Expert: Greg Scholl - 2/23/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi Greg,
I recently built a kitchen using hard maple finished with water white conversion varnish (ML Campbell Krystal)
I covered the sides of the refrigerator cabinet shown with 1/2" T&G planks about 6" wide. They were attached to the plywood cabinet box with dabs of glue only in the center to allow for movement. The first plank however was glued too securely with not enough allowance for movement, and so it cracked.
What do you think is the best approach to filling (fixing)this crack? I was thinking of a light (white?) colored filler, then inpainting to match grain and color variations. I realize that this about the hardest type of wood to make an invisible repair, but I'd like to do the best I can. I'm familiar with the techniques, having done antique restoration in the past, but not sure exactly which products would be best to use that would be the most permanent. This was installed last October, and cracked in January from the dry heat. I'm wondering what will happen in the summer when the humidity goes up.
Thanks for your help.
Jeff

ANSWER: Hey Jeff, looks like a beautiful finish, reminiscent of my own kitchen cabinets, although mine are slightly pickled....(we bought the house with these existing cabinets...). One of the few Minwax products I do recommend is the two part High Performance wood filler, which is a polyester resin. The stuff has a tenacious, adhesive like grip, and dries very hard, making it quite stable....especially for a narrow crack like this. I would mask off the crack with blue tape, and then fill the crack with a flexible pallet knife, (applying a piece of tape over the crack on the backside to control squeeze out),be neat and slightly overfill the crack, cleaning off any over application immediately. Then, the filler will harden in stages, the middle stage will have the consistency of a hard cheese, like a block of aged Cheddar, and that's when you would take a sharp chisel and cut the filler flat, (remove the tape at that point to allow you to pare the filler perfectly smooth....). Work fairly rapidly because in a warm area, this stage will only last a few minutes before the filler starts to get really hard.Keeping the chisel angle very low, you will be able to cut the filler perfectly flush without marring the surrounding clear coat. Then allow that to cure for at least 24 hours....48 is better, as the remaining solvents in the filler will affect your coloring/blending techniques if not allowed to cure fully. The color of the filler when dry is a fairly good match to Maple, so at that point you should be able to apply your touch up skills to render a decent repair. The time to do this is now when it is the driest time of the year...I think this crack is likely from shrinkage, and not necessarily related to your fastening methods...thin Maple can be prone to cell collapse as it bakes in such a location...Hope that helps- Post back if need be- regards- Greg

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Greg,
Thanks for the super fast reply!
I forgot all about the minwax high performance filler. I've used bondo types and epoxy mixes in the past,but was concerned about getting a light enough color to start with. This should work good for that.
For inpainting I was going to use super diluted transtint stains, with a little blond shellac binder. Is there something else that you would use that might be better? Artists acrylic paints, etc ? I also want to try to match the sheen of the Krystal satin as much as possible. Fortunately, I have some leftover finished maple plank material that I can practice on!
Thanks for your help.
Jeff

Answer
Hey Jeff, the TransTints with a little dewaxed Blonde is a good solution, what about using the Krystal itself? I'm assuming that's pre-catalyzed, so ready to use....it could be used as the dewaxed shellac....just enough to bind the TransTints.Even the lightest Blonde has a yellowish tint...then once dry, you could mask off the split once again and apply a coat or two of the Krystal, slightly thinned, with a high quality Artists brush...(Taklon, or quality natural bristle).......it should go on smooth and level well...leaving you with the exact sheen.....Maybe?

I'm not a big fan of the Polycrylic....there are better choices, and a few that are catalyze-able...like the Absolute Coatings Last'n Last (which is catalyze-able with their HC4 Catalyst)- or my favorite new waterborne which is from Vermont Natural Coatings.....it's made from Whey by products and is up to 4 times harder than something like the Minwax polycrylic- almost no odor and performs very well..

http://www.lastnlast.com/UltraClearWoodFinish.php

http://www.vermontnaturalcoatings.com/VNCFurniture.html