I've taken on the task of repairing an old chair from my wife's aunt's house. The aunt is in her 80s and she remembers the chair at her grandfather's house, so it is old.
This chair sat for many years right next to a hot soapstone wood stove and had a LOT of use and abuse. It is amazing that it is holding together at all. Every joint was loose. At one time, someone added some metal L-brackets, some of which are broken from constant bending.
I was able to separate all the parts. There were screws, wood dowels and mortise and tenon joints. I also marked joints and pieces to be sure I can get it back together. Here are the pieces:
I have never made a chair, and I have a question about the joinery. Should all the joints he glued, at least all the ones that are not held with screws? Mostly I wonder about the back slats. The tenons on the tops are very shallow, like this:
I think that I see remnants of old dried glue here, but I want to be sure.
My overall plan is to remove old glue and enlarge the loose tenons with veneer to get a snug fit before reassembling with glue and the screws.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated!
Update:
Despite a few nerve-wracking gluing moments, I have the chair back together. I am very happy with the results. It is now, as they used to say, solid as Sears.
I enlarged quite a few of the tenons with veneer and then refit them. Some of the screw holes needed to be repaired. I drilled them out and glued in some dowels.
I like how it looks in our living room. I just might "forget" for a while to let my wife's aunt know that it is completed.
This chair sat for many years right next to a hot soapstone wood stove and had a LOT of use and abuse. It is amazing that it is holding together at all. Every joint was loose. At one time, someone added some metal L-brackets, some of which are broken from constant bending.
I was able to separate all the parts. There were screws, wood dowels and mortise and tenon joints. I also marked joints and pieces to be sure I can get it back together. Here are the pieces:
I have never made a chair, and I have a question about the joinery. Should all the joints he glued, at least all the ones that are not held with screws? Mostly I wonder about the back slats. The tenons on the tops are very shallow, like this:
I think that I see remnants of old dried glue here, but I want to be sure.
My overall plan is to remove old glue and enlarge the loose tenons with veneer to get a snug fit before reassembling with glue and the screws.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated!
Update:
Despite a few nerve-wracking gluing moments, I have the chair back together. I am very happy with the results. It is now, as they used to say, solid as Sears.
I enlarged quite a few of the tenons with veneer and then refit them. Some of the screw holes needed to be repaired. I drilled them out and glued in some dowels.
I like how it looks in our living room. I just might "forget" for a while to let my wife's aunt know that it is completed.