I was recently at a friend’s house picking up an old workbench that he was giving away after he just moved in. Since he moved, he no longer needed the workbench and I gladly accepted to take it off his hands. While I was there, he showed me a table leg that was damaged during the move and asked my opinion on ways in which he could fix it. He doesn’t have experience in woodworking, but he knew that I enjoyed it. When I gave him some ideas on ways he could fix it, he gave me the same look I give him when he explains auto repair to me.
With as much as he has helped me with my vehicles in the past, and the fact that he was giving me a free workbench, I figured it was the least I could do to fix the table leg for him. This way they would not need to buy an entire new table, or at the least pay someone an outrageous price to fix it for them. It also happens that I wrote in my book about friends who help each other out without expecting anything in return, and I explained that these are the friends I would like to emulate. Perhaps this was one of my chances to put this into practice.
I took the table leg home with me, and asked if I could take one of the other legs for reference so that I could match it as best as I could. As you see in the photo, these table legs have inserts, and are bolted in from the table side. The broken piece had one of the remaining inserts, but the other was missing.
I thought about the many ways in which I would be able to fix this for them, and realized that I had an old piece of oak left from a table I built several years ago. It had been sitting around, and every time I looked at it I wondered what I would do with it. I guess it was just waiting for this day to come.
When I thought about it, I didn’t want to just use a butt joint, so you will see my solution in a later photo. But I wanted to begin by cutting a 90 degree piece out to remove the broken portion. I used my trusty marking gauge in order to get the proper measurements, and to score the edges to keep the wood from splintering.
After I had my marks done I was ready to cut. I used the cross-cut side of my RazorSaw and cut along my mark. The cross-cut side of the saw has more teeth per inch, and allows a finer cut. This cuts down on tearing the wood fibers. And hence the name, it cuts across the fibers. Also, I am using a Japanese style saw, which cuts on the pull, as opposed to and Western style saw which cuts on the push. I’ve heard many people make arguments for why one is better than the other, but I think it’s personal preference. Whichever works the best for you is the one you should use. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.
When I had my cross-cut finished, I started with the rip cut. I actually did not cut the cross-cut all the way to the mark, but I cut close enough so that I could cut a little more each time until my final cut was complete. The rip cut side of the saw has fewer teeth per inch, but they are more aggressive. Because there is less chance of tearing the wood fibers, this allows a quicker cut.
After I made the cut I realized that the holes for the inserts went further than my cut. I didn’t want to cut any more off the leg because I wanted to leave as much of the original table as possible. I could’ve used some wood filler to fill the holes, but I felt that it didn’t reduce the integrity of the piece, and would most likely be filled with wood glue anyway.
And now for my plan… I don’t know if this would be more considered a mortise and tenon or a rabbet joint. Let me know if you have thoughts on that. Once again, I marked my depth, and used my hand saw to make several vertical cuts. I forgot to get an after photo of this, but I used my coping saw to remove the majority of the material and then used my hand chisel to remove the rest until I had a smooth surface. I don’t have a planer that would fit in that space, but the chisel worked just fine.
I then marked my piece of oak to fit my cut-out that I created in the table leg. I was glad that this piece was larger than the leg, and you will soon see why I left it wider than the leg itself. I cut it both wider and taller than the leg, but I cut the “tenon” to fit the exact cutout that I made. I used the hand saw for this, but I could’ve used the table saw, or other means if I chose to do so.
As you can see, the replacement piece extends beyond the leg. I used Titebond III wood glue, and clamped the piece onto the leg. It’s difficult to see from this photo, but I do have a clamp that extends the entire length of the leg so that it is held in securely. I cleaned up the squeeze out and left the piece to dry. I believe at this point I had to work the next day, so I ended up leaving it clamped for a few days, however, overnight would be sufficient. Just follow the instructions on the bottle of glue.
As I mentioned, I made the piece of oak oversized so that I had a bit of wiggle room to make the final cut. I put the dado stack on the table saw, and elevated the leg in order to raise the dado stack to the proper height. I matched the height of the dado blades to the same height of the table leg and then dropped it down about 1/16th of an inch. I ran the oak section across the dado stack and then planed down the imperfections so that it was one smooth piece.
Because the original leg had a rabbeted edge across two sides on the top, I needed to match that on the new section. I used a straight router bit and my plunge router to match the top to the original. I set the plunge depth based on the existing cut-out section, and set the edge guide based on the top of the leg. The cut wasn’t very deep so I was able to make it with one pass.
The leg has a ridge that runs up the leg and then angles near the top (I’m not sure if it has a specific name, but I just call it a ridge). I used it as a depth guide and tried to find a router bit that would work as best as possible, but after I attached the new piece I knew I would need to match it as best as I could. The ridge was a little wider than anything I have, but I don’t like buying new tools if I can make it work with what I have.
I do have a core box router bit that was a little smaller in width than the ridge on the table leg, but I figured that I would be able to make it work. I set the depth stop at the same depth as the ridge on the leg, and used that to continue on the new section. Because I cut the new piece along the top of the horizontal section of the ridge (that was very much on purpose), it hid the fact that the new ridge was slightly smaller than the vertical ridge.
I also cut the chamfer using my coping saw and files to match that of the original leg. This is where the inserts will be installed to secure the table to the leg. I told my friend that I would leave that up to him so that he can match it to the holes in the table.
I happened to have a java gel stain that I used on the pantry I completed in our kitchen, which happened to match the table legs. I put on two coats of the stain with a light sanding between coats. I really don’t like using gel stain, but there are times when it is necessary.
After the stain was dry, I lightly sanded it with a scotch-brite pad and then added a couple coats of gel topcoat with a light sanding between coats.
I told my friend before I started this project that it wouldn’t match exactly. Since it will be hidden by the table that wasn’t a concern, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I’ve never taken on a project like this before, but I was excited to try something new and test some of my skills. And I know it’s small, but it gave me a sense of pride knowing that I was able to help out a friend.
Some people may find it silly or ridiculous, but we are all given talents to use; and a long time ago I set a goal for myself to help those who struggle with mental illness. As a person who’s struggled my entire life, I am looking for ways to give hope to others. And since I’ve found that one of the things that helps me is woodworking, I am looking how to pay it forward. So if you struggle with mental illness as I do, maybe this can help by giving you something to look forward to. Or you can pass this along to someone you know who struggles. But always know, there is always hope.