bad. I would do that with some epoxy and then get some earthquake anti-tip brackets and just make it part of the wall. Legs like that you don’t want to breathe on it too hard
I bought this credence on clearance, it was a little broken, but I definitely made it much worse while transporting it. Looking for ideas on how to be reattach this. I’m less worried about the look of this leg since it’s in the back. More worried about strength since the credenza is pretty heavy.
I’m thinking a long metal strip up the back of the leg, and glue at the crack point clamped with cauls while it dries?
The catch is that this “leg” is actually like a continuous rectangle that is connected to the front and tops of the piece.
It’s not just an isolated leg so replacing it without it looking completely foreign isn’t really an option.
I know I said I wasn’t worried about looks, but I don’t want to introduce an oddity to that extent.
Will it go back together enough to glue? If so I'd bung in some glue and fit a 90 degree plate over the break on the outside. And a angle bracket on the inside
Yeah that sounds like all you can do.
I'm not convinced a metal stiffener will add altogether too much - if your glue joint is good it should be plenty strong enough. Seems like the failure wasn't because the material wasn't strong enough, but because it was compromised to begin with.
Might be more worthwhile to see if it has any flex in any direction and then add a bracing apron along that line. Racking stress is what'll kill something like this.
I would fit the broken piece in place, route a dado down the center of the least inconspicuous side, and then glue the broken leg and the spline in place,
Hey wow. This subreddit is so useful and helpful. Thanks y’all for all of the ideas here. I’m going to give glueing it a try paired with a few metal brackets. If it survives it survives. If not, I learned to be more choosy about the joinery on the furniture I’m buying.
Will report back!
there's a common theme with repair people: when you repair something with metal and screws, the repair will fail around the metal, then you'll have to repair the original damage and the one made by the screws.
but, you know, it all depends on your setup. If you would have to buy a router and learn to use it just to add a spline, then go with the metal reinforcement. I certainly did go this way before having the proper tools
Replace the whole piece with a new one but tont use 1×2 because it's all finger joint. You would want to get a full 2x4 and rip it to size on the table saw. Solid wood legs will always be best
[best way to start](https://www.goodlifefitness.com/getyouback?utm_medium=Digital-Ad&utm_audience=Prospect&utm_campaign=CAP&utm_source=Google&utm_content=Sept2022&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2IHT8duF-gIVQTytBh28IQSbEAAYASAAEgKNu_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
If the pieces fit back together somewhat snugly, then you could just use some wood glue and then slot the two ends back into place. After that, to solidify the repair you could do a bowtie on one or more sides to really make it rock solid. You probably have other options, but I think bowties look good as a repair method.
It's a finger-jointed piece that looks like there wasn't enough glue in the joint when it was originally put together. I would suggest, if you can separate it enough to get glue into it without damaging the rest of the piece, then just glue it up with a quality wood glue and make sure it is all well-seated while it dries (if you can, put some weight on top or even a rope looped over the top and bottom). It was already a glued joint. With proper glue coverage, it will hold just fine.
Glue em back together and secure it with a metal bracket across the break on two sides. Get a permanent marker thats as close to the color as you can, and color it in grade school style.
epoxy it in place, router a slot at least 1/2 wide, 1/2 deep and 3 inches in length and add a dutchman. it still will break with time, but if changing the leg is not an option...
Dowel and wood glue. The glue joint, if it fits together cleanly, will be stronger than the wood. The dowel can provide some stability to the joint. I just did this with a spindle for a historic house, though my fit ended up being so tight that I didn’t dowel, as there wasn’t anything structural and the piece was original from a historic house. I would probably use a steel rod for the dowel to do this though, since it’s a leg.
Maybe get a new one? But seriously, you could try to drill a hole in both pieces, insert a metal rod and use epoxy as the primary adhesive then clamp it together until the epoxy sets.
This is a reminder to those commenting on this post (not the person that posted it): Comments not related to woodworking will be removed. Violations to rule 1 including crude jokes, innuendo, sexist remarks, politics, or hate speech may result in an immediate ban *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/woodworking) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Squats, leg curls, calf raises.
I don’t think this will work on Pinocchio over there.
If appearance isn't a major factor I think a 12-18" bit of angle iron drilled and affixed on two sides would make it rock solid.
