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Thread: Chair Repair
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18th March 2015, 10:53 PM #1
Chair Repair
I have been asked to have a go at repairing this chair. It belongs to my niece inlaw and has a lot of sentimental value to her as it belonged to her deceased mother. As I see it there are 3 options
1. Drive in dowels across the break and glue & join
2. Replace the whole leg
3. Replace a segment of the leg and secure with dowels top & bottom
Is there any other method I've not thought of?
Of course the wood doesn't appear to be high quality, I've only seen the pics
Advice appreciated.
TT
IMG_1279.jpgIMG_1280.jpgIMG_1281.jpgIMG_1282.jpgIMG_1284.jpgIMG_1285.jpgIMG_1286.jpgLearning to make big bits of wood smaller......
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18th March 2015, 11:34 PM #2
Hi Twisted
that's a very cheap chair -- it looks like an early Ikea assemble yourself model
is it part of a set?
is it the chair used most often by a heavy person, or someone who typically rocks back on a chair.
Personally, I don't think it is repairable.
A new leg would be a too obvious repair.
You could fit a new dowel where the rung enters the front leg and glue and clamp the break -- I don't think dowels would offer much reinforcing and the repair would be pretty obvious.
Also, I would expect that the surviving leg is weakened as are the legs on other chairs in the set that are regularly used.
Bottom line you could repair the damage but the chair would be either unusable or very obviously repaired.
Perhaps the best way of retaining the sentimental value is to re-purpose the wood in the chair into a keep sake box or picture frames -- the nephew has kids? "Grandma's chair" could frame their photos.
I know ... a difficult choice for the niece in-lawregards from Alberta, Canada
ian
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19th March 2015, 07:57 AM #3
Thanks for that Ian. It is part of a set and the hubby is not too heavy but some one must have rocked back on it. That's a good idea repurposing the wood. I'll float that with them.
TTLearning to make big bits of wood smaller......
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19th March 2015, 12:10 PM #4
The grain runout at the break is the quite bad and likley caused it to fail. I would never be confident that it would hold up if repaired.
Regards
John
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19th March 2015, 01:11 PM #5
A new dowel for the rail and epoxy/titebond for the rest should take it back to serviceable - there's plenty of surface area for gluing, but if it failed in normal use, you'll need to work out some sort of reinforcement for it.
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19th March 2015, 07:40 PM #6
Glue it first and then either spline or dowel the joint from where it is least likely to be seen.
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19th March 2015, 07:59 PM #7GOLD MEMBER
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I agree with Ian.
That is a really badly made chair.
Whoever made it had no idea about grain direction and the benefits of getting it right.
It's a bit sad people get sentimentally attached to such lemons.
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19th March 2015, 10:19 PM #8
Yep there"s no way I could even match the wood. I was thinking of replacing a length of the leg around the break, and dowel it in top & bottom. The wood would be different of course and would be stronger than the rest of the chair, therefore transferring the stress elsewhere I think. I think it may be my brother who has the emotional attachment. It's a long story about his daughter inlaw, I think he wants her to feel like she is worth the effort.
TTLearning to make big bits of wood smaller......
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19th March 2015, 10:39 PM #9GOLD MEMBER
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I make chairs and much prefer to make a new one rather than stuff about with a broken one, but I do understand that sentiment often plays a part.
Yes, the break does appear to be caused by grain run out, a very common flaw in mass produced furniture as the components are created sight unseen. The first time a real live person got a look in was at assembly and its getting a bit late by then.
As the break surface is considerable, a quality glue up would be an option, a new dowel of strong timber using a quality glue and the chair would be no worse than any of the others in the set. If the truth be known, there are probably others just waiting to pull the same stunt.
My suggestion would be epoxy glue and an oak dowel.
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20th March 2015, 11:05 AM #10
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20th March 2015, 11:13 AM #11
Araldite is your expensive option unless you buy one of the tiny consumer packs that might just have enough for one job. If you have a marine store nearby, some West Epoxy, Techniglue or some Botecote.
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20th March 2015, 01:30 PM #12GOLD MEMBER
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Any of those would be fine
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20th March 2015, 07:31 PM #13
Although, since it would be a really good fit, you might end up starving the joint of epoxy....maybe Titebond II as an option?
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20th March 2015, 09:38 PM #14
Sorry to say, but, I wouldn't touch it. Throw it in the bin.
Too many potential hassles.
CheersThere ain't no devil, it's just god when he's drunk!!
Tom Waits
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20th March 2015, 09:53 PM #15regards from Alberta, Canada
ian
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