Glue for repairing an old chair

[robgraham]

I've got two small oak chairs to reglue. A traditionalist would I suspect specify brown glue for them but I would prefer not to go to the hassle of that; the advantage of PVA is that it cleans up easily but it's gap filling capability is limited. I used polurethane glue recently for another job and was impressed by it's gap filling but didn't like the foamed glue that came out of the joint as it set - is this s limitation with poly glue or is there some way of cleaning off the excess?

Thanks

Rob

[Mike Halmarack]

I bought a rubberwood dining suite as a flat pack. It was a nice elegant design and the front and back components of each chair were well put together. The rails supplied to connect the front and back of each chair had tenons that were much smaller than the mortices they went into.

It appears that the user was expected to compensate for this condition by inserting a screw diagonally through each joint from underneath. I used the screws but also filled each joint with a Homebase "No More Nails" equivalent after roughing up the mortice sockets and cutting annular rings on the tenons. The glue/filler residue was white but cleaned off easily and stained well. That was 5 or 6 years ago. After 2 days of curing the chairs were put to use and were quite remarkable in the way they felt like tuning forks when they were moved about, they were so firmly jointed. Still the same solid feel to them to this day.

[The Medway Handyman]

There is a specific glue for just this job;

Veritas Chair Doctor Glue Chair Doctor Glue does exactly what the name implies - it fixes chairs. If a chair has a loose rung an injection of Chair Doctor Glue will first swell the rung and then bond it in position. The secret is the low viscosity. It soaks into the end grain, swells the wood then 'freezes' the wood in its swollen state as it cures. A film of dry glue is left on the walls of the wood cells preventing contraction. The glue can penetrate the narrowest of cracks and is supplied in a bottle with a micro dropper applicator tip which lets you place the glue accurately. For regular cabinetmaking PVA adhesive is the best choice; but for fixing loose joints where disassembly is not an option Chair Doctor Glue is the most suitable. Available as a 57ml(2fl.oz) bottle or the Pro Kit which contains 114ml(4fl.oz) of glue, syringe and three different injection needles.

Available from

[Andy Dingley]

Use Chair Doctor. If Chair Doctor won't do it, then you need some repair to the woodwork (such as rebuilding a worn tenon), not just glue.

PU glue is no damn use for anything. Too crude for indoor work, too UV sensitive for outdoor work.

[The Natural Philosopher]

There is another class of glues that will work. Epoxy and polyester resins. If loaded with filler they are strong and gap filling. They can be slightly inflexible though, which is why polyurethane is overall used more.

[Guy King]

The message from Andy Dingley contains these words:

It's excellent for ensuring wallplugs don't fret loose. Particularly in breezeblocks - use a water pistol to flush the hole out and smear PU glue on the plug before you put it in. Stays tight (so far) for ever!

[robgraham]

Great idea with one weakness - I'm old enough for my children to have left home but not old enough for grandchildren ! But a sqeezy bottel will do.

Rob

[The Medway Handyman]

If by PU you mean polyurethane like this

then I'd strongly disagree.

This stuff is incredible!

[Chris Bacon]

How old? Valuable? Which joint? In what condition is the joint?

[Mary Fisher]

I've never heard of that - what is it, Andy?

Well, it does have some uses but not, I agree, for furniture repairs!

Mary

[Andy Dingley]

good UK toolshops have it.

Are we talking about the same stuff ? Isocyanate cure foamy glue, or the solvent based stuff used for shoe and leatherwork (which is handy)?

[Mary Fisher]

I'm not sure we've used the latter, I don't do leatherwork, leave it to him and don't ask questions. Although I know that he stitches most of it and I think he uses an impact adhesive for extra soles.

The foamy stuff is excellent for using in large quantities to make temporary sculptures for shows; we used it in two caravans to bond and insulate the outer and inner skins. It did a great job and has performed beautifully. He used it recently to fill the gaps in ceilings where the new plumbing left holes.

Mary

[Andy Dingley]

Sounds like slightly different stuff - that's the canoe-inflating grade, I'm talking about the rather denser less-foamy but still foamy glue sort.

[Mary Fisher]

You're probably right. I didn't know of that. Never used it for canoes though - Parry's (?) account is the instance I know of that.

Mary