Antique chair repair

[Brian Runau]

I have an oak desk and chair that came out of my grandfathers office at Lafendrich Cigar factory in Evansville, IN. probably and antique at this point, but a lot of sentimental value for me. He use to take me into the plant on Saturday's, OSHA would have a fit now.

Any one of the I think a #10 screw pulled out of one of the mounting holes on the bottom of the chair that hold the cast tilt mechanism to the chair seat. I don't think I can get a larger diameter screw through the metal hole, I can use same @ 1/4" longer without going through the seat. I could drill it out and put in a dowel, but end grain holding a screw is not ideal. i thought about removing the wooden piece this is screwed into and remaking it, reinstalling it, but concerned about how easy or difficult it might be on a 100 year old chair.

Appreciate and suggestions that might work.

Thanks Brian

oak chair.jpg oak chair 1.jpg

[Gordon Stump]

I would fill the hole with T 88 structural epoxy and install the original screw while the epoxy is wet. It takes several hours to set and overnight to cure.

[Jerry Kitzhoffer]

BrIan,
How about plastic wallboard anchors? If they are too long, the insert end can be cut off to make them the correct length. Or in the worst case, how about drilling out the metal hole a bit to accept a larger screw? Threaded inserts could also be used with machine bolts instead of screws if drilling out the metal is not feasible.
Jerry

[John Kananis]

You can drill larger than what it is now (the hole) and use a plug, not a dowel to fill it. Plugs are side grain and hold much better than dowels. Get a super tight fit where it almost doesn't want to go in, microwave the plug remove any moisture and then hammer it in with pva glue. Pre-drill and screw in the original hardware.

[Brian Tymchak]

You can drill larger than what it is now (the hole) and use a plug, not a dowel to fill it. Plugs are side grain and hold much better than dowels. Get a super tight fit where it almost doesn't want to go in, microwave the plug remove any moisture and then hammer it in with pva glue. Pre-drill and screw in the original hardware.

+1. ....cha cha cha.

[Brian Runau]

You can drill larger than what it is now (the hole) and use a plug, not a dowel to fill it. Plugs are side grain and hold much better than dowels. Get a super tight fit where it almost doesn't want to go in, microwave the plug remove any moisture and then hammer it in with pva glue. Pre-drill and screw in the original hardware.

I Have plug cutters and should be able to do this. Thanks. Brian

[John Ziebron]

That is a high stress point and I would use epoxy as Gordon mentions. But I would use a pick or a quick and dirty homemade tool to enlarge the bottom area, sort of an upside down cone shape to increase pull out strength. Then drill a pilot hole and insert the screw that way in case it ever needs to be removed.

[glenn bradley]

+1 for a plug epoxied in, pilot drilled and screw replaced.

[Scott Winners]

I would much rather use pretty much "anything but PVA" and epoxy seems like a good choice here. Fresh PVA will not bind with old well cured PVA. Fresh epoxy will bind to old epoxy. Fresh hide glue will bind to old hide glue.

1923, 100 years go today, was shortly after PVA was invented/discovered in 1912:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_acetate

[Rob Luter]

BrIan,
How about plastic wallboard anchors? If they are too long, the insert end can be cut off to make them the correct length. Or in the worst case, how about drilling out the metal hole a bit to accept a larger screw? Threaded inserts could also be used with machine bolts instead of screws if drilling out the metal is not feasible.
Jerry

This makes a lot of sense. Note that the anchor could be glued in first as well. I really like the idea of a threaded insert too. If you were to insert a dowel, drill a pilot hole for the screw and then saturate the inside of the hole with thin CA glue. Don't apply the screw until the glue hardens. It will really toughen things up and the end grain will hold just fine.

[Dave VanDewerker]

Whatever you do to fix this, I would do to both sides. The other side that appears good is probably a bit loose and fixing it will just add to the strength of the chair.

[Tom Bender]

Rout or chisel out room for a 1/2" x 2" dutchman.

[Lee Schierer]

You could also bore a properly sized hole for a threaded insert. Use a #10 machine screw to hold the hinge mechanism in place.