Help with assembling chair kit

[Doug Garson]

My brother asked me to assemble a wooden chair kit he bought many years ago. He just couldn't find the time to get to it. The chair material appears to be Maple. When I started to assemble the chair back I found the curved harp that the spindles attach to had sprung out so it didn't line up with the mounting points on the seat. I tried to pull it into alignment with a bar clamp and just as I got it lined up I heard a small crack. The crack location is just above the far left spindle in the second photo. Any suggestions on how I can proceed?

I repaired the crack by re-clamping it until the crack just opened a bit and then applied some CA glue and then releasing the clamp. The crack appears to be tight now.
I'm thinking my next steps should be:


Soak the harp in water (how long?) say a day or two?
Make an internal form for the top half of the harp and clamp the harp to it so I don't overstress it and crack it again
Pull the harp into alignment with a band clamp or a few bar clamps
Leave it clamped for a few days until it dried.
Then assemble the harp and spindles into the seat.

Any comments or suggestions? The mounting holes in the seat are about 14.5" apart and the harp has sprung out to about 19.5" apart. It appears to have sprung evenly on both sides.

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[Mel Fulks]

I bet it was not right when he first got it. If you determine that a clamp will pull it in without breakage, you can get it together. Photo looks like it's intended to be held with screws,I would not use them. I would drill the holes larger to take the harp and hold it with wedges.

[Doug Garson]

Don't know if it was right when he got it but when I say many years ago I mean like 20+ years ago so it's gone through a lot of summer/winter cycles probably in an unconditioned space but it is what it is now. My concern is how to get it pulled in to alignment without breakage, my first attempt failed. I assume you are suggesting to convert it to a mortise and tendon joint by opening up the hole in the seat (it would have to be square to match the harp or the end of the harp would have to be rounded). That unfortunately would require shortening the spindles. Think I'll stick with the lag bolts although I might consider dowels.

Been looking at a few web pages that suggest heat with or without water for bending wood, anyone tried that? It would fit in the oven so I could soak it overnight in water then stick it in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes and then bend it.

[Mel Fulks]

What you have is a factory kit. I doubt the harp was made by steam bending not too dry wood ,it was probably kiln dried wood perhaps bent with anhydrous ammonia. I bought a kit years ago that was also way off, so I don't think letting it remain unassembled all this time has anything to do with the problem.

[Doug Garson]

Problem solved. I clamped the harp in my front vise, put a bar clamp across the bottom ends, applied some heat with a heat gun and gradually pulled it in from the original 19" to the required 14.5". Let it cool removed the clamps, and it relaxed to 16". Repeated the process pulling it in to 13 3/4", let it cool and when I released the clamp it relaxed to about 14 1/4" which is close enough. Dry fit it with the spindles into the seat and no problem. Now I just need to drill for some 1/2" dowels and the glue it up.

[Mel Fulks]

Glad it worked for you. Well done!