Seeking suggestions - repairing a cracked seat in a pew

Art Mulder

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London, Ontario
Looking for some ideas on how to address this:

We have a couple oak(?) pews at church where cracks have developed in the seat. Looks like a couple laminations might have separated. These are in the seat, and when people sit on them, and maybe shift around, the crack can open and shift and catch clothes or even worse yet, pinch.

So I'm going to see what I can do about fixing this, and I'm looking for some ideas.

This is a photo of one of our pews (not the broken one, an extra one that I bought at a fundraiser after a renovation, and no, I can't just bring this one in and swap them!!). This is just a visual aid to show what I mean:
pewpew.jpg

The green line is sort of where the crack is located. The seat is sculpted, so there is some curve to it. The underside of the pew is NOT perfectly flat. Parts of it are quite flat, but not perfectly flat. You can tell that even 100 years ago when these pews were crafted, they knew better than to spend a lot of time on the part that no one would see. (Well, except for the little kids that crawl under, but I digress.)

The crack is about 48" long on the one pew, maybe 30" on another. Removing the pew is not really an option I want to consider. Replacement is not an option. These are NOT heritage pieces that are protected by any sort of legislation. I need to fix it in place, which means crawling on the floor and working upside down on the bottom of the pew.

Here are some ideas I've considered:
  1. Scab some plywood under the pew. Cut a piece about 48" long by 6" wide, and fasten it to the bottom of the pew with many screws. Will that prevent shifting?
  2. drive some pocket hole screws in across the crack from below. This might be tricky to get the holes screwed. I also worry that they might squeak worse, if the wood shifts and moves back and forth on the screws
  3. fab up a router jig: like a piece of plywood with a 2"x8-12" hole in it, fasten it to the bottom of the pew, use the router to excavate a shallow flat spot, which I then fill with some oak glued and screwed into place ???
  4. screw some ribs front-to-back across the crack underneath? Hardwood, maybe 1" thick by 8" long? Maybe combine this idea with the #1 idea?


Got any better suggestions?

ps: Vaughn, go ahead with the "pew pew" joke... :doh:
 
My first thought would be to screw some strips under there parallel to the crack and then put epoxy in from the top and clamp from the bottom. Obviously need to put something on the floor to catch drippings.
 
So is there anything blocking you from putting bar clamps front to back under the seat to pull that gap back together? Can you cut/anchor a block on the front/back to allow your clamps a square surface to put pressure against? How are the ends attached? I'm just wondering where it's come loose from that is allowing the gap to move.
 
Im in agreement with Roger. Epoxy. Mask off the cracks and put something underneath to catch the drippings. then just drip the epoxy into the check. possibly in two applications. You can tint the epoxy with dye to match the pew
 
Well, Art...
Crude, or elegant? I'd either screw on a couple ½" plywood battens across the split (crude) or inlay a couple butterfly inserts across it (elegant).

Then, I'd use epoxy down the length of the crack, making sure to work it in to full depth.

Lately, I've been trying out a new epoxy formulation - West Systems "G/Flex 650 Toughened Epoxy." It's supposed to flex better with seasonal wood changes. I haven't got a joint I've used it on that's more than six months old, so I can't report on how well it works, but it certainly seems like a 'better idea,' and West Systems is certainly a reputable company, so I trust it'll live up to its press. I got mine from Jamestown Distributors, btw.
 
My first question is in line with Darren... is this a crack that can be pulled closed with a reasonable amount of effort? If a clamp or two will pull it together, then I would explore how to keep it together - a combination of glue and perhaps battens across the bottom or butterflies on the top.

If the wood is not happy being pulled together, then (and only then) would I look at how to fill the crack in the most attractive way.
 
Not Vaughn, but.....

pew+pew+cat.jpg
 
...ps: Vaughn, go ahead with the "pew pew" joke... :doh:

No need. I saw that you beat me to the punchline with the photo file name. :D And then David sealed the deal. :thumb:

I agree with Charlie...the approach I'd take would depend on whether the crack could be closed with reasonable clamping force or not.
 
Jim I used that epoxy a couple years ago on a cherry kitchen. I used it to make knots where some loose ones had fallen out, and to stabilize some others. It worked out great and is still sitting nicely in the panels
 
Bringing closure ;) to this item, here's what I did...

I noticed that my kreg jig has a handy hole in it. So I used that and screwed the jig to the bottom of the pew about 3/4" from the crack. (The crack is pretty much in the middle of the seat, so I had been wondering how I could use a pocket hole jig. This worked perfectly.) Then I drilled two pocket holes. I then removed the jig, moved it about 8-10" along the crack, and repeated all along the crack.

Next I loosely taped some 2" wide masking tape under the crack. I also placed a dropcloth on the floor under the pew.

Next I tape around the crack on the top of the pew, using paper and green painters tape. This left an exposed gap all along the crack around 1/8" wide all along the top.

Next I mixed up a shot of West System epoxy (from Lee Valley) And dribbled that along the crack.

As an aside, note that from the top, the crack appeared to be tightly closed. From underneath, while drilling the pocket holes, I could see the occasional sliver of light, so there was some space. But not much. I had tried, but short of destroying the pew, or taking it apart more than I wanted, there was really no easy way to pry the gap open.

So I did two things here. First, I just leaned on the pew to try and use my weight to separate the crack. Then I blew air gently(?) on it with my portable compressor. I had to do that in short bursts, or it would just blow it over the masking paper/tape. I flexed the pew up and down and much as I could to try and get it to work into the crack.

Next I pushed on the front of the pew to bring the clamp into alignment and clamped it with a quick grip.

Finally, I got back under the pew and inserted about eight pocket holes in total -- 1-1/2" long, fine threaded ones.

I left it to dry, and the next morning stripped off the masking tape and paper. The epoxy had left a bit of a ridge, but not much. If I did it again I would have tried even more to bring the tape closer to the crack.

A few days later I came back and lightly sanded along the crack to smooth down the epoxy, dribbled on a bit of stain to darken any spots where the finish had previously been pulled up, and wiped on a coat of polyurethane.

The result is practically invisible, feels smooth, is tightly closed, and does not shift or pinch any more.
But I totally forgot to bring my camera while I was doing this work. :(
Sorry folks, I love photo evidence as much as the next woodworker.
 
Ah yes, I know the feeling of finishing a cool project only to realize at the end that I'd failed to get any photos along the way.

Well done on the pew repair. :clap:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Pew, I'm glad that got fixed, I was worried for a bit there...... :rolleyes: :D

Sounds like you nailed it, well actually you literally screwed it up, but in the best possible way :thumb:
 
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