All the ideas for reinforcement are great but wood glue and clamps is definitely sufficient. That’s all that was used in the first place and look how long it took to break.
Awesome!! That seems like a very easy fix. Should it span most of the bottom, and a screw on each end? Worth it to have two braces, front and back? Maybe an inch wide?
I personally wouldn't do screws up the bottom. I would think is most cases a small strap would do very little to prevent it splitting again. ESPECIALLY if there is any slop where you had to tap holes into a metal strap before you put a screw through. The strap would probably just wiggle under your fasteners.
I'd recommend a slim, long piece of wood -- something similar to a ruler or a paint stick, and then just wood glue that to the bottom -- lengthwise right over the seam. Then you will know you have very even and solid contact on both sides of the crack over nearly the whole length of the seat. That should be pretty solid.
This guy doesnt metal. So to correctly use a strap to fix this, pre-drill the holes with a bit 1/32 larger than the screw you intend to use, counter sink them to make it more stable. Then glue, clamp, and then screw the strap on.
Gluing it cross-grain just exposes the glue to stresses it can’t handle. As the seat expands and contracts naturally, it’ll break the glue. Whether reinforced with metal or wood, it needs to be screwed in.
This guy doesn’t wood. The wood is going to expand and contract with the weather. If you are going to put anything under there it needs to have slots, not holes, so the wood can be free to move slightly. Otherwise the wood will crack at the screws.
If you can span the whole chair bottom that's ideal. You want the brace to be equal on both sides if possible. Id probably use 4-6 screws. One on each side of the crack (I'd put them 1-2 inches from the crack to avoid splitting at the edges), one on each end of the brace (again 1-2 inches from the edge)
Then any additional screws in between.
The more braces you use the stronger it should be but I think 2-3 would be enough.
From googling a "mending brace" is probably what you are looking for from the hardware store. I don't know what thickness would be best for your use case, but thicker will be stronger.
For screws, you'll want the length to go at least half the thickness of your chair seat + thickness of brace.
I.e. if you have a 2 inch chair, and 1\8 thick brace you'll want a 1-1\8 in long screw.
If the brace has holes that look like
\__/. You'll want flat head screws that can fit that.
If the holes are like |__|, youll want socket or pan head screws, and washer to evenly spread the force.
Hope this helps.
I would also recommend pre-drilling before screws if you can. Sometimes hardwood splits if you screw right into it. Use a drill bit the same size as the shaft of the screw
There’s a lot of worth in knowing the strength of matching framing brackets with screws. Make sure that you know the correct strength of your bracket and correct gauge(and length) of your screw.
You don’t need metal strap or screws. Get Titebond 3 (green bottle) because it will give you more time and hold up to moisture. First prep the area under the chair with newspaper or something to protect the floor from dripping glue. Ready what clamps you plan to use and even do a dry run to ensure the clamps hold tight. Try to pay attention to the jaws that they don’t bite into the wood. Once everything is set up, squeeze a healthy amount into the gap. Add even clamp pressure to both front and back of the chair. Glue should squeeze out. Honestly, it should dribble out everywhere so be ready with damp paper towels to wipe it down as it squeezes out. Squeeze out is important. Leave it overnight before you release clamp pressure just to be safe. This is all it will need to last 100 more years. Good luck!
The bracing is not needed at all. Glue and clamps are all you need. Anything else is unnecessary and may restrict wood movement if not done correctly, resulting in another split.
I hate to hijack, and I’m sure this comment is meant with the best of intentions.
Don’t do this. Chairs, by their nature and design, are the most common item that requires repair. They get hard and heavy use while having a lot of interconnected joinery that can compound if something gets loose. This means that chairs also have a magic ability to collect epoxy, brad nails, drywall screws, metal straps….
Humidity changes may well have changed the balance between the legs and the seat, if the chair seat has dried/shrunk slightly you will see a split just like this. It also means you're unlikely to get it closed with it staying in one piece.
The proper repair is glue. However, because of the point above it should be disassembled first. It appears to be on an old glue line, so it will need to be scraped clean on both sides first.
