CHAIR REPAIR

Chair Repair:

Probably the most common call I get!

For many of us fixing something that’s broken is very satisfying, it can also save us some money. Chairs break or become loose for different reasons. Sometimes it’s abuse, and sometimes just old age, but one thing for certain is when they become loose and you want them repaired so you can use them again. Understanding how glues work and that there are different glues for different applications is key!

Know your glues, a little background on glues:  If the chair in question is anywhere between 80-100 years old it was probably originally assembled with what’s referred to as “hide glue”. This is a material that both chair and furniture makers used that was manufactured from rendered collagen from the skins or (hides) of animals (this is where the term came from sending an animal to the glue factory). It is chemically similar to edible gelatin and is non-toxic if ingested (I personally have never ingested it and don’ plan to, I’m on this new rendered animal collagen free diet!).  Anyhow it was typically heated into what I refer to as a heavy brown goup! It was applied hot and when it cooled and dried you had a fairly strong joint. So back in the day when a cabinet maker arrived at work every morning the first thing they would do was to heat up the glue pot to begin their day of furniture making.  If you’d like to learn more about glues go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_glue.

Here is the most important point I need to make about regluing a chair or any piece of furniture for that matter. NEW GLUE WILL NOT STICK TO OLD GLUE. At least not very well in most cases. Almost every repair I get you can see where someone tried a repair with yellow glue over some old glue. Hot melt glue will not work very well either simply because it never totally hardens, nor will it adhere very well to old glue. I also frequently see where people try to lay a bead of glue around the outside of the mortise and tennon (where the turning fits into a drilled hole). Unfortunately the glue will never absorb into the wood to make the repair for you. 

There are a number of things you can do to help prevent a chair from becoming loose or breaking. Many people like to lean back when sitting in a chair. Leaning and balancing backwards on the two back legs of a chair is just asking for it to break. If you think about for a second, you’re taking most of your weight and asking four joints or as I refer to them as the main stress points to take most of your weight. Something got to give and usually it will be the chair.

One of the most challenging things about re-gluing a chair is to be able to gently coax the joints apart without breaking it. Use a rubber mallet when trying to take a chair apart. This will prevent you from marking and dinging the wood. Once you get it apart clean as much of the residual glue off as possible. Exposing the wood is important because as I said earlier “NEW GLUE WILL NOT STICK TO OLD GLUE”. Then apply glue to both the mortise and the tennon tap it back together and clamp it well.

I like to use the quick grip clamps because they have rubber pads on them and don’t scratch your furniture, and they also adjust very quickly. You will need several of them as well to clamp up a chair correctly. When I’m re-gluing chairs it seems like I never have enough clamps in the shop! I have attached a few picture of some chairs I’m working on now you can see that many clamps are used.

I’ll confess this is not always the easiest thing to do but the end result is you now have a usable chair to sit in. I hope you all have fun working on your furniture. Be good to your wood and send along any questions you may have!  David LaCroix is the Furniture Fixer, 

http://branford.patch.com/listings/the-furniture-fixer-david-lacroix-and-sons-woodworking

The Furniture Fixer, David LaCroix & Sons Woodworking has been refinishing, repairing, and building custom furniture for over 25 years. Call us today at 203-627-2728 or you can see some of our before and after photos on our Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/FurnitureFixer