"Dave Gordon" d@p wrote in message
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"Toller" wrote in message
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I am refinishing a table made in the Philippines in 1946. The top is two
pieces of lauan, 40x20; screwed to two pieces running perpendicularly. It
is then just set in bamboo base.
The lauan pieces are connected by dowels, and are about 1/8" apart. The
owner says the gap has been there as long as he can remember, and since
the screw holes don't seem distorted, it has probably always been there.
I could joint it and glue them together. Good or bad idea?

Also, when I sanded the top down I cut ever so slightly into one of the
dowel holes. I could chisel a piece off the bottom and glue it in and
then (carefully) sand it flush. Does that seem reasonable?

Ah that famous "cross-grain situation". The two pieces of luan have shrunk
since they left the Phillipines for dryer climes, but the perpendicular
pieces haven't since wood shrinks very little along its length. The joint
has popped.
So, do I joint and glue them, or just reassemble with the gap; since that is
how the customer knows it.
The stretchers are warped badly and have to be replaced.