Danl Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 I received a message from a friend asking for advise on how to repair this broken child chair. It appears from the pic that the chair stretchers do not have tenons. Looking for suggestions to make the joint stronger than just doing the obvious of gluing the broken piece back on. In the 2nd pic the broken leg is being held in place. Thanks Danl FlGatorwood 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post lew Posted March 8, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 I'd disassemble it, reglue the broken pieces then add a dowel(s) from the back for extra strength. Reassemble. Grandpadave52, LarryS, Cal and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryS Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 I agree with lew. If you got a lathe you can make a new one. FlGatorwood and Cal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HandyDan Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 Get yourself a handful of 16 penny nails and a couple lag screws and go to town on that thing. Seriously though. Since they were smart enough to bring it to you before some hack got to it I would follow Lew's instructions. If there is room to drill it deeper and switch to a longer hanger bolt that would help too. https://www.rockler.com/steel-hanger-bolts-steel-hanger-bolts?sid=V9146?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=pla&utm_campaign=PL&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgqrj14Xz4AIVELbACh2vFwi_EAYYBCABEgJLhfD_BwE Cal, FlGatorwood and Grandpadave52 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 Dowels into the broken part may be the only feasible way to fix what may be a bad grain situation because I see a dark area at the back of the break. Also I would put no more than two dowels as more will not leave enough good wood. FlGatorwood, Cal and Grandpadave52 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danl Posted March 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 3 minutes ago, Gerald said: Dowels into the broken part may be the only feasible way to fix what may be a bad grain situation because I see a dark area at the back of the break. Also I would put no more than two dowels as more will not leave enough good wood. I believe the dark spot is the tip of an anchor bolt. I asked my friend for more info and a pic of the bottom of the seat. My friend's son broke the chair and he is upset for his actions. So, some kind of repair will have to be attempted. Danl Grandpadave52, Cal and FlGatorwood 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 7 minutes ago, Danl said: I believe the dark spot is the tip of an anchor bolt. I asked my friend for more info and a pic of the bottom of the seat. My friend's son broke the chair and he is upset for his actions. So, some kind of repair will have to be attempted. Danl There is a dark area that runs down beside the bolt. Could be stain or different grain in wood IMHO Grandpadave52, Cal and FlGatorwood 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Thuman Posted March 8, 2019 Report Share Posted March 8, 2019 I would put 1 dowel each at differing heights into the side skirt from the leg. (But then how do you get them in?) Then epoxy where the steel is from the threaded bolt then yellow glue for the dowles and to put the leg back on. You could also introduce more steel and replace the dowels with screws from the outside of the leg into the skirts. Hide and plug the heads and paint to match. The screws create less of a bending plane and should help prevent further breakage. Why the skirts were never M & T into the legs is another matter. Cal and FlGatorwood 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick486 Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 13 hours ago, Danl said: Looking for suggestions to make the joint stronger glue the joint back up.. add an apron bracket to the inside of the of the chair... through bolt it w/ 1 or 2 sex bolts.. leave as is or camo cap/paint the heads of the bolts to make them look like thy are part of the design... Cal, FlGatorwood and lew 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 22 hours ago, Danl said: I believe the dark spot is the tip of an anchor bolt. I'd try simple first: remove the anchor, see if the top of the leg will come off. Glue the two pieces together, put some glue and toothpicks into the anchor hole, re-insert the anchor bolt. Most important: tell Dad to keep the kid off the table, or get the tyke a ladder. It probably broke cause the kid stood on it. (Mine do!) The wood broke at the weakest part. The new glue joint makes the former weakest part the strongest (as long as you do a good glue repair: strong rubber bands to clamp the pieces?). To break it again will require more stress than before. While the table is in repair, might remove the other legs, examine the upper post grain, see if other splits are there. One way to repair such splits: mix 50/50 yellow glue, inject into the crack with a syringe, then clamp. The dilute glue also acts as a wood hardener. FlGatorwood and Cal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danl Posted March 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 I received an other pic which shows the bottom side of the seat. Thanks for all of the advise. I will forward these and