 On 18th April we had to cancel at short notice as nearly all our repairers were away, and our refreshment person was uncertain about her availability. I was at home (dealing with a pre-booked repair) and as I live just across from the hall I was also intercepting anyone who had not seen the cancellation notices. This was my first extra patient: a dining chair with a broken back, where a previous attempted repair had failed. |
 Normally we can’t do proper repairs on furniture because there isn’t the time, but as I was at home with all my materials and gear, I was able to take this one on. After cleaning our the glue residue from the last repair I glued and clamped the joint and left it to cure overnight. |
 Next, by way of an unexpected bonus, I thought I would tidy up the missing wood at the back of the broken repair. Again, another overnight stage with wood filler (in two stages, because you can’t build it up in one thick layer). |
 Sanded, stained and with a light touch of varnish, it looks reasonably tidy. |
 Now the trickiest stage. The repaired joint was at risk of breaking a second time because it won’t be strong enough to withstand the bending force when someone leans back. So with the aid of an extra-long 4mm drill and a specially-made jig to ensure true alignment, I carefully drilled a deep hole from underneath up into the side member of the chair-back… |
 …popped a tiny bit of expanding adhesive down the hole, and tapped in a steel reinforcing pin.
I knew my old Meccano would come in! Job done. |
Category Archives: Furniture
Collapsed folding chair
By Vilnis Vesma
This plastic knuckle joint on a fancy folding armchair had split open. Glued back together and reinforced with a brass strip screwed into place. I feel the supervet would have been pleased.
Note: unfortunately most indoor furniture is outside the scope of what we can do: it usually takes too long and needs a proper workshop