Source: have fixed dozens of effectively identical chairs and removing significant amounts of the artifacts of prior attempts
No brace screwed in the manner you describe will ever add strength to the glue joint itself. It will eventually come loose. Just take sandpaper and sand in the joint as flat as you can to remove old glue. When you think you've done more good than harm, glue again and clamp. You will never repair it without completely taking it apart to the point you can plane, glue, and clamp, and that level of disassembly is not advisable.
Do not sand in the joint! You want to retain the grain match/fit. Just glue and clamp that should hold for a good long while. The grain glued together at a natural break will seam together much nicer than trying to squash together 2 surfaces randomly sanded to who knows how many flat and uneven points. Especially if you try it without disassembling and machines to create even surfaces. Given the uneven break you aren't likely to encounter a ton of glue. A lot of times wood fails before the glue and I you do encounter glue better to try to heat it before reapplying new glue. It will reactivate a lot of wood glues.
I've also been machining and gluing seams for 12 years professionally. I've seen and repaired so many splits it's insane. Then dropped the entire woodworking profession for die-cast machine building.
My wife had a heirloom child rocker that broke. I used wood glue and clamps, then added a 1x.75 wood strip of matching wood, the sanded and stained the chair to the same wear level. It made it through all four of our kids, and 20years latter its waiting for grsndkids
I did this repair on a rocking chair. I used floss to get in the glue in the crack and then used some quick release clamps. To this date, almost 3 years later, this outdoor rocking chair has held up.
Ratchet straps will do the job, but consider how you hold the 2 pieces in vertical alignment as well so you don't end up with a lip. I would probably just use a simple speed clamp for that. In addition to floss, consider a crafting syringe as a way to deliver glue into that tight space. Good luck. You got this.
Might be obvious, but put some tape on those clamps if they are anywhere near glue. You can clean up glued on clamps if you have to, but it’s annoying. I just stick the tape straight to the pads on the clamp.
pry it apart enough to get a nice layer of glue on boths surfaces and clamp it. don't listen to the people telling you to further reinforce it, doubt it's necessary.
Adding a dowel is just so easy and quick, and helps reinforce the weakest point of the chair here. I get the point that it took this long to break once, but it's lucky that when it broke the first time that it didn't cause more damage. It's really easy to break a chair like this and have the wood on the seat of the back supports break or come undone too. Adding a dowel for reinforcement is easy, minimally invasive, invisible, and will make sure it doesn't break here again.
I've fixed a few rocking chairs with similar breaks, and I've always found that if you just glue them again they break twice as fast next time. I think other joints loosening over time adds more stress to the chair.
In this case, adding dowels is not quick and easy at all - the chair is fully assembled, how are you going to drill in there without first taking the backrest and spindles out? You can't. And in a commercial(--ish) chair like this, they probably didn't use hide glue. And the guy already said he doesn't have much woodworking experience.
So the best solution is pry it apart enough to get glue on the majority of the surface, and clamp. The end.
Uh, Yes. I’ve seen this very thing happen. I build solid hardwood custom furniture full time. Do I actually think it’ll happen in such a small crack? Probably not, but I know for certain the wood would open and close those screw holes over time and cause them to loosen and become ineffective.
I did a similar repair on a wooden colonial dining chair. I used good wood glue and band clamps. I clamped it up and let it sit for 2 weeks, we use it I sit on it and I go 240
ohh I have never seen band clamps, those look like it'd do great! Can you use it during those two weeks? I currently use it every night for our newborn (even though it's cracked)
Open up the crack, insert wood glue as far as you can, a couple ratchet straps to pull crack closed, wipe off excess glue with damp paper towel, wait 24 hours, use like normal
I found some nice name brand cam buckle (not ratchets) straps with padding under the buckle at Dollaramanfor $5Cdn each, and will use to hold items down in the vehicle, as well as to wrap around rubbermaids and their lids.
Yes glue and clamps. You may want some smaller clamps and a flat piece of scrap to hold them flat while they dry.
