How should I repair this piano bench?

[downtheroad]

I work in the furniture industry as a touchup and repair technician, We have to repair damage that is so bad that most people would just consider it a total loss. One product that we use is EPO-GRIP paste epoxy. It is used extensively in our industry. We've repaired major structural damage with it and it has never failed us.

http://www.epogrip.com/furn/

[JSUPreston]

Alex, I would think that if you placed it face down on a padded surface, you could probably clean up the cut side with a sander. Maybe cutting it a little thick and putting it through a planer might work as well.

Can't believe I've had a good idea. Wait until I tell the wife

[JSUPreston]

Any new news on how this is going?

[Alex Franke]

Done! I wanted to post these pictures yesterday, but I've been without cable since a big storm rolled through a couple days ago. No cable = no internet connection.

Because I couldn't get all of that glue out of there, I basically combined several suggestions and my original plan. I figured if this didn't work, I could use JSUPreston's veneer idea as a backup. I glued back on the pieces that would be visible from the top, then I routed out all the broken wood to give myself a nice flat groove for gluing. I glued in some scrap hard maple, then clamped tightly overnight. Then I cleaned it up on the table saw by trimming the maple down to the original size of the board.

I used slightly longer screws to re-attach it (partly because a couple of the original screws were also stripped). Plus I added a limit chain.

Here's the result. You can see I was a little sloppy with the clean-up, but I'm happy with the results in any case.

[JSUPreston]

Actually, I think it looks better than what my idea suggested. I can hardly tell it was damaged. Great job, and glad the piano bench is back up and going.

I was thinking, why don't they use M&T joints on benches like this? Seems like it would be the perfect joint. A loose tenon would be even better, IMO. If it ever broke, you could just drill out the old tenon and pop another one in.

[Alex Franke]

Actually, I think it looks better than what my idea suggested. I can hardly tell it was damaged. Great job, and glad the piano bench is back up and going.

I was thinking, why don't they use M&T joints on benches like this? Seems like it would be the perfect joint. A loose tenon would be even better, IMO. If it ever broke, you could just drill out the old tenon and pop another one in.

Thanks! We'll see how it holds up!

Agreed... probably because it's not of the finest craftsmanship.... Maybe they don't teach joinery to kids in China. :P