Hollow wooden columns were often built using staves that can sometimes separate. Here’s a way to fix hard-to-reach center portions. First, create some glue blocks cut at angles to fit into the seam between two staves on the inside of the column. Then create a pole to hold the blocks by driving a screw into the end of a long scrap of wood. Cut the head off the screw. Then drill a pilot hole in the glue block at the peak and another on the side of the block, and thread the side onto the screw in the stick.

Next, drill a pilot hole through the outside of the column at a seam that needs closing. Drive a screw into the hole so it pokes through just a little on the inside. Apply a generous amount of glue to the block on the stick, and then use it to reach inside the column. Align the hole in the glue block with the protruding screw in the column, and finish driving the screw into the block, pulling it tight up against the staves. Spin the stick off the block, and repeat as many times as necessary. You can leave the screws in place or back them out after the glue sets up.

—Justin Fink, Plainville, Conn.

Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller.

From Fine Homebuilding #317

RELATED STORIES

• Making Classical Columns
• Scribing Rails to a Round Column

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