In message , Gerald Ross
writes
1- this is science. I wanted to see if there was anything to this story
about fixing a crack, and reported accordingly.


One thing that springs to mind, is like most things , failure occurs at
the weakest point.

So as the wood dehydrates, we get shrinkage.

If we then have a weak point, and the forces involved in the shrinkage
are strong enough, we will get a crack, starting at the weak point.

Now if we re-hydrate the wood, the wood will likely return to the shape
it had before, dehydration, hence closing the gap. The adhesive, in the
solution causing the surfaces either side of the crack to bond.

In addition to this the adhesive provides reinforcement for the wood
around the crack, so that as the wood again dehydrates, it is less
likely to crack again, in this location, though it could be that the
forces are strong enough to find a new weakness.
--
John