I have not been happy with Gorilla Glue in critical applications. If you have a sloppy joint and don't need a lot of strength, its swelling can make it attractive. However, even for such a mundane thing as bookbinding, I have had better luck with Elmers Ultimate. And it doesn't stain my hands like GG.

The July Aug edition of Fine Woodworking magazine had a test of different glues. Epoxy and PVA came out on top.

If anyone can't find it on line, I can send a copy by US Snail.

I was surprised to see PVA 1% above epoxy, as I have had epoxy do better in some applications. ...But that is picking ply specks out of pepper.

Resorcinol was not in the test, and I don't know why. It's always been pretty good stuff. My dad used it in building boats and it was the mandated glue for wood airplanes (at least when I last read that part of CAM 18 in the late fifties).

I switched to epoxy after having resorcinol fail on a restoration of a split bamboo fly rod. The subsequent epoxy re-do never failed. However, this is an extreme shear application, and would probably not apply to the cracks in question.

Some states no longer allow you to buy resorcinol. My feelings are, if it's banned in California, it must be good.

Hey, Lee!....are you an EAA guy? When I was, I really liked their magazine, Sport Aviation. They had glue articles, but I lost the ones I saved.

Just saw in the hardware store yesterday that Gorilla Glue now makes an epoxy.

I AM A WOOD WORKER IT ANY CAN BE FIXED BUT WAITE DO NOT RUSH IT The finish can be brought back .The wood looks like it is 100 years old and glue dried out.
Do not USE POLYURETHANE GLUE(GORILLA TYPE)Elmers carpenters wood clue will do a good job thin it with a small amount of water it penetrates better .when your drawers start to peal don;t play with them the vernier is very thin they were put together with contact cement.
lenny

Brad and Hillary,

The high level of moisture in your new area is the culprit. Your wood work was very dry and has been slowly absorbing moisture and expanding, thus causing the cracks. Do not do anything to the wood now, no gluing, or refinishing.

I am a cabinetmaker and furniture builder and have also had issues with moisture cracking my coach's woodwork.

You need to wait until the woodwork stabilizes in a low moisture environment and shrinks. It may actually shrink enough to re-glue and be normal again. My woodwork did just that (returned to normal) and I then glued, clamped and refinished it and you would never know there was a problem.

As other members on this site have mentioned, refinishing will help in the moisture issue in the future. Just wait until the wood looses the moisture it gained. This means you will probably need to let it go through this coming winter when the humidity is low for a long period of time. Winters in PA are relatively dry and should shrink the wood back significantly.

From looking at your pictures, I do not see any major issues, just let it dry out. The door however looks like it cracked because of downward stress on the frame, not moisture (my guess).

After the wood drys, you should be able to glue and clamp the wood back into place. Titebond II is a good glue for this purpose. Remove squeeze-out with a damp paper towel. Once glued, lightly sand the surfaces with the grain and brush on an alkyd based varnish, like polyurethane. Do not use a water based polyurethane. It is not a very durable finish and is not really polyurethane any way.

Good luck, If you have any questions, you can PM me.

Bill G

Thanks for all the input!

I've been off the grid for a bit. 8000 miles in two months in the car, sleeping in a tent! We saw some awesome sights in this beautiful country of ours.

The wood has seemed to acclimate a bit and the cracks are a little more narrow than they were. I think I'm going to let it sit awhile longer to see what happens. Especially since I'm not sure what climate we'll be in next.