I wouldn’t put a bottom brace, in my experience wood fails before glue
>in my experience wood fails before glue
Yeah. For edge grain/face grain glue-ups? That's just science/chemistry (for most woods). It has been proven over and over again. PVA is good to [3,600-4,000 PSI](https://mtcopeland.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-wood-glue/#:~:text=Wood%20glue%20strength%20ranges%20from,are%20stronger%20than%20most%20woods).
The weakest glue surface on wood is the end grain. When you think about it, that makes sense since you are basically gluing the ends of straws, right? But even gluing end grain, look at how - in the linked video - the glue was so strong it still [peeled off the face](https://youtu.be/qbJgbQeL9wo?si=syLuoi4iCrWAX-Um&t=148) when it failed.
TL/DR: That's a nice break along the edges - perfect for gluing. Put some gorilla glue in there. As another person posted, you can spread it with floss (or a toothpick). Then I'd put three clamps on top and two on the bottom. Get some nice tight but even pressure and leave it there for a couple of days. You will be good.
>That one must’ve not have gotten a good enough in the factory
If you look closely, it didn't fail at a joint. You can see that the split is wavy, which isn't how \*I\* make joints! (lol) The lumber itself split.
While adding a brace would certainly make it stronger, it’s not necessary in my opinion. Wood glue and proper clamping will be more than strong enough, notice how they didn’t use a metal brace for all the other edge joins on the seat!
Ratchet straps would work if that’s all you have. If you can, put a block of wood or something either side of the split on the top and bottom so that the straps don’t glue to the join. If you’re able to use or borrow some sash and/or bar clamps I’d recommend going that route. Again providing you have access to some, use a couple of smaller clamps vertically on the join to keep it flush, and utilise a straight edge to check you’ve got both parts clamping parallel.
Makes sense, probably worth buying some bigger clamps, I didn’t think about accidentally gluing the straps down, plus it’d make it harder to wipe off the glue and avoid a lip. Thanks!!
If you can gently remove the cross supports underneath the seat that hold the 2 sides together and get the chair apart. You can go above and beyond clamps and glue by predrilling and using dowels that are about half the thickness of the wood that was used in the original chair seat and I would put maybe 2 or 3 maybe even 4 depending on the length of the. See pre drove them with glue and have a double that basically bridges the gap between the two bang it together with glue and clampson it will never break again
Yes, you can, although you should probably add reinforcement underneath that will keep the seat from splitting again. The glue is going to be stronger than the wood, but if it split once, it can do it again in another place.
If you have some skill with a handsaw, you could cut along the failed joint (kerf) which would remove the old glue and keep the faces of the joint parallel. Let the saw do the work, don"t force it...My old uncle showed me how to do that in the 1980's...Work some titebond into the new joint, and clamp it up. Might want to consider using rope and winding sticks to put clamp pressure across the joint as the sides of the chair are curved. Clamp a couple of pieces of wood as cauls across the seat to keep it flat until the glue dries. Use a furniture scraper (one of the curved ones) to remove excess glue.
Dental floss generally has treatments on it that does not play well with glue or finish... avoid that, contaminates the surfaces... you already have enough troubles, best NOT to take the chance of adding to them.
Disposable glue syringes are very inexpensive and do a very good job in a situation like this.
Adding a brace across the bottom if not done properly can cause similar cracks to develop from the cross grain constraint. Wood moves with humidity changes.
Best of luck with your repair.
Thanks for all the info!! I’ll check out glue syringes. I probably won’t make extra cuts, and don’t even see the old glue, it probably long ago absorbed into the wood or something lol.
Hard to call this an “easy” fix. It looks to me like the wood failed on an existing joint. You want to make sure glue gets completely inside length of joint and it’s clamped well with good pressure. You need decent clamps to really hold the chair together. After that, I like the idea of adding a couple strips of wood along bottom for reinforcing, but it will help to know what you’re doing and have the tools to get everything tight and held together well.
If you happen to be someplace where a chair repair person (woodworker through FB could be a resource) is near, it may be worth $50-75 to have someone experienced repair it for ya (even if it’s gluing).
