Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/31/2006

Question
I have recieved from a very dear friend a cedar chest that her parents recieved upon their wedding day. She was not attatched to it after her parents went through a messy divorce.  

Her mother had given it to her as a gift after the birth of her first child, but before handing it over it had been covered in some vintage 1980's care bear fabric, let over from my freiends bed room suit as a child, and padded so that she could have a comfortable place to sit.

Fast forward after her second child was born the older began sleeping on the cedar chest to be closer to her sister at night.  The fabric was not water proof and you can imagine the horror that usued once I began to remove the layers of fabric and foam.

Is has to be refinished, which is a task that I am up for, after all I refinshed several antiques in highschool woodworking class.  But there is a crack in the middle of the chest's top that is running along the seams of the boards.  

Do you have any recommendations for repair?  I am sure that other than sentementality it is not highly valuable. I mainly want it repaired so that I can build a rim around the back and sides to place a cushion on the top and use it for practical seating/storage.  I am short handed when it comes to woodworking tools on a scale larger than hammer, saw, glue, and sand paper.

Answer
Hi Candace
Nice to hear from you.
I like your idea of putting a cushion and trim on the lid.
But first you want to fix the crack.
You must have some wood clamps for this job. At least 3 but preferably 4.
The proper way to make the repair is remove the lid, and biscuit join and glue and clamp back together.
It may be that you could get away without the biscuit joins and just glue and clamp the pieces back together.
Candace this is a very easy repair with the right tools. Is there no one that could help you?
A local wood shop would do this inexpensively.
Let me know how you make out.
Kindest Regards
Eileen