Bruce Finstead
03-16-2014, 9:02 PM
I inherited an old oak rocking chair. It is/was in a sorry state. It had been stripped and partially disassembled, but it looks like it will be kind of cute if resurrected. It is now completely disassembled, and I am agonizing over the next major step: the chair seat is cracked at one seam, and is warped.
The seam runs front to back. It was originally held together with hide glue, and there is a very small spline to orient the two pieces; it does not look large enough to provide much structural integrity or glue surface. Each of the two pieces is concave downward (like sitting in a bowel.) The bottom is supposed to be flat, and the top is hollowed out to accept the buttocks. I have removed the glue (vinegar and scraping). When I force the two pieces together with the top of the seat tight together, the bottom of the seat has a profound crack, and the warp is severe. If I press the bottom of the seam together, the top of the seam has an unacceptable gap, and the warp is less severe, but still an issue. The back of the seat accepts dowels which go laterally into the chair back.
If I run a saw blade through the crack, I can get the two pieces to have a better joint, but I will be left with a warp to a greater or lesser degree, and the fit between the sides of the back and the sides of the chair seat will be off by 1/8". How should I deal with the warp?If I glue the two sides together as is, should I use hide or other glue? If I lose the spline with a saw cut, should I use Domino floating tenons or dowels?
I sure could help from those wiser than I. (I would have said older and wiser, but I am already 68.) Many Thanks in advance!
The seam runs front to back. It was originally held together with hide glue, and there is a very small spline to orient the two pieces; it does not look large enough to provide much structural integrity or glue surface. Each of the two pieces is concave downward (like sitting in a bowel.) The bottom is supposed to be flat, and the top is hollowed out to accept the buttocks. I have removed the glue (vinegar and scraping). When I force the two pieces together with the top of the seat tight together, the bottom of the seat has a profound crack, and the warp is severe. If I press the bottom of the seam together, the top of the seam has an unacceptable gap, and the warp is less severe, but still an issue. The back of the seat accepts dowels which go laterally into the chair back.
If I run a saw blade through the crack, I can get the two pieces to have a better joint, but I will be left with a warp to a greater or lesser degree, and the fit between the sides of the back and the sides of the chair seat will be off by 1/8". How should I deal with the warp?If I glue the two sides together as is, should I use hide or other glue? If I lose the spline with a saw cut, should I use Domino floating tenons or dowels?
I sure could help from those wiser than I. (I would have said older and wiser, but I am already 68.) Many Thanks in advance!