# Flooded Chair Repair



## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

I have a child's maple rocker that was flooded and consequently has considerable joint failure and some minor warping. The worst of it is in the seat where all but one of the joints has failed:










This chair is not an antique. I was factory made probably in the late 60's by the Nichols Co. in Gardener, Mass. I'm not sure what kind of glue was used, but it must have been water soluble. The next picture shows the edge of one piece:










Notice the whitish area which I think is a glue remnant. Note also the small tongue close to the bottom of the edge. All of the seat joints have this small tongue and groove. Because of some warping, the seat pieces do not fit precisely. Once clamped together, there are remaining gaps in the joints:










Because of the T&G and the shape of the pieces, I cannot easily true up the edges for a better fit. I'm thinking of cleaning up the old glue and then re-gluing with either epoxy or plastic resin and let the squeeze out fill the remaining gaps. My only concern is that I have considerable pressure on the clamps forcing the pieces together as you see in the picture. Am I likely to squeeze out the glue and end up with dry joints? Also, I'm afraid that they may pop apart later.

I should have taken another picture. With just the clamp on the front edge, the joints were open about 1/32" to 1/8" at the back edge.

Your thoughts?


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

There have been times where I really cranked down with clamps and the pieces were in one piece years later. Yellow glue is stronger than wood, I don't see you gaining anything with epoxy.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

I would use the seat as a pattern and make a new one. 
Seems wrong to force the wood back in shape


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

After getting all of the glue residue off, I would probably just glue with yellow glue and fill any gaps afterwords with some thin CA like I do when turning badly cracked bowl blanks. If you plan to stain or just varnish it, you might want to mask off surrounding wood to prevent the CA from discoloring the wood.


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## fivecodys (Dec 2, 2013)

This is a challenge for sure.

I re-glued one of my bosses oak office chairs back up for him and I found it easier to just take it all apart and then start over. (It was way too easy to pull apart. Bad glue job I think.)

Since it's not an antique, you might be able to add mechanical fasteners (pocket hole screws?) to the bottom of the seat to assist the glue. Just thinking out loud here.

I do agree with one of the other posters that a new bottle of yellow wood glue is stronger than the wood itself. I say "new bottle" because old glue can be a problem . Long story…...

Please let us know how it all turns out.

Chem


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

*NOTE:* Dual Same Post! The other one is by *"joseph21"* here: http://lumberjocks.com/topics/271145

Explanation is on there.

WHY?


> ?


?

*EDIT*: It's posted in 2 different Forums. Maybe that's why?

Rick


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## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

I have no idea how that happened. Certainly not intentional. Very strange. I do not have an account as "joseph21".

I posted this reply in the other forum as well.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> I have no idea how that happened. Certainly not intentional. Very strange. I do not have an account as "joseph21".
> 
> I posted this reply in the other forum as well.
> 
> - bilyo


Okay. just seems to be a BIG Coincidence. Exact same Posting is in 2 Different Forums.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think there are any Rules against that and I have nothing against you, or whoever did that. You would actually get more Coverage that way.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
*This is a Cut & Paste from the other "joseph21" Post.*

"A Coincidence?

The difference is that "bilyo" (the other one) has 161 Posts, has been on here for 1059 Days, is from Mobile Alabama and has a few pictures of the chair on his Post.

This one "joseph21" has 1 Post (this one) and has only been on here for 12 hours as of 9:50 P.M.

EDIT Okay! Same Guy! BOTH Posts have the Identical Lead Ins* "I have a child's maple rocker that was flooded and consequently has considerable joint failure and some minor warping. The worst of it is in the seat where all but one of the joints has failed."*

WHY???

EDIT: #2 It's Posted in 2 different Forums. Maybe that's why?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*Water Under The Bridge as far as I'm concerned Bilyo!*

Ya'll have a nice day now!

Regards: Rick


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## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

Great information there Rick,
Thanks for clearing all that up.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> Great information there Rick,
> Thanks for clearing all that up.
> 
> - Jbay


Your Welcome Jbay. My Pleasure.

Regards: Rick


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## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

> There have been times where I really cranked down with clamps and the pieces were in one piece years later. Yellow glue is stronger than wood, I don t see you gaining anything with epoxy.
> 
> - Woodknack


The main advantage I'm considering is that both epoxy and plastic resin will fill the gaps where the seat components no longer fit precisely and still provide strength. Several of the joints have narrow gaps that are hard to see in the photo.


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## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

Here is the completed repaired chair:










I didn't try to make it like new. Due to having been in a flood, the pieces did not fit back together perfectly. So, I glued with System 3 epoxy. After cleaning it up with 4 ought steel wool, I gave it a couple of spray coats of shellac to protect the existing finish and stenciling. It isn't real pretty, but it is serviceable.


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## PCDub (Sep 24, 2017)

Looks good-and most importantly it's back in service!
Thanks for following up with the outcome, it's always good to know what someone ended up deciding to do after asking for advice.


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## Bishop78 (May 11, 2018)

I know you are already done with the project and it looks very nice.

There is another glue option i rarely see used in workshops. If you have to fix a chair due to whatever reason polyurathane glue will do the trick…titebond or other woodglues have an elasticity to them which allows the joints to fail over time. Poly glue doesn´t only solve that problem…it also expands pulling moisture out of the air…if you wet the gluejoint before applying the glue(damp cloth) it will fill all the gaps…and its waterresistant. For chairs perfect.


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## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

> I know you are already done with the project and it looks very nice.
> 
> There is another glue option i rarely see used in workshops. If you have to fix a chair due to whatever reason polyurathane glue will do the trick…titebond or other woodglues have an elasticity to them which allows the joints to fail over time. Poly glue doesn´t only solve that problem…it also expands pulling moisture out of the air…if you wet the gluejoint before applying the glue(damp cloth) it will fill all the gaps…and its waterresistant. For chairs perfect.
> 
> - Bishop78


I don't have a lot of experience with poly glue, but from what I read, it does expand and fill gaps. But, it fills them with glue foam that has very little strength. I needed the gaps to be filled with something structural. Structural epoxy was the only thing I could think of that would do that. Thanks for your comment.


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## recon49 (May 21, 2018)

Bilyo that turns out excellent. Great to see some good tips on here.


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## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

Thanks


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