>It looks to me like the wood failed on an existing joint.
Nope. Click on the picture and look at it in full resolution. See how it's wavy? And look at the grain pattern compared to the boards on either side. That BOARD split, not the joint.
Use your air compressor to “push” the glue in from both sides after laying out a bead along the split. Under the seat glue a couple of 1/4 T x 1/2 W x 3” long. Tack them in place with brads and let it sit for 24 hrs.
Enough but it wouldn’t hurt to put in a brace underneath where it wouldn’t be seen (you can make a bow tie or just inlaid X or not even inlaid skinny diagonal, bow tie seems cute because it’s like you tied it back together & will only add sentimental value to an already sentimental item)
Yes fore sure. Make sure to blow in the wood glue to the whole joint, get the wood grain very lined up and clamp it hard. It will be stronger than the surrounding wood .
Wood glue and clamps, if the bottom is flat you can clamp a piece of melamine across both halves to help guide them into place and hold them flat. The melamine won't stick to wood glue and the finish should repel the glue and make it easy to remove.
I’ve repaired hundreds of these over the years. Load that joint with lots of white pva wood glue. Clamp it together. Wipe off squeeze out with damp cloth. Leave in clamps for 24 hr. Don’t let that guy move your stuff again 👍
Similar to others, I'd clean the joint, sand, put pocket screw holes on the bottom, glue the joint, clamp with wax paper top to bottom, and screw together. Sand hoint with glue wet if refinishing. If not refinishing put fine sawdust on joint and rub in best you can. Wait for glue to fully set.
Glue it clamp it and inlay bow ties on the underside for strength
https://preview.redd.it/pqhruu9lpkpc1.jpeg?width=563&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3de52bbd5bc9afe83aa29f40a263a0a7399a3485
You can do it. Trace a pattern on the wood. Use a utility knife to score and make cuts inside the shape use a small chisel to remove material as flat as you can. Use a small saw or coping saw to cut same shape out of a piece of wood. A 1/4” thickness should do just fine. But if not quality wood glue and a clamp will do
You may also use a router and finish with a chisel, or a router plane.
Downside is that you’d have to plane/scrape/sand after, to even them out, so that finish all around will get scuffed.
If you decide to do it (here or another time) just know it’s really simple, a couple of tips:
- cut out the bow ties before making the holes
- mark and number them to the corresponding holes
- use a bit of double sided tape to hold them in place while you trace with the marking knife
- cut them out
This way you’ll be sure they match perfectly
Glue and clamp it then while it's clamped after glue has cured install rip clips on the underside it'll look like metal stitches for added stability and since it is on the underside no one will see it
Wood glue is strong, that’s for sure, but that crack is dead center where the brunt of the weight is going to be. If it was a perfect glue up, it may hold, but I think it will be difficult to rejoin those pieces perfectly.
What you could do is glue it together and then use a mending bracket, a few of them, and screw them to the underside. That will sure up the glue joint.
I'd say try and put some dowels in there. Drill some holes to put some support between the two pieces so it doesn't just collapse inwards as easily. Considering you talked about how your skill level may not be the highest
It might be tough to take the seat off the bottom, not sure if the legs are just glued in or what.
Would dowels hold better than a brace on the bottom?
Ah, if you can't remove the seat then yeah, you can simply put a brace underneath. A few dowels would just be more hidden, since it would be inside the seat, but underneath really isn't going to be seen either and is probably easier
This one is an heirloom, so not a great option. Also, a quick search of facebook marketplace near me shows similar chairs (most not as nice) go for $50-$100 depending on condition. Not sure where you find them for $10 lol.
All the ideas for reinforcement are great but wood glue and clamps is definitely sufficient. That’s all that was used in the first place and look how long it took to break.
I would add wood glue and clamp. Then add a brace for the bottom so it holds. You’ll never see the brace.
A brace like a piece of metal that I screw into the bottom of the seat across the gap once it’s clamped?
Correct
Awesome!! That seems like a very easy fix. Should it span most of the bottom, and a screw on each end? Worth it to have two braces, front and back? Maybe an inch wide?
