Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Chair Repair

     Not as extensive as the last major repairs, but the center point for the legs of my wooden office chair had cracked very badly, making the whole thing sag on that side and tilting the seat.  Took it apart yesterday evening, glued and clamped overnight, and reassembled this morning.  So far, so good -- but I have ordered a new truck and base assembly.

     The chair is at least twenty years old, built from a flat-pack kit bought at a home-improvement store.  They don't appear to sell them any more.  It's overdue to be sanded down and refinished.

     Update, 24 hours later: glue bond broke.  Not surprised.  Maybe a little dowel action while I wait for the replacement to arrive.

3 comments:

  1. My faithful office chair gave up at the hinge point of the recliner after many years of uncomplaining service. Had a friend weld it up for me. Functionally OK, but a bit out of line and sat cattywompus with a list to port.

    Weld gave way recently so have pulled in a substitute and am having number one son do a reweld for me, hopefully on the straight and narrow.

    There should be some kind of National Award for faithful seating service.

    Raz

    ReplyDelete
  2. What glue? Tightbond III - gives you time to work on the project. I would use slow-cure epoxy, but it is expensive since you can't buy a little bit like you can the 5 minute stuff...

    Gorilla Glue - or any other water-activated polyurethane - though the repair will be very visible.

    Clamping? makes a difference.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Having trouble picturing the break area. Maybe photo of break? Maybe a splint in the broken area?
    Another benefit of retirement is the time to use machine tools/wood working tools/welder to
    make an insanely complicated repair to something that should just have been thrown away.
    Perfect example is using the metal lathe to make a tapered vacuum cleaner hose adapter.
    Mad scientist laughing while completing the repair is of course, mandatory.

    ReplyDelete

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