see how he wants to proceed. Danl Cal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HandyDan Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 I'm surprised they used an insert. Hanger bolts are cheaper and have worked well for many many years. Must have something to do with the manufacturing process where they didn't want the hanger bolt protruding from the legs. Cal and FlGatorwood 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post John Morris Posted March 9, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 You know, all in all for the type of chair it is, and the purpose, it was a well built chair, plenty of solid wood, beefy, sturdy, good hardware, there comes a point that no matter how well something is built, it'll break under the ideal circumstances. I like the idea of breaking it down, gluing the pieces back together, the glue joint when done properly will be stronger than the wood itself, and replace back with old hardware. Repaint. Cal, Harry Brink, John Moody and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lew Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 Not a whole lot of "meat" there for dowels. Here's another thought. Because it won't be seen, maybe you could make a diagonal cut on the leg and replace it with another piece of wood . Still use dowels for strength and the original mounting hardware. Cal, FlGatorwood and Grandpadave52 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick486 Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 since you already have the apron/leg plate... glean off the old glue... glue everything up... through bolt the leg to the plate.. the through bolt will also act as the clamp as the glue dries... Cal and sreilly24590 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post kmealy Posted March 10, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 I have repaired a bunch of these on tables and chairs. Remove the threaded insert. Glue the pieces back together and clamp. If there's room put a screw above and/or below the hole, with an appropriate sized pilot hole. Let the glue cure. Drill the hole for the threaded insert a little deeper if possible. Run the threaded insert in as far as possible. If you have it, use a longer threaded insert. Re-assemble. The problem is usually that there's an inch and a half of wood and the threaded insert is only in half an inch. Cal, lew, sreilly24590 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRAGON1 Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 I'm kind of with stick on this one. I'd take it apart, reglue that piece back to the leg. Then I'd put it back together. I'd take a long pilot bit and drill through the right and left faces of the leg and into the skirt boards (offset them a little so the right screws don't hit the left screws). use a countersink bit in the pilot holes to clean them out and countersink them. Make sure you use the right length screw to screw through the face of the legs and into the skirt boards. Some bondo, primer and paint will finish it. Cal and FlGatorwood 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sreilly24590 Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 (edited) That last picture gave a better idea of what's left and what you have to work with. It does look like the remaining piece is fairly shallow but there's good surface to glue. The other thought is I'm guessing these are childrens chairs so the load is less so the gluing, clamping and possible deeper threaded insert would likely hold forever. Of course this is all theory. My wife has an old family childs rocking chair that dates back to the late 1800's and the seat is split. Not quite ready for that repair yet but need to do. Likely to be a glue and clamp as well but I seriously doubt anyone will sit in it again unless it's the great grandchildren. Same concern though. I think I'd go with the above first and test it for strength. If it fails then additional hardware (screws) may well be needed. And if so it might be a good idea to do the same with the 3 other legs. Did no-one catch the noose in the second picture? Edited March 10, 2019 by sreilly24590 FlGatorwood and Cal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p_toad Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 My first take on those skirt boards is that they are not wood, but "glueboard" which has zero structural integrity and won't hold fasteners worth spit. If they WERE real wood, i would possibly recommend a couple of pocket screws from each side into the leg once that has been glued and clamped back together. I'm frankly surprised at the corner braces on this piece (not that it's a bad thing, just that they put then on the chair in the first place). 7 hours ago, sreilly24590 said: Did no-one catch the noose in the second picture? Hard to know what the piece of rope is for. Cal and FlGatorwood 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick486 Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 8 hours ago, sreilly24590 said: My wife has an old family child's rocking chair that dates back to the late 1800's and the seat is split Vacuum draw glue into the split.. clamp... after the glue dries butterfly the repair... kmealy, LarryS, FlGatorwood and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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