Thread: Chair Stringer Glue

If they were originally glued with hide glue you can do that, for unlike modern glues, hide glue will glue onto old hide glue and give a good bond. Thus you could inject it into the gaps of the old joints.

But if it's not hide glue then you will have to do it properly.

Peter.

Cannot imagine it would be hide glue. HD has not been used in commercial furniture making foe eons to the best of my knowledge. This set was cheap and nasty even when brand new.

This might be what he was referring to

Veritas® Chair Doctor Glue : CARBA-TEC

I reckon you might be right DJ.
Looks exactly like I had pictured in my mind's eye.
Twelve bucks plus postage, I reckon it's worth a go.
I'll order some.
Thanks heaps.

Jim
ETA: Yikes, same amount again for postage! Ah well, got to look upon it as total cost of job, not price plus postage. Two chairs repaired for $24. I can live with that, plus I should have some left over for future use.

For the benefit of future readers searching for answers and in appreciation for those who helped with input on this thread, I thought it best to report back on the results.

The glue arrived fairly promptly from Carba-Tec, especially considering it was originally put on back order as they had nil stock. Even so, it was here within a week and a bit.

It comes in a small bottle with a very fine metal nozzle. The consistancy is quite thin compared to normal PVA glue.

I wiggled the loose joints as much as I could to expose a gap into which I could squeeze the glue. It ran reasonably well into the joints but I found I could make the glue flow deeper inside the joint by gently blowing the glue further into the joint.

I didn't think to bring any rope or clamps with me with which to hold everything together so just pushed and banged with the heal of my hand to get it as tight as I could and then sat the two chairs in place with instructions to not go near them for a full day.
The bottle reads dry in one hour, maximum strength in 12. So 24 hours is a safe precaution.

Result?
Surprisingly enough...good!
Chairs are rock solid with no wobble or looseness anywhere.

The only unknown is how long they will stay that way with use.

I still have a nagging doubt that this was all too easy. Surely it can't last. but then, I'm a born sceptic. So far, one week later they are both still good.

So, summary.
I still believe the traditional way of breaking the piece apart, scraping off the old glue and re-gluing and clamping is the best way. But this glue appears to be a perfectly satisfactory alternative when time/skill/desire/whatever available is just not there for one reason or another. I bought the small bottle and did two chairs. There's enough there for 10 more.

All in all, a good result and I'm happy to recommend the product.

Cheers
Jim

I have my grandmother's double drop leaf table. Possibly 1m x 1.5m top. It is probably pushing the century. One of the swing-out support legs let go on the weekend. Lots of hide glue crust on the opposing faces of the joints and the dowel pegs were loose. Selected Gorilla glue as it expands 3x - 4x on setup. Couple of bar clamps for spans of 45(?)cm. Scraped off the hide glue crusts to see a tight dry-fit and did the glue up. Must admit, it did a very, very nice job with less squeeze-out than I expected.

Yes, as I discovered when searching for this product, Gorilla Glue was highly recommended. I've never used it personally.
Good to hear a first hand account.

There are two sorts of Gorilla glue now. The new stuff sets up white, the original is brown/tan. Both of them foam/expand to give some squeeze out, use much less than with any carpenter's glue.

When the dry fit looks good, open it up and paint one wood face with water on a cotton swab. Just damp is good enough ( I know a furniture maker who simply licks spit on one side).
Few drops of glue on the other part, fit together and clamp fairly hard for 2 hrs.
Squeeze out:
1. You can stand there and wipe it off with a wet rag. . . but you have to be there.
2. I let it go. Far easier for me to carefully carve away the drool when really hard & set up. Especially under a table where it won't show!