Doug Garson
02-26-2016, 4:21 PM
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.
332520332521
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.
332520332521