Fixing a chair

[Charles]

My mother has an old rocking chair that creaks. A couple years ago I took it apart with vinegar and reglued it with "carpenter's glue", the yellow stuff that comes in a squeeze bottle. It was okay for a while, but has started creaking again.

I am thinking to take it apart again and shim the joints with shavings from a plane as the wood has shrunk, then glue it up again.

The chair is quite old, probably an antique of some sort, and I would rather not drill and screw it.

Is there anything I should do differently? Any glue that would be better?

Thanks

[Phisherman]

You could dust the creaking joint(s) with some talcum powder.

[Lew Hodgett]

My choice would be epoxy; HOWEVER, before you do anything, get an appraisal.

If in fact it is an antique, your options may be limited.

HTH

[Mark Hopkins]

Cut a slot in the tenon and insert a wedge. When you reassemble the joint will tighten up.

[Upscale]

Lee Valley has a glue specially designed to fix that type of problem. It causes the wood to swell and then bonds it in place.

[Bob S.]

First - do no damage as you already know. Your idea of wrapping a shaving around the tennon is good. Remove all the old glue from the mortises and tennons and dry fit. Use your shims as needed to get a good pressure fit. Use Hide Glue (Franklin's) as it will remain flexible and is totally reversible 50 years from now.

As you've already found out, the PVA glue was short-lived. Using epoxy is not a good idea since it dries rock hard and the joint will fail eventually.

The rocker was probably designed so that when the base is put together, every joint is under tension - as it should be. Someone sitting in the rocker and using it, places the joints under more tension and essentially locking them in even tighter - but wood shrinks and expands and the glue that holds them must do the same. Hide glue is time honored, has worked for several hundred years and was probably the original glue that the chair was assembled with. Use it again.

Bob S.

[Andy Dingley]

A foxed blind tenon ?

Not only is this hard to do (it's quite a crucial adjustment to get the length and thickness right), I would _never_ do this to a chair.

Foxed tenons are impossible to dismantle without taking a crowbar to them (the best way is to saw the tenon off cleanly, then destroy the stub with a chisel). As any good chair will need its tenons servicing several times in its lifetime, then this is just delaying the inevitable. A poor chair won't last long enough to need repair, but neither is it worth the trouble of a blind wedged tenon. A good chair deserves a construction that will see out the century, not a bodged repair that will probably be unrepairable.

-- Do whales have krillfiles ?

[Frank J. Vitale]

A fix that is not in the fine woodworking class, but works great are thin strips of metal that look like a rasp. They are available at hardware stores. You put it over the tenon and then assemble. I have used them on some old kitchen chairs and they have held up for years. You can't see them if you trim them to the correct size.

[Ron Magen]

Charles, I tried just about all the 'cures' that have been proposed . . . yet a pair of 'Captains' Chairs still kept pulling apart. We use them in the kitchen, and a combination of smooth floor and my 'lead ass', seems to prove several mechanical 'Rules'. These same 'directional forces' may be contributing to your problem.

I can understand not wanting to do anything that will be visible. However, is the main use of the rocker as an 'heirloom/museum piece', or as something that your mother wants to USE? What I did was to use Round Head Marine Bronze wood screws inserted through the 'uprights' and into the ends of the spindles, to 'back-up the glue. After a very short time, they developed a nice patina and blended in with the original finish. If I had to, it would be simply enough to back them out, and plug the small holes.

Regards & Good Luck, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop

[Sprog]