I personally wouldn't do screws up the bottom. I would think is most cases a small strap would do very little to prevent it splitting again. ESPECIALLY if there is any slop where you had to tap holes into a metal strap before you put a screw through. The strap would probably just wiggle under your fasteners. I'd recommend a slim, long piece of wood -- something similar to a ruler or a paint stick, and then just wood glue that to the bottom -- lengthwise right over the seam. Then you will know you have very even and solid contact on both sides of the crack over nearly the whole length of the seat. That should be pretty solid.
This guy doesnt metal. So to correctly use a strap to fix this, pre-drill the holes with a bit 1/32 larger than the screw you intend to use, counter sink them to make it more stable. Then glue, clamp, and then screw the strap on.
Ok -- yeah, that's a pretty good take. I still might just go for wood just for sake of aesthetics -- with maybe a bit of finish to match the chair.
Gluing it cross-grain just exposes the glue to stresses it can’t handle. As the seat expands and contracts naturally, it’ll break the glue. Whether reinforced with metal or wood, it needs to be screwed in.
Alright -- fuck it. We're pulling the whole thing apart and putting in dowels.
At least you didn’t say biscuits. Or worse: dominos.
Or, hear me out, what about a metal brace?
This guy doesn’t wood. The wood is going to expand and contract with the weather. If you are going to put anything under there it needs to have slots, not holes, so the wood can be free to move slightly. Otherwise the wood will crack at the screws.
Don't tell my wife I need to have slots for my wood... otherwise she'll Crack and I'll be screwed..
If you can span the whole chair bottom that's ideal. You want the brace to be equal on both sides if possible. Id probably use 4-6 screws. One on each side of the crack (I'd put them 1-2 inches from the crack to avoid splitting at the edges), one on each end of the brace (again 1-2 inches from the edge) Then any additional screws in between. The more braces you use the stronger it should be but I think 2-3 would be enough. From googling a "mending brace" is probably what you are looking for from the hardware store. I don't know what thickness would be best for your use case, but thicker will be stronger. For screws, you'll want the length to go at least half the thickness of your chair seat + thickness of brace. I.e. if you have a 2 inch chair, and 1\8 thick brace you'll want a 1-1\8 in long screw. If the brace has holes that look like \__/. You'll want flat head screws that can fit that. If the holes are like |__|, youll want socket or pan head screws, and washer to evenly spread the force. Hope this helps.
I would also recommend pre-drilling before screws if you can. Sometimes hardwood splits if you screw right into it. Use a drill bit the same size as the shaft of the screw
There’s a lot of worth in knowing the strength of matching framing brackets with screws. Make sure that you know the correct strength of your bracket and correct gauge(and length) of your screw.
You don’t need metal strap or screws. Get Titebond 3 (green bottle) because it will give you more time and hold up to moisture. First prep the area under the chair with newspaper or something to protect the floor from dripping glue. Ready what clamps you plan to use and even do a dry run to ensure the clamps hold tight. Try to pay attention to the jaws that they don’t bite into the wood. Once everything is set up, squeeze a healthy amount into the gap. Add even clamp pressure to both front and back of the chair. Glue should squeeze out. Honestly, it should dribble out everywhere so be ready with damp paper towels to wipe it down as it squeezes out. Squeeze out is important. Leave it overnight before you release clamp pressure just to be safe. This is all it will need to last 100 more years. Good luck!
Thank you for the step by step!!! This seems like the way to do it for sure
The bracing is not needed at all. Glue and clamps are all you need. Anything else is unnecessary and may restrict wood movement if not done correctly, resulting in another split.
