Broken wood frame on dining room chair.

[gene]

The top part of a dining room chair came off. It's the top of the back frame. The factory glued up the sides and the top piece to make the back frame. The top piece came off cleanly as if the glue joints failed on both side pieces.

If I sand the two sides of the joint and reglue it will that be enough to hold it together? Or should I put a dowel or biscuit in it to give it more gluing area? Or any better ideas?

Thanks,

Gene

[MinUph]

You should never sand a glue joint. You will remove wood and the joint wont fit. Just scrape off any old glue to the point where the joint fits nicely together again. Re glue and clamp till the glue oozes  out lightly all around the joint and let it set. Once its dry you can see if anything else is needed for strength.

[SteveA]

A glued only joint is not great and a dowel will re-enforce it - rather than sanding the glue off use the back of a sharp chisel to scrape the surfaces because sanding can round over the edges.  Keeping the blade flat will result in the joint joining back seamlessly.  Adding a dowel can cause alignment problems but it will be a stronger joint.  I think if you clean the surfaces well and clamp the joint well with a good carpenters glue that will work.  If you have a brad nailer you can shoot one 2 inch brad into the joint and it's only a tiny hole to fill and touch up - a photo would be great to see exactly what's brewing there :)
SA

[gene]

Thanks for your comments. Not sanding the wood makes sense and using brad nails is something I had not thought about. They obviously lift up the chair by the top rail.

Gene

[kodydog]

If the factory glue job is like most I've seen lately chances are only a dab was used. I'm guessing your repair with a better grade of glue and more of it will hold much better. A dowel of course will give it much more strength and it is hard to believe the factory deemed it unnecessary.

[gene]

I got the chair in. The break was not at the glue joint as I thought. It broke about 2" above the glue joint similar to the break in this picture. Photobucket is a pain so I got the picture off the internet.

The break on my chair is toward the top so it's a pain to clamp. I'll use glue and try to clamp with a strap. Any better suggestions for clamping?

I should be able to touch up the break with lacquer toner.

gene

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AWFC_enUS783US783&biw=1164&bih=560&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=lYBpXPDTBMPq_Ab366joDw&q=broken+wooden+chair&oq=broken+wooden+chair&gs_l=img.3..0.28467.29942..30290...0.0..1.118.764.10j1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i30.vCwy7O76kvk#imgrc=h0iakhsH4dPmDM:

[MinUph]

2 bar clamps, 2 c-clamps with blocking and wax paper to hold the joint in line.

[SteveA]

That's as bad as it gets.  Structural and cosmetic.  If that chair came into me for repair I would push to replace both back posts.  However if it's not in the budget and the customer is asking to just do something they can live with here's what I'd do.  Start off exactly with what Paul advises - yellow glue is fine.  Clamp those broken areas back together tightly - don't worry about squeezing out the glue because you're not done.  Following the repair take a back saw or a pull saw and make a cut across the grain on both posts in the middle of both repairs.  It is much easier to mark centers diagonally this way.  Find your four centers - get a brand new brad point bit either 1/2 in. or 5/8th - stick the point exactly in the center and drill 4 inches in each direction without wobbling the bit or elongating the holes.  This time glue your dowels and joinery together with epoxy - 
In my view it's just as easy to retouch a cross grain demarcation as it is to retouch the ragged splintered damage.  Might as well add the dowels to strengthen the entire repair

SA

[kodydog]

When I clicked on your link I noticed a photo above your's titled, "how to fix a broken chair leg". Look for the photo with a red 9 in the corner. Whoever posted it did a YouTube slideshow showing his procedure. Pretty cool.

[SteveA]

This is a job that came in last week and the repair is just what Kody points to in the last post.  The back seat rail was split from shrinkage.  The customer worried the cane would sag or tear.  I filled the gap first with maple 3-32nds thick then turned the chair over and routed out a spline recess 3/4 in. deep across the split and filled area.  Finally touched up the top where the finished wood was.  Ready for pick up.



https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/ad181/SteveA_2010/0/80ceb8a5-a1a3-418f-95ef-ab4aea3c1999-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds

https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/ad181/SteveA_2010/0/429a3f3a-0df0-4bab-83e0-4afda521b3b7-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds

https://beta-static.photobucket.com/images/ad181/SteveA_2010/0/6aafe976-8af3-42e3-9e70-4a91fec218a5-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds

[kodydog]

This is a chair a neighbor gave to Rose. I wonder if a repair like that would work on bamboo? Is bamboo too soft of a wood?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UyLQ3db9ZioeSNQ68

[SteveA]

Might be easier to remove the rattan banding - drill a dowel in each direction and epoxy it all back together - The banding will add strength as well -
Definitely a candidate for repair  - try not to over charge Ms. Rose or you'll regret it
SA

[gene]

I would doubt the rattan banding would come off without breaking in pieces. One idea is to pry open the break as far as possible without breaking any more of the bamboo. Buy that two part epoxy putty that has a very high tensile strength. Mix the two parts of the putty together and work the sausage link into both ends of the bamboo, basically creating a metal rod inside the bamboo. I would staighten the bamboo and let the putty cure. Then I would finish the break with an epoxy cement like Steve mentioned. Paint. Sit. Relax.