Can Broken Wood be Fixed?

We deal with broken wood daily in our workshop, it's part of what we do in our furniture repair business. We field many questions from customers asking if their broken furniture can be glued together again, and the answer is it depends. Sometimes the broken parts can be glued back together and sometimes they can't be fixed, and a new part needs to be made instead. The key to answering the question is understanding wood grain.

If the wood is broken along the grain, it can usually be glued together. If the wood is broken across the grain, glue won't hold it with any strength, so the wood part needs to be replaced. Here's an example of a chair spindle that broke across the grain and was replaced with a new spindle.

Back when our Fixing Furniture YouTube channel was young, I made some videos showing how to repair broken wood. This first one shows a leg that had broken off a chair. In the video, I explain that this leg can be glued back together again as there is a lot of side grain that will hold well.

In another a video we published in the early days of our channel, I show three examples of broken wood and how to repair them. Here's the video to watch the demonstrations.

Cracked Chair Leg

The first example in this video is a cracked wooden chair leg. It had a long split along the grain and no one had attempted to fix it, so it was a simple repair. The key is to make sure the wood glue is spread along the whole break and to clamp it tight.

Broken Wood Cabinet Door

The second example is more complicated. This broken wood cabinet door was repaired before, but repaired poorly. That meant it had to be broken apart to clean out the globs of glue and realign the broken pieces to they would fit together properly. This can be tricky and it takes patience. This was glued together with PVA glue (aka Carpenter's glue), and new glue doesn't stick to this old glue, so it needs to be removed down to the bare wood for the glue to work properly.

Split Chair Seat 

In the last example, a chair seat had split most of the way. It was held together by a small section of wood. By taking it apart and ensuring there was a good fit, I cleaned off the surfaces, applied glue, and clamped it up for the glue to dry.

Fixing broken wood is possible if the grain is running the right direction. In our workshop we rely on experienced problem solving skills, proper gluing and clamping techniques, and the right adhesives. If you're interested in learning how to repair furniture, take a look at our furniture repair courses and our Fixing Furniture Community.

Author: Scott Bennett, Co-owner, Wooden It Be Nice - Furniture Repair