Help- Whats a good way to lengthen a broken chair spindle?

[James Taglienti]

I have a few chairs here for repair and they are pretty rough. They have turned oak spindles and legs. A couple tenons are broken off and i was going to turn new spindles... then i thought i could lengthen these somehow- cut them in half on a detail somewhere and add an inch or so. I could use the broken end of the spindle as the new tenon. Any thoughts?
185815

[Anthony Whitesell]

I recently went through my kitchen chairs and reglued all the spindles. In a few cases I needed to strengthen or replace the tenon. I drilled a hole in the end of the spindle and made a two-step dowel, where the smaller end fit in the spindle and the larger fit the mortise. I drilled the spindle about 1-1 1/2" deep and used a hose clamp to make sure the pressure of the glue and inserting the dowel didn't split the spindle (learned that trick after one broke).

In one case the piece that broke off was quite long and not repairable. I modified the technique used to make the new tennon by making a three step tenon. The first step was for the hole in the spindle, the second step (largest diameter) was to match the spindle diameter, and the third step was to fit in the mortise. I stained the second step, as it was the only step that was visible, to match the original finish.

[Steve Ryan]

Cut the toasted tenon back to the shoulder. Make a new tenon the correct dia and length and rub some glue on both pieces and rub together with correct alignment and let cure. (rub joint) It will be a lot stronger than you would think. Drill through both with a dencent sized dowel to make the repair as strong as possible. Lots easier to align this way.

[William Hamilton]

this may help, plus it's just a cool video...

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/22001/nakashimas-leg

[Randy Reitz]

Modify the grips on an old Powermatic Board Stretcher to grip the round spindle. Use the lowest setting so it won't split. :rolleyes:

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Modify the grips on an old Powermatic Board Stretcher to grip the round spindle. Use the lowest setting so it won't split. :rolleyes:

YOU'RE they guy with the infamous board stretcher! I heard one of the members here had one....

Adding a piece involves end grain to end grain glue. Very weak. maybe turning a piece with round tenons on each end may work. Try the Turners Forum....

[James Taglienti]

Thanks guys. I ended up cutting the bad ends off, marking a center point on the fresh cut, and chucking the spindle in a lathe. Then i put a forstner bit in the tailstock and eeked it up to my center point and pushed it in a little ways. Then i turned the lathe on and advanced that forstner bit right into the end of the spindle... Worked great. Glued in a loose tenon and theyre good to go!