Over time, the chairs in your home begin to show signs of joints loosening and needing repair. It's easy to perform this type of repair with a few basic materials: Before disassembling the chairs, mark each joint with a number written on blue painter's tape. The numbers will provide you with a "map" of the chairs, and the low-tack painter's tape won't remove the finish and patina from your chairs. A web clamp and bar clamps will hold all the pieces of the chair together while the wood glue dries at the joints.
TECHNIQUE
Repairing a Chair
Materials:
- Low-tack painter's tape
- Marker
- Sandpaper
- Carpenter's wood glue
- Paper towels
- Rubber mallet
- Web clamp
- Binder clip
- Bar clamps
Directions:
- Mark each joint on the chair with a number written on a piece of low-tack painter's tape. Position the numbers at the joints so that they correspond at the intersection of the joints (number 1 should match with number 1, for example). Turn the chair upside down and place on work surface.
- Disassemble and set aside the legs and rungs from the seat of the chair. With a piece of sandpaper, sand the ends of the legs and rungs (being careful not to remove any wood) to clean up the ends of any excess glue.
- Place a quarter-size dollop of glue in each of the four holes where the legs attach to the underside of the seat. Spread a thin layer of glue on the end of one of the legs that fits into the proper hole on the underside of the seat, making sure the number on the leg corresponds to the number above the hole. Insert the leg into the hole; gently twist to secure a tight fit. Wipe off excess glue from the hole with a damp paper towel.
- Attach a rung by first spreading a thin layer of glue on the end of the rung that fits into the proper hole on the side of the leg, making sure the number on the rung matches the number on the leg. Insert the rung in the hole; gently twist to secure a tight fit. Wipe off excess glue from the hole.
- Repeat the procedure for the remaining legs and rungs of the chair, making sure that numbers correspond at the intersection of all joints.
- Using a rubber mallet, gently tap the feet of the chair legs to further secure the joints.
- Wrap a web clamp around the bottoms of the legs. Pull the tape of the clamp taut; adjust the tension by tightening the ratchet mechanism on the web clamp. Wrap the excess tape around the legs of the chair and secure the end of the tape with a binder clip.
- Place a bar clamp on the chair, positioning it so that one end of the clamp rests on a rung of the chair and the other end rests on the top part of the seat. Repeat with a second bar clamp on the opposite side of the seat of the chair. Leave the clamps in place for 24 hours to allow the glue to dry.
Web Clamps
Have you ever had a suitcase that's so full and bulging that you just don't trust the locks, a cooler that you want to put in the hold of an airplane and it has no latch, or a great big bundle of 100 pieces of bamboo that you have to carry somewhere and have no way to tie it up? A web clamp with a built-in ratchet allows you to bundle, bind and brace items and adjust the tension, ensuring your items will be totally secured.
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