re-glueing old table legs

[Tom Godley]

I am rehabbing an old set of furniture that my dad had in his den when I was a kid. It is a mid century modern -- the set was removed from the house after a serious fire back in the early 80's - is been packed away for almost 30 years.

I removed the Formica tops and made up white Corian tops as replacements - surprisingly the frames and the small cabinet cleaned up and do not require refinishing.

But everything is loose. Nothing other than small angled cleats at the top have screws -- everything else is a mortise and tenon joint.

What kind of glue would be best to use on this. The old tops were fastened from below to the small cleats -- I was figuring I could use a few drops of silicone to hold the new top in place - but I do not think that will firm them up enough

[Bill Huber]

I am not sure this will help you but in the past month I have had to redo to 2 old rocking chairs. In both cases taking them apart was not an option for me.

I use this thing I got from Woodcraft and it worked really well.

I drilled a 1/16 hole in the chair at each end of of the post that were loose and injected Titebond III. I had to do this on 4 different placed on the one chair and I don't remember how many on the other. This really worked very good and in both cases the backs are solid again.


http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=12P01&FamilyID=345

[Angie Orfanedes]

For the mortise and tenon joints, if you are intending to "fix it" without taking it apart...Chair Loc is a product made to inject into chair joints - it causes end grain to swell, locking the joint. I also see Woodcraft sells something called Chair Doctor - same idea and it comes with a syringe.

Kitchen counter tops made of Corian are usually just stuck into place with latex caulk - if you are a classy guy, you could use silicon caulk.

[Tom Godley]

The first table that I am working on has the most movement -- I was able to just take it apart after I took the cleats off. So I can get glue into the joints.

But I know from previous attempts at reglueing -- some glues work better then others.

Just figured I waould ask to see if any of the more modern glues are better than Titebond.

I like that glue injector -- $25.00 !!

[phil harold]

I have had good luck cleaning out the joint and then taper the mortise to make a foxtail joint, wedges split the tenon and compress it tightly home against the sides of the mortise

This is my prefered method since glue never seems to stick to old glue and in time the joint loosens up making the foxtail joint you can have clean surfaces bonding plus the mechanical holding of a dovetail

Chair lock does work too

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

But I know from previous attempts at reglueing -- some glues work better then others.

I think the more correct way to say it is that SOme glues are re glue-able and others not .

Epoxy, Resourcinol, and Hide glues are great for re-gluing. The Aliphatic Resin and Polyvinyl glues are not.

If you want a good joint you gotta strip the wood down to fresh un-contaminated material and that means you will most likely be adding thin shims to the joint. I would guess that simply injecting some glue into the joint might fill in the voids left by shrinkage and stighten the joint but, as far as the bond is concerned: it is most unlikely to be a very good bond.

[Chris Padilla]

I know most folks HATE the poly glues (like Gorilla Glue) but if those are warmed up in a bath of hot water, they flow almost like water. This can be good OR bad but is something to keep in the back of one's mind.

Bob Smalser's most excellent thread may help, too: Are Your Glue Joints Repairable? (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=21822)

[Lee Schierer]

Glues work best when the joint thickness is small. The thicker the glue the more likely the failure. Chair Doctor and other wood swellers work for a while but fail for the same reason. New glue will stick to old glue but only has the strength of the bond or the old glue which ever is weaker. It is best to remove all traces of old glue and get to bare wood on both halves of the joint. If the fit is too loose once you remove the old glue, make a shaving of hardwood with a sharp hand plane and laminate the shaving onto the dowel or tenon.

[Tom Godley]

Chris -- Thanks for the link -- Now I have some reading material tonight!!

[James Hendrix]

I am not sure this will help you but in the past month I have had to redo to 2 old rocking chairs. In both cases taking them apart was not an option for me.

I use this thing I got from Woodcraft and it worked really well.

I drilled a 1/16 hole in the chair at each end of of the post that were loose and injected Titebond III. I had to do this on 4 different placed on the one chair and I don't remember how many on the other. This really worked very good and in both cases the backs are solid again.


http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=12P01&FamilyID=345

After reading this post, I went out last night and purchased this device. I have about a dozen chairs I have picked up for little to nothing at some garage sales. Most of the chairs have loose legs and other loose parts.

The glue injector worked great. I do have one question - how do you get the brass tip off? I was trying to unscrew it but started getting a little paranoid with the amount of pressure I was using.