Thread: Deck Chair Repair?

Were they glued?

If they were, perhaps the glue has weakened or maybe it was an interior glue.

If they were glued, then perhaps some exterior glue like Selleys 308 would fix them.

Not sure what your weather has been like lately but if it has been as dry as here (apart from the 22mm of rain in 20 minutes yesterday), perhaps the timber has shrunk making tenons loose. A bucket of water would be a temporary fix.

Originally Posted by Wood Borer

Were they glued? Yes, but they are so loose now they rattle.

If they were, perhaps the glue has weakened or maybe it was an interior glue.

If they were glued, then perhaps some exterior glue like Selleys 308 would fix them., I've even got some of that. I could put some filler stuff in it too so they are a bit tighter.

Not sure what your weather has been like lately but if it has been as dry as here (apart from the 22mm of rain in 20 minutes yesterday), perhaps the timber has shrunk making tenons loose. A bucket of water would be a temporary fix.

Weather's been wet-dry-wet-dry-wet-dry.

If I reglue them do you think a pin throughh them as well would be a good idea. Or wack a nail through. (Sorry purists. )

Glue works best when it is a tight/firm fit rather than rattling around.

Can you cut some thin slivers to tighten up the joint? If you can, I would glue the joint and the sliver.

If they were worth the effort, I would dismantle the chairs and build up the tenons before gluing back togther.

Apart from not being very elegant, whacking in nails may not achieve much in the long term apart from wrecking the tenons.

You would then have to replace the pieces with the broken tenons or make false tenons only to be in roughly the same position as you are now.

Why not glue one of them up with a sliver for a test - it can't do any harm.

Originally Posted by Wood Borer

Glue works best when it is a tight/firm fit rather than rattling around.

Can you cut some thin slivers to tighten up the joint? If you can, I would glue the joint and the sliver.

Why not glue one of them up with a sliver for a test - it can't do any harm.

They way they are constructed It would be a bit tricky to dismantle. Might just be quicker to start again. I think I can take the front board with all the mortises in it off. Maybe I could make a replacement for it so that the tenons are tighter? Or construct them in differently so that they are not pulling out.

Consider this, Get some Stainless Steel Brads, snug the joints and Drill a smaller pilot hole from the underside, pin the tenons. Like I said, Drill a pilot hole and use Stainless steel brads. Another approach would be use a stainless steel or brass screw. Remember proper pilot hole. W/o the pilot hole you can be assured of cracking, checks, splits, etc.

Some may say "That small pin won't hold up my Lard Bucket" but in conjunction of all the tenons and pins they work together.

Originally Posted by tea lady

We've got these deck chairs from the big green hardware shop, but they ALL appear to be breaking. The tenons are pulling out of the mortises all across the front. Bad design I expect, cos the force of sitting on the chairs pulls them out.

So has anyone got any ideas of what I can do to fix 'em? A pin through the tennons? A kind of bodged up metal reinforcement underneath holding it together. Some other sort of bracing to stop the outward forces?

I've fixed a lot of chairs in my day, and I'll offer my suggestions: First, the right way - I mean the capital R Right way - is to bush the holes and re-drill them so that there's no slop in the fit. HOWEVER.....

The easy and best way to do this in my experience is to use a product called Techniglue, available from this mob: www.fibreglass-resin-sales.com.au

It has the consistency of Vaseline (thick) and will fill gaps like you wouldn't believe. I have glued end-grain to end-grain and I can't break it, so strong is this epoxy. The other nice thing about this glue is that it has a very long pot life, so you can mess around with it without buzzing around the workshop like a bee in a bottle. Sets overnight and you'll never look back. Cheers!

I would combine Hickory and cellist's advice. Whack some glue in (I'll have to try some of that whiz bang Techniglue), then pin with with some short nails from underneath. I reckon that fix will outlast the rest of the chairs.

If you like the design and they're comfortable, I'm sure with your skills you can build some new ones of nice timber with proper joinery.

Tex

Originally Posted by Tex B

I would combine Hickory and cellist's advice. Whack some glue in (I'll have to try some of that whiz bang Techniglue), then pin with with some short nails from underneath. I reckon that fix will outlast the rest of the chairs.

If you like the design and they're comfortable, I'm sure with your skills you can build some new ones of nice timber with proper joinery.

Tex

Believe me, Tex. Spare the steel. That glue, when joining members with such a great amount of surface area as a mortice and tenon joint provide will not be helped by short nails. Let's face it, if the glue fails, will the short nails stop the inevitable from happening? As I said, you can glue end-grain with this stuff and you can't break it. The chairs will not come apart. Believe me. (PS- I don't work for any glue companies! )

Hey! I even have some of that glue. So I clean up the joint. De-dust and stuff. I still might put some extra support like a metal brace so all the stress doesn't go onto the M&Ts.