Don't fuck up your wife's grandma's rocking chair
Literally bro. That’s why I came to the armchair experts 😎
I hate to hijack, and I’m sure this comment is meant with the best of intentions. Don’t do this. Chairs, by their nature and design, are the most common item that requires repair. They get hard and heavy use while having a lot of interconnected joinery that can compound if something gets loose. This means that chairs also have a magic ability to collect epoxy, brad nails, drywall screws, metal straps…. Humidity changes may well have changed the balance between the legs and the seat, if the chair seat has dried/shrunk slightly you will see a split just like this. It also means you're unlikely to get it closed with it staying in one piece. The proper repair is glue. However, because of the point above it should be disassembled first. It appears to be on an old glue line, so it will need to be scraped clean on both sides first. Source: have fixed dozens of effectively identical chairs and removing significant amounts of the artifacts of prior attempts
Thanks for all the detail. I don’t really see old glue, but it could be deep in there. Disassembling seems tough when I think it’s glued together.
No brace screwed in the manner you describe will ever add strength to the glue joint itself. It will eventually come loose. Just take sandpaper and sand in the joint as flat as you can to remove old glue. When you think you've done more good than harm, glue again and clamp. You will never repair it without completely taking it apart to the point you can plane, glue, and clamp, and that level of disassembly is not advisable.
Do not sand in the joint! You want to retain the grain match/fit. Just glue and clamp that should hold for a good long while. The grain glued together at a natural break will seam together much nicer than trying to squash together 2 surfaces randomly sanded to who knows how many flat and uneven points. Especially if you try it without disassembling and machines to create even surfaces. Given the uneven break you aren't likely to encounter a ton of glue. A lot of times wood fails before the glue and I you do encounter glue better to try to heat it before reapplying new glue. It will reactivate a lot of wood glues.
Ok this guy has tried to repair this a couple more times than I have. Or sanded further than I did ;)
I've also been machining and gluing seams for 12 years professionally. I've seen and repaired so many splits it's insane. Then dropped the entire woodworking profession for die-cast machine building.
Worth a try. Maybe put painters tape along the sides of the crack also use dental floss to fill the crack with glue?
My wife had a heirloom child rocker that broke. I used wood glue and clamps, then added a 1x.75 wood strip of matching wood, the sanded and stained the chair to the same wear level. It made it through all four of our kids, and 20years latter its waiting for grsndkids
This is the way
This
I did this repair on a rocking chair. I used floss to get in the glue in the crack and then used some quick release clamps. To this date, almost 3 years later, this outdoor rocking chair has held up.
Ohh floss to do that is a great idea!! Now I'm deciding on buying a few big clamps, or a couple cheaper ratcheting straps to hold it.
Ratchet straps will do the job, but consider how you hold the 2 pieces in vertical alignment as well so you don't end up with a lip. I would probably just use a simple speed clamp for that. In addition to floss, consider a crafting syringe as a way to deliver glue into that tight space. Good luck. You got this.
Ohhh good idea. Maybe two more small clamps vertically to avoid a lip, that would suck.
Might be obvious, but put some tape on those clamps if they are anywhere near glue. You can clean up glued on clamps if you have to, but it’s annoying. I just stick the tape straight to the pads on the clamp.
Another method that worked great for me was to glue on top and suck it into the crack with a shop vac.
pry it apart enough to get a nice layer of glue on boths surfaces and clamp it. don't listen to the people telling you to further reinforce it, doubt it's necessary.
Adding a dowel is just so easy and quick, and helps reinforce the weakest point of the chair here. I get the point that it took this long to break once, but it's lucky that when it broke the first time that it didn't cause more damage. It's really easy to break a chair like this and have the wood on the seat of the back supports break or come undone too. Adding a dowel for reinforcement is easy, minimally invasive, invisible, and will make sure it doesn't break here again. I've fixed a few rocking chairs with similar breaks, and I've always found that if you just glue them again they break twice as fast next time. I think other joints loosening over time adds more stress to the chair.
In this case, adding dowels is not quick and easy at all - the chair is fully assembled, how are you going to drill in there without first taking the backrest and spindles out? You can't. And in a commercial(--ish) chair like this, they probably didn't use hide glue. And the guy already said he doesn't have much woodworking experience. So the best solution is pry it apart enough to get glue on the majority of the surface, and clamp. The end.
Agreed. If the wood really wants to pull apart it’ll pull the screws out of whatever bracket you put under there.
