Three-Legged Chair
The chair as it came to me
This chair was has a nice design, but it wasn’t meant for hard use. At one time, someone made a repair to a front leg, and I’m sure they meant well, but it weakened the leg, which then broke. It’s tempting to add a big ol’ screw, or an extra dowel to a loose joint, but changing the original design is risky.
The finished repair
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broken chair stretcher
The ugly results of more than one repair, including a ball of painted glue, and a nail that wasn't helping at all.
The pieces holding the legs to each other are called stretchers, and when they break, it can be a big deal. In this case, more than one repair had been attempted by someone who meant well, but was clearly in over their head. The end of the stretcher needed to be replaced, and I used a technique called a cone splice, where a new tenon is turned on the lathe, then spliced onto the end of the stringer. The repair was left primed and ready for the customer to paint.
Click any picture to enlarge.
The nail split off part of the end of the stretcher.
A rough-turned extension, with the stretcher reamed out to receive it.
The extension completed, ready for fitting and carving a tenon on the end.
The finished repair, primed and ready for paint.
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Broken leg
This chair was totaled - it should have been more costly to repair than it's worth, but the challenge was too much to resist. The first order of business was the leg. After planing back to a clean surface, new wood was glued on. This was then shaped to the size of the original leg. Then, the missing stretchers (cross pieces) were recreated. Finally, there were nicks and scratches to touch up. Wow! That was a lot of work.
Hmmm. Something's missing. Fortunately, the broken leg was kept. It's best to save all the pieces, even if you don't think they can be reused.
The completed repair - challenge met.
The first step was to remove the cracked/split wood on the leg to create a clean surface. New wood was glued on, then shaped to match the original leg’s shape. Two stretchers also needed to be recreated to restore the chair’s function.
Mechanical repairs complete - ready for color matching
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Color Touch-up
These chairs had lost stain/finish in isolated areas. Short of a complete strip and refinish (expensive!), a 100% repair can’t be expected, but you’ll need to be looking for these repairs to see them.
Chair 1 before
Chair 1 after
Chair 2 before
Chair 2 after
An Artistically-Painted Chair
This chair was badly broken. One of the back slats was split and a leg was snapped like a twig to the point that it couldn't simply be reglued. Instead, a splint was embedded into the back of the leg so nothing of the repair could be seen from the front or sides.
As part of the chair's design, the screw hole and a finger joint made for a weak point that broke catastrophically under rough use.
Adding a spline to strengthen the repair.
The finished leg repair. A repair this major is seldom completely invisible, but the chair is sturdy and the repair doesn’t draw the eye.
More damage - a split back rail.
The rail repair in progress.
After the chair was reassembled.