Split in cross-member

mode101

Registered
Hello! I purchased a used Olhausen Santa Ana table, it has a split in one of the cross-members. I have attached a pic. Is it bad?

thanks!

6.jpg
 

ROB.M

:)
Silver Member
Table

Hello! I purchased a used Olhausen Santa Ana table, it has a split in one of the cross-members. I have attached a pic. Is it bad?

thanks!

6.jpg

-

Is this a new table? It looks like the wood was painted/sealed with the separation present.. I'd fill it with glue, use vibration to get the glue to penetrate deep in to the separation then set some appropriate sized wood screws. I don't think it would hurt anything to add a doubler to either side of the cross member. If you deside to sister another board next to it either hold it low not to interfere with the seat of the slate.
If you ignore it... I don't think your in danger of the cross member failing you unless it has completely separated..


Best of luck.


Rob.M
 
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mode101

Registered
Thank you for the reply Rob. I purchased this table used. The split is not the whole length of the cross-member. It stops about 7 inches before getting all the way across. The pic is taken in the middle area of the table where the largest of the separation is.

Thanks!
 

tjohnson

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thank you for the reply Rob. I purchased this table used. The split is not the whole length of the cross-member. It stops about 7 inches before getting all the way across. The pic is taken in the middle area of the table where the largest of the separation is.

Thanks!

Rob's suggestions are good ones. As an experienced woodworker, I can tell you that splits like this are easy to fix.

1. Clean out the crack as best you can. Gently pry it open a little and use a strong vacuum to clean out any debris that may have fallen into it (or compressed air to blow out the debris).

2. With the crack open, squirt some wood glue (Titebond is good stuff) along the length of the crack. Be generous, better too much than too little. It's pretty fluid and should run down the crack and leak out the bottom, so watch for that.

3. Clamp the crack closed, using as many clamps as you can. A clamp every 12 inches or so would be great. You will get a lot of glue squeezing out. That's ok, just wipe it up with a damp sponge. The glue is water soluble.

4. Leave it clamped for 24 hours. Depending on how well the two crack surfaces mated, the crack could now be essentially invisible and the piece stronger than the original wood. Wood glue is remarkable stuff.

5. If you don't have clamps, follow Ron's suggestion and use screws to close the crack. That will work well, although if you have clamps, the screws aren't necessary and the finished product will look less "repaired"
 

mode101

Registered
Rob's suggestions are good ones. As an experienced woodworker, I can tell you that splits like this are easy to fix.

1. Clean out the crack as best you can. Gently pry it open a little and use a strong vacuum to clean out any debris that may have fallen into it (or compressed air to blow out the debris).

2. With the crack open, squirt some wood glue (Titebond is good stuff) along the length of the crack. Be generous, better too much than too little. It's pretty fluid and should run down the crack and leak out the bottom, so watch for that.

3. Clamp the crack closed, using as many clamps as you can. A clamp every 12 inches or so would be great. You will get a lot of glue squeezing out. That's ok, just wipe it up with a damp sponge. The glue is water soluble.

4. Leave it clamped for 24 hours. Depending on how well the two crack surfaces mated, the crack could now be essentially invisible and the piece stronger than the original wood. Wood glue is remarkable stuff.

5. If you don't have clamps, follow Ron's suggestion and use screws to close the crack. That will work well, although if you have clamps, the screws aren't necessary and the finished product will look less "repaired"

Thank you for the great advice!
 

ChesapeakeBlrds

Chesapeake Billiards
Silver Member
The Olhausen's uni-liner on top is where the slate sits and is leveled from, that beam is additional support for the table. I have seen beams, split much worse than that, that have posed no problem whatsoever to the rigidity of the pool table.

Olhausen builds an excellent table, and it looks like it left the factory that way, you can glue and clamp it if you would like. You could also leave it the way it is and it wouldn't hurt the table either. Just my $.02
 
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mode101

Registered
The Olhausen's uni-liner on top is where the slate sits and is leveled from, that beam is additional support for the table. I have seen beams, split much worse than that, that have posed no problem whatsoever to the rigidity of the pool table.

Olhausen builds an excellent table, and it looks like it left the factory that way, you can glue and clamp it if you would like. You could also leave it the way it is and it wouldn't hurt the table either. Just my $.02

Thanks for your reply :) It does look like it left the factory that way. It doesn't look like it was painted or stained.
 
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