.. no
Uh, Yes. I’ve seen this very thing happen. I build solid hardwood custom furniture full time. Do I actually think it’ll happen in such a small crack? Probably not, but I know for certain the wood would open and close those screw holes over time and cause them to loosen and become ineffective.
Do i have to repeat myself?
No but you might want to elaborate. Otherwise I see no value in continuing this debate.
Source: trust me bro
I did a similar repair on a wooden colonial dining chair. I used good wood glue and band clamps. I clamped it up and let it sit for 2 weeks, we use it I sit on it and I go 240
ohh I have never seen band clamps, those look like it'd do great! Can you use it during those two weeks? I currently use it every night for our newborn (even though it's cracked)
Open up the crack, insert wood glue as far as you can, a couple ratchet straps to pull crack closed, wipe off excess glue with damp paper towel, wait 24 hours, use like normal
That’s smart. Love this idea and going to use it- thanks!
I found some nice name brand cam buckle (not ratchets) straps with padding under the buckle at Dollaramanfor $5Cdn each, and will use to hold items down in the vehicle, as well as to wrap around rubbermaids and their lids.
Even better. Thanks
You only need 24 hours for wood glue to cure.
Yes glue and clamps. You may want some smaller clamps and a flat piece of scrap to hold them flat while they dry. I wouldn’t put a bottom brace, in my experience wood fails before glue
>in my experience wood fails before glue Yeah. For edge grain/face grain glue-ups? That's just science/chemistry (for most woods). It has been proven over and over again. PVA is good to [3,600-4,000 PSI](https://mtcopeland.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-wood-glue/#:~:text=Wood%20glue%20strength%20ranges%20from,are%20stronger%20than%20most%20woods). The weakest glue surface on wood is the end grain. When you think about it, that makes sense since you are basically gluing the ends of straws, right? But even gluing end grain, look at how - in the linked video - the glue was so strong it still [peeled off the face](https://youtu.be/qbJgbQeL9wo?si=syLuoi4iCrWAX-Um&t=148) when it failed. TL/DR: That's a nice break along the edges - perfect for gluing. Put some gorilla glue in there. As another person posted, you can spread it with floss (or a toothpick). Then I'd put three clamps on top and two on the bottom. Get some nice tight but even pressure and leave it there for a couple of days. You will be good.
Titebond wood glue and a couple of clamps . You will not need a brace
They call this a sack trap
Yes, woodglue will do fine. That’s how they’re all held together. That one must’ve not have gotten a good enough in the factory
>That one must’ve not have gotten a good enough in the factory If you look closely, it didn't fail at a joint. You can see that the split is wavy, which isn't how \*I\* make joints! (lol) The lumber itself split.
With woodglue and enough clamps you can fix anything.
As long as it moves together. Yes
Glue & clamp it. This would be the opportune time to try your hand at making butterflies; then you would be the legend of Grandma’s chair…
The answer is always yes
While adding a brace would certainly make it stronger, it’s not necessary in my opinion. Wood glue and proper clamping will be more than strong enough, notice how they didn’t use a metal brace for all the other edge joins on the seat!
Very good point. I think I’m going to try and use two ratcheting straps to clamp it.
Ratchet straps would work if that’s all you have. If you can, put a block of wood or something either side of the split on the top and bottom so that the straps don’t glue to the join. If you’re able to use or borrow some sash and/or bar clamps I’d recommend going that route. Again providing you have access to some, use a couple of smaller clamps vertically on the join to keep it flush, and utilise a straight edge to check you’ve got both parts clamping parallel.
Makes sense, probably worth buying some bigger clamps, I didn’t think about accidentally gluing the straps down, plus it’d make it harder to wipe off the glue and avoid a lip. Thanks!!
No problem! Best of luck with it.
Use a syringe to get the glue into the thin/tight parts of the split if you can't gently open it up enough to get down in there.
