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Child chair repair - suggestions needed


Danl

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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   

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Get yourself a handful of 16 penny nails and a couple lag screws and go to town on that thing.:BugEyeSmiley:  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

 

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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

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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

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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.

 

 

 

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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...

 

856643002_LEGAPRON1.jpg.0e5b36ae4424b55eeaa68fce6d441cee.jpg  821841642_APRON-LEGCONNECTION1.jpg.b297ec3af872dfdcb1976a8c9ffd726e.jpg  sexBolt__71152.1417716949.1280.1280.jpg?c=2

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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.

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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.

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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 by sreilly24590
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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.  <_<

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