How to fix this split dining table

I have a cherry expandable dining table that suddenly broke several years ago. We just put it away in the shed but the recent  post by Ron inspired me into thinking about fixing it by myself.

There was a long crack originating from a screw all tge way across. My husband thought it was due to AC vent underneath drying the wood out. Since this table was in the storage between the moves and workers stacked a heavy window unit on top. I was suspecting the weight made the wood weak.

My questions are:
1. Can the long crack be glued back together without taking the pieces apart? What type of glue to use?
2. If the crack is sealed, I don't want the screw to put back in the original position. How can I reinforce the back? This section is about 1/4 from the end so it doesn't interfere with the expandable structures.

I am a newbie to woodworking. Do you think it is better to find a carpenter for the job? This is a nice piece of furniture and I don't want to ruin it.

Thanks in advance.

To mend the crack, I'd try some bow ties. I have never done this, so here are some instructions that make sense to me.

Here's a blog about bow ties where I found the pretty picture below.




Dunno what to do with the screw.

I can't help, but thought I'd give you some encouragement. If the table is in the shed it isn't much use anyhow so give it a try.

I don't think the placement of the screw is critical - it looks like it just holds the metal clip that holds the top to the sides of the table. Reposition the screw to the middle of the adjacent section (you can see where the wood strips join), use the clip to mark the hole, drill a little pilot hole (be careful not to go through the surface!) and gently tighten the screw. It maybe that the hole wasn't piloted before and that added stress into the wood at that point.

May Lotito wrote:My questions are:
1. Can the long crack be glued back together without taking the pieces apart? What type of glue to use?
2. If the crack is sealed, I don't want the screw to put back in the original position. How can I reinforce the back? This section is about 1/4 from the end so it doesn't interfere with the expandable structures.

Fancy solution in post above - I have used the butterflies on some old desks/tables. I used a router for the basic shape and a chisel for the edges. That method just keeps the crack from getting worse. It looks neat but would be a challenge for someone newer to woodworking.

Professional solution 1 - If you want the top closely restored to what is used to look like, you'd need to sand the whole top down and refinish it for uniformity. You can mix the dust from the sanding (of the wood, not the finish) with glue and work it into the crack. You could also match the color with a wood filler and use that. Then refinish the top.  

Professional solution 2 - Use a couple of ratchet straps around the table to close the crack up, put some reinforcement on the bottom of the table to hold it in place. Refinish the top if needed.

DIY solution - A DIY simple fix for a beginner would be to put blue painters tape right along the edge of the crack and get a 2 part epoxy syringe and work that into the crack. Let it dry and hand sand the epoxy with a foam hand sand block. You'll want to sand carefully making sure not to go through the painters tape.

Either way, you can put the screw back in the same spot if you'll be filling the crack. The damage is done.