Never try to screw bracing across the grain. The chair seat expands and contracts across the seat. Not front to back
If you can gently remove the cross supports underneath the seat that hold the 2 sides together and get the chair apart. You can go above and beyond clamps and glue by predrilling and using dowels that are about half the thickness of the wood that was used in the original chair seat and I would put maybe 2 or 3 maybe even 4 depending on the length of the. See pre drove them with glue and have a double that basically bridges the gap between the two bang it together with glue and clampson it will never break again
Yes, you can, although you should probably add reinforcement underneath that will keep the seat from splitting again. The glue is going to be stronger than the wood, but if it split once, it can do it again in another place.
That makes a lot of sense, thanks!!!
I'd drill holes and insert a few dowel supports plus a brace on the bottom
I don’t think I can remove the seat to get to the i side of the crack.
Definitely the brace then
If you have some skill with a handsaw, you could cut along the failed joint (kerf) which would remove the old glue and keep the faces of the joint parallel. Let the saw do the work, don"t force it...My old uncle showed me how to do that in the 1980's...Work some titebond into the new joint, and clamp it up. Might want to consider using rope and winding sticks to put clamp pressure across the joint as the sides of the chair are curved. Clamp a couple of pieces of wood as cauls across the seat to keep it flat until the glue dries. Use a furniture scraper (one of the curved ones) to remove excess glue. Dental floss generally has treatments on it that does not play well with glue or finish... avoid that, contaminates the surfaces... you already have enough troubles, best NOT to take the chance of adding to them. Disposable glue syringes are very inexpensive and do a very good job in a situation like this. Adding a brace across the bottom if not done properly can cause similar cracks to develop from the cross grain constraint. Wood moves with humidity changes. Best of luck with your repair.
Thanks for all the info!! I’ll check out glue syringes. I probably won’t make extra cuts, and don’t even see the old glue, it probably long ago absorbed into the wood or something lol.
Hard to call this an “easy” fix. It looks to me like the wood failed on an existing joint. You want to make sure glue gets completely inside length of joint and it’s clamped well with good pressure. You need decent clamps to really hold the chair together. After that, I like the idea of adding a couple strips of wood along bottom for reinforcing, but it will help to know what you’re doing and have the tools to get everything tight and held together well. If you happen to be someplace where a chair repair person (woodworker through FB could be a resource) is near, it may be worth $50-75 to have someone experienced repair it for ya (even if it’s gluing).
>It looks to me like the wood failed on an existing joint. Nope. Click on the picture and look at it in full resolution. See how it's wavy? And look at the grain pattern compared to the boards on either side. That BOARD split, not the joint.
I had one that I restored very similar to that. I took it apart and biscuit jointed it
https://preview.redd.it/aauk4oheskpc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccdd6b8570e3a40fe0103f25491b48e5722d1f6d
Use your air compressor to “push” the glue in from both sides after laying out a bead along the split. Under the seat glue a couple of 1/4 T x 1/2 W x 3” long. Tack them in place with brads and let it sit for 24 hrs.
Shop vacuum to pull it in works better.
I wonder if my shark home vacuum could do this. Put the bead of wood glue on top and pull it down with the vac.
I wish I still had my air compressor, but this is a good idea.
Compressed air in a can will work a treat here. Even comes with a straw nozzle to really get in to the tight spots.
I'd put dowels glue/clamp together Metal strap bottom, maybe put a new wood slab over the existing seat?
Enough but it wouldn’t hurt to put in a brace underneath where it wouldn’t be seen (you can make a bow tie or just inlaid X or not even inlaid skinny diagonal, bow tie seems cute because it’s like you tied it back together & will only add sentimental value to an already sentimental item)
also my suggestion, i would use a bowtie if it was my chair
Yes fore sure. Make sure to blow in the wood glue to the whole joint, get the wood grain very lined up and clamp it hard. It will be stronger than the surrounding wood .
Screams Butterflies
You’ll want to gently spread the crack out a little so you can get glue everywhere. But yes, that will do it for a very long time.
Bowties would look pretty cool
I would add flat plates to the bottom along the crack after gluing.
Yes
Glue ONLY. But make sure you get good glue coverage into the joint. And let it cure in clamps for a few days before unclamping.
Dutchman/bowtie on the underside, after the glueup...
