Chair Repair Revisited

[Meanie]

Exactly one year ago this month, some of you may recall I asked about repairing an older chair which belonged to my mother-in-law. It may not be easily evident as I had a different user name during an identity crisis. Regardless, I was unable to get started on the chair until the holidays which allowed me 2 1/2 weeks off. The suggestions, as always, were helpful but I must add....one person thought I was in over my head and questioned my ability because I was seeking suggestions in this group, he knows who he is ; )

I indicated I would post photos after the repairs were complete. I took photos of the project along the way and posted to my Flickr account for those interested in seeing. The project isn't fully complete yet because I need to paint the final leg supports.

The original link to the chair in it's broken condition is here

first step was trying to determine the original wood of the chair. After taking it to two local woodworkers, the conclusion was thought to be Poplar, therefore, nothing fancy.

I tackled the arched back support first. The smaller vertical supports were fine except for rear angled supports which you can view laying on the chair here

end was broken and I simply drilled the center, inserted a dowel, repaired and cleaned the hole, then fit the doweled end for insertion.

The arched support had the end insert completely gone and was held my a screw, which didn't really work.

tricky part was to drill that one straight for a new dowel. Therefore, I took a 2x6 board, grooved it the width of the support, clamped it to the drill press table and clamped the support to the board, then drilled 1 1/2" deep using a forstner bit. couldn't have asked for a better end result. dowel fit perfectly. cleaned up the other side and beefed up the doweled end. After cleaning up the holes on the seat where the back support inserts, I made a trial fit and was happy with the result. top half of the chair was complete and it was just a matter of gluing it all back together.

The bottom half was the fun part. The supports were broken and I thought there were simply two option or three if I wanted to have someone make the same support or try to find one. I assumed I could either repair or make anew. I decided to gain experience and make anew.

In order to make anew with my limited lathe experience, I decided to make a half ass looking, but workable duplicator.

brad nailed the broken end of the support on to the remaining body and used it as a template. made and set up supports to hold the broken piece in the center of my lathe under the new wood piece and allowed the guide to follow the original while the cutter cut the new. Though, with a few spots requiring wood filling, the end results are once again something I'm happy wit. Since it'll be painted, I'm not concerned about the spots with wood putty. after drilling the required holes, I assembled the bottom supports for a dry fit and pleased with the results. supports are the ones I inquired about with the thread of dowel hole depth.

I'm currently experimenting with paint options, such as to use primer, paint and lacquer, just paint and lacquer, paint and shellac, etc. The chair, even though it's old and has nicks and worn spots, it contained a gloss finish, which I guess to be an oil base paint. I had a color match, which was near perfect, but couldn't get it in oil base and instead, is flat.. Therefore, to gain the gloss, I am trying the lacquer and/or shellac on experimented supports I made prior to the finished ones.

Once again, the help from many of you is always appreciated, even from those who don't think some of us can do because we asked. : )

[knuttle]

I think in the lesson is that Rube Goldberg always comes out ahead of the fancy equipment.

PS Since it is obvious you don't know what you are doing, would you consider a table of mine that I have been working on for about 40 years?

;-)

Thanks for the ideas, I will use some in my work.

[Sonny]

Looks, to me, you did a pretty good job.

Sonny