# Looking for Help - Davidson, NC Area



## firewire (Aug 30, 2010)

I'm not sure if this is the right area to post this. While I myself am a woodworker I am in a bit of a pickle. I no longer have any of my tools and didn't plan to setup my shop again for a few years. My wife and I just recently moved.

During this move a family heirloom rocking chair that my in-laws just had re-upholstered had its leg snapped off. This is the same chair that my wife was rocked in as well as her mother before her. I took a look at the damage to see if this was something that I could just glue back on until I could build a new rocker runner at a later date.

The break was not clean and there is no way I could just glue this together and not have it noticed. In fact this same runner has a glue line from a previous repair in the same area. There is also a screw from a attempted repair from my father in law. The wood appears to be some variant of mahogany. I need to find a way to get this repaired before my in-laws come to visit.

Would anyone know of a local shop or individual who could repair this for a fee? I am located in the Davidson North Carolina area. I've included a few photos of the chair and break. The runner does have a bit of a complex curve but nothing too bad.

The joinery is loose tenons and not a dowel which may prove to be more difficult unless the runner is cut clean off and a new method of joinery utilized.

I have attached a few images for reference.


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## HokieKen (Apr 14, 2015)

Dan, I don't think from the pictures that the runner will ever be functional again by gluing it but, if you were to drill a hole in both sides and epoxy in a length of steel rod I bet it would keep on ticking. Is the break such that you could do that and maybe fill in missing spots with some color-matched wood putty? Just trying to think of a repair you could do with what you have on hand.


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## Notw (Aug 7, 2013)

reach out on the NCWoodworker.net forum, lot of helpful great people in North Carolina


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## firewire (Aug 30, 2010)

@HokieKen - I appreciate the idea. I don't think that solution would pass ascetically. I would also have a ton of trouble aligning the metal rod. I have your basic household tools at this point. All of my hand and power tools for woodworking specific functions were sold. It will probably be another 2 years before I get a shop back up and running.

@Notw - Thank you for the advice. I had forgotten about NCwoodworker and am already a member on that site. I posted over there as well.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

If the pieces fit back together I would glue it and insert a spline across the break on the bottom. Fill any gaps with Quickwood. If the pieces don't fit back together then I would cut it clean and splice in a new piece using a scarf joint.


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## firewire (Aug 30, 2010)

@Woodknack - They definitely don't fit back together well. I also do not have the tool to put a spline in or make a cut that clean at the moment.


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

It's been bodged up sever times. The lever of rocking will snap the repair no matter how you do it.

You need a jigsaw (hand or power), a sanding block, drill and bit for the dowels. Order a piece of mahogany and trace the good rocker on it. Several hours of labor later you should have a good approximation of a replacement. You only need to do it once and real mahogany cuts easily.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

It looks like someone simply cut that arc out of a regular board. The grain on the good one seems to be straight front to back, not curved along the arc of the rocker. The break also appears to go along the grain at a similar angle. A chair made like that is doomed to fail. Same reason you have to be so careful with curved legs. If the grain runs across a section that's too narrow, it'll be weak. That should have been made by bending.


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## firewire (Aug 30, 2010)

@Madmark2 - I don't think I will get the results that I am looking for with a jigsaw as it the runner is a multi plane curve. I'm a bit of a stickler for details and I want to make sure I get good results. I don't want the in-laws to notice the replacement. I'm really looking for someone locally who can do the work as I don't have my tools anymore nor the time to make the repair.

@Rich - I completely agree. The chair has some poor construction. You can tell that both rocker runners would have broken at some point. Unfortunately, I need to repair this as it is a family heirloom and has major sentimental value. A bent lamination or picking a board with curved grain would have been better options. I honestly would not choose to make runners out of mahogany. It gets damaged too easily.


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

THanks for the nink. I was not aware of it. 
https://www.lumberjocks.com/topics/308989#



> reach out on the NCWoodworker.net forum, lot of helpful great people in North Carolina
> 
> - Notw


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