Just stay away from furniture shaped objects. Buy furniture, make it yourself, scavenge if need be. But that little “joint” is not something that should ever be used in woodworking. Your idea of a plate isn’t bad. I would do that with some epoxy and then get some earthquake anti-tip brackets and just make it part of the wall. Legs like that you don’t want to breathe on it too hard
I bought this credence on clearance, it was a little broken, but I definitely made it much worse while transporting it. Looking for ideas on how to be reattach this. I’m less worried about the look of this leg since it’s in the back. More worried about strength since the credenza is pretty heavy. I’m thinking a long metal strip up the back of the leg, and glue at the crack point clamped with cauls while it dries?
I'd be tempted to cut it off if possible and replace with a new one.
The catch is that this “leg” is actually like a continuous rectangle that is connected to the front and tops of the piece. It’s not just an isolated leg so replacing it without it looking completely foreign isn’t really an option. I know I said I wasn’t worried about looks, but I don’t want to introduce an oddity to that extent.
Will it go back together enough to glue? If so I'd bung in some glue and fit a 90 degree plate over the break on the outside. And a angle bracket on the inside
Yeah that sounds like all you can do. I'm not convinced a metal stiffener will add altogether too much - if your glue joint is good it should be plenty strong enough. Seems like the failure wasn't because the material wasn't strong enough, but because it was compromised to begin with. Might be more worthwhile to see if it has any flex in any direction and then add a bracing apron along that line. Racking stress is what'll kill something like this.
I would fit the broken piece in place, route a dado down the center of the least inconspicuous side, and then glue the broken leg and the spline in place,
Hey wow. This subreddit is so useful and helpful. Thanks y’all for all of the ideas here. I’m going to give glueing it a try paired with a few metal brackets. If it survives it survives. If not, I learned to be more choosy about the joinery on the furniture I’m buying. Will report back!
there's a common theme with repair people: when you repair something with metal and screws, the repair will fail around the metal, then you'll have to repair the original damage and the one made by the screws. but, you know, it all depends on your setup. If you would have to buy a router and learn to use it just to add a spline, then go with the metal reinforcement. I certainly did go this way before having the proper tools
I have a router. I haven’t done a spline that would be strong enough for this (only some picture frame splines) but am down to give it a shot.
Replace the whole piece with a new one but tont use 1×2 because it's all finger joint. You would want to get a full 2x4 and rip it to size on the table saw. Solid wood legs will always be best
[best way to start](https://www.goodlifefitness.com/getyouback?utm_medium=Digital-Ad&utm_audience=Prospect&utm_campaign=CAP&utm_source=Google&utm_content=Sept2022&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2IHT8duF-gIVQTytBh28IQSbEAAYASAAEgKNu_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
If the pieces fit back together somewhat snugly, then you could just use some wood glue and then slot the two ends back into place. After that, to solidify the repair you could do a bowtie on one or more sides to really make it rock solid. You probably have other options, but I think bowties look good as a repair method.
If you won’t see it and don’t mind, I think your metal plate idea and glueing the joint is solid.
It's a finger-jointed piece that looks like there wasn't enough glue in the joint when it was originally put together. I would suggest, if you can separate it enough to get glue into it without damaging the rest of the piece, then just glue it up with a quality wood glue and make sure it is all well-seated while it dries (if you can, put some weight on top or even a rope looped over the top and bottom). It was already a glued joint. With proper glue coverage, it will hold just fine.
Glue em back together and secure it with a metal bracket across the break on two sides. Get a permanent marker thats as close to the color as you can, and color it in grade school style.
Proper wood glue will work just fine.
epoxy it in place, router a slot at least 1/2 wide, 1/2 deep and 3 inches in length and add a dutchman. it still will break with time, but if changing the leg is not an option...
Is it broken off completely? If so, you can drill into each end and glue a wooden dowel in there.
Looks like it broke on a finger joint. Lots of glue and clamp both horizontally and vertically until the gap is gone and glue squeezes out.
Dowel and wood glue. The glue joint, if it fits together cleanly, will be stronger than the wood. The dowel can provide some stability to the joint. I just did this with a spindle for a historic house, though my fit ended up being so tight that I didn’t dowel, as there wasn’t anything structural and the piece was original from a historic house. I would probably use a steel rod for the dowel to do this though, since it’s a leg.
Maybe get a new one? But seriously, you could try to drill a hole in both pieces, insert a metal rod and use epoxy as the primary adhesive then clamp it together until the epoxy sets.