Need some advice on a repair (chair)

[Russianwolf]

My boss knows I'm a woodworker and I've fixed a couple things around the office.

He has a pair of Mahogany (Asia variety) chairs that aren't in the best of shape. I did some minor work on them once before. reglueing a couple joints that had broken loose. Used Polyurethane Glue. Now he has broken one again.

The joints on the arms are off, dowel joints to begin with so not the strongest. and just about every glue joint around the apron of the chair is busted.

I want to repair it without harming the look of the chair if I can.

I know I can use Miller dowels, but that will hurt the looks.
I can get some corner brackets of some kind but I'm not sure how well those will hold.

Any ideas?

[cabinetman]

Could you possibly post pictures of the areas? I would rather see the conditions to advise on how to fix. I don't want to guess what would work or apply.

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[Russianwolf]

here are the pics. You can see the first repair I did clearly now that the joint pulled back apart.

Trying to do a repair in the office isn't the best, but I'm not lugging it 70 miles to the shop so I can fully disassemble and clean it first.

The left front leg, (to the right in the pic) is the only stable part. Since the front of the leg had split off, I was able to put a screw through the leg and into the apron before gluing the face back on.

[cabinetman]

Repairs like that to be a permanent fix aren't a guarantee. When a glued joint becomes weak and works itself out to a point of failure, it usually creates a less than clean separation. If the joint was a clean break, TB II or III can be forced in and the joint clamped closed.

If the joint has an irregular fit due to its failure, there may be gaps, and in that case, I use a two part epoxy. The trick is, that if you try to clean out the joint, you may be making more gaps by removing fitting parts of the joint. So, IOW, if the joint can be gently opened, that's the best way.

For highly stressed joints, it may be necessary to drill for a dowel or two. Without regard to being visible or not, a good fix would be to get the joint as close as possible, clamp it up, and drill from the outside a ½" hole through both members. Then unclamp, and force glue into the mating joint area, and in the dowel hole, and lightly coat the dowel. Remember a well fitted dowel will scrape the walls of the hole, and it can push the glue into the hole. A well fitted dowel with a hole filled with glue will likely not be able to be inserted with a dowel. Air or glue can keep a dowel out, or force it out. Using a fluted or spiraled dowel will let out extraneous air and glue, permitting it to go into the hole.

When dry, cut off any of the dowel that is sticking out, sand, and finish over. For other areas, like where there is a corner cleat, you could replace them, or make new ones. You will have to remove any finish at the glue area for the glue to stick. You can use a sharp chisel, bevel up, and scrape off any old finish. If you can clamp the cleat in, or screw it in, you can reduce most of the racking stresses. I would not use pocket screws, or polyurethane glue anywhere.

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[leehljp]

I agree with Cab. I am going to give the same basic advice with different wordings. First thing I would say is to your boss is: I need 1 to 3 months.

• Take it apart as much as possible before repair.
• Disassemble of joints without ruining them can be a several day process of injecting DNA or even vinegar/water. (Unless it was polyurethane or epoxy)
• The broken parts, repair them individually,
• Rebuiid where possible with clamps and from a hidden side with dowel pins if possible.
• Refinish each piece with close as possible colors.
• Try dry run re-assemble and see if it is tight.
IF, IF it seems tight and can possible handle stress with strong Titebond type of yellow glue, then do it.
IF you are not sure, then use epoxy. Those look like good antique quality chairs. Epoxy will devalue it in the future, wood glue will not, IMO.

ON the underside, you might be able to add triangle wood corner braces that fit under the seat. glue with 1 to 2 hour open glue and screw tight. Drill holes for your screws in the braces. let each screw and brace be calculated and planned.

• Last piece of advice: Keep enough cleaning rags around and solvent or water. Every time you add glue of either kind, clean the outside off. You might be unhappy in the end if you don't - with all the glue streaks showing on a tightly glued chair.

[cabinetman]

• Take it apart as much as possible before repair.

I agree with you and want to add some advice I learned the hard way. If you disassemble a chair with several parts, make a sketch first, and make notes of what came apart and the order in which it occurred. Some furniture may have parts to assemble that can only be done in a certain order.


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