Antique Chair Repair Question

[Adam Potack]

Hello,

I just purchased some old arts and crafts style chairs. Previous owner dates them to early 1900's. They need some repairs that will require some disassembly. The mortise & tenon joints are loose and I want to take them apart and re-glue them. Each joint is pinned with a dowel. I was looking for suggestions on how to remove the dowels without damaging the chair.

Thanks,
Adam

[Darnell Hagen]

Use your finest brad point drill, I recomend Lee Valleys. If hide glue was used, heat will soften it. If you need to open some still solid joints, apply pressure with an Irwin spreader and give it a sharp rap with a dead blow. If anything breaks, keep the pieces and epoxy them together.

[Adam Potack]

Thanks Darnell, I'm a little afraid to drill; too much chance of creating a mess. I was considering a little heat and attempting to tap the dowels out.

[mike holden]

Adam,
Tapping the pins out may not be possible. Google "draw bored joints" for pictures.
Essentially the pin is bent in the middle by offset holes creating a joint that is forced together.
Drilling is proper way to remove the pins.
Mike

[Adam Potack]

Mike,

Thanks for the info. I did not know that, I had assumed that they were either straight or tapered.

I'm thinking I might use an injectable glue made for chairs from lee valley. Need to look over the chairs again but it might work as long as I can clamp the joints square.

Adam

[Stephen Cherry]

I've heard from a reliable source that the preferred fix for loose tenons would be to square up the mortise, square up the tenon, add a layer of veneer to the tenon using animal glue (hyde or fish). fit tenon, then re glue with animal glue.

I guess the idea would be to leave something for the next guy, 100 years from now. It would be very easy to inject some epoxy, but that is essentially a one time shot.

[Kemil Pepin]

Adam, I second Mike's advice. Take the chairs apart, clean up/square up the joints, glue some thick veneer onto the tenons, then re-fit the joints. Hide glue will certainly allow for easier future repairs.

[Adam Potack]

Thanks guys,

After looking the chairs over they will have to come apart at least partially.
I have ordered some brad point bits, also some chair glue just in case.

There are numerous nails from attempted repairs over the years. Anyone have any tips for minimizing damage when pulling them?

Adam

[John Mark Lane]

I know this is going to be heresy in the eyes of purists, but....

I sort of collect Mission style things. Our entire house is furnished mostly with Stickley pieces, some original, some new (from Audi/Stickley, the bearers of the flame). A few Mission pieces from other contemporary builders.

My absolute favorite and most treasured piece is a Morris chair from about 1890. It is the perfect beer drinking chair, comfortable, old, historic and full of character.

One day a couple of years ago, it sort of...imploded. I sat down in it, and it just fell apart. I set it aside, and bit by bit I've been reglueing it and putting it back together. What I did was I took it completely apart, labeling each piece, and I cleaned it all up. Then I have glued pieces back together using (gasp) West System epoxy. For some of the braces under the seat, I made new ones from white oak. The originals were just cracked and useless and were too small to begin with. You don't see them. Once it's all glued back up, I'll probably rub it down with something and give it a slight staining with a custom brew (I have a "formula"....he he he).

Is this the "right" way to do it? No. But the chair, once reglued, will easily stay together another 100 years. Maybe 200. And if someone ever really wants to take it apart, they can hand saw the braces away, drill out the mortises, etc.

Things weren't necessarily intended to last forever. 200 years of service from a simple wooden chair is pretty darned impressive, if you ask me. And this chair, which is a thing of UTILITY mind you, will continue to support my fat ass for as long as it is capable of being supported.

Mark

[Adam Potack]

Mark,

Thanks for the reply. I'm sure my repairs won't satisfy a purist, I just want the repairs to go unnoticed when I am done. The chairs will be daily users in my kitchen:).

Nice to hear from a neighbor, I'm in Rockland. I'll wave next time I go over the bridge. :)

Adam

[Stephen Cherry]

Things weren't necessarily intended to last forever. 200 years of service from a simple wooden chair is pretty darned impressive, if you ask me. And this chair, which is a thing of UTILITY mind you, will continue to support my fat ass for as long as it is capable of being supported.

Mark

Well said __

[Tom McMahon]

What makes chair joints fail is not weak glue,almost all glue is stronger than the wood. What causes the failure is seasonal expansion and contraction of the wood from humidity changes, or misuse of the chair (excessive rocking back etc.). The expansion and contraction over time crushes the wood fibers creating a loose joint, the only way to avoid this is to control the humidity and temperature where you keep the chair. Filling a loose joint with epoxy will fail much sooner than you think because the epoxy has a much different expansion rate than the wood. what makes a good joint is good tight wood to wood contact, any glue will hold a tight joint together, but because all chair joints need periodic maintenance the best choice for chairs is still hide glue because it is reversible and you can reactivate it and it will stick to itself. You can do what you want but using one of the so called modern glues on chairs and not repairing the actual joint is just creating a nightmare for repairs in the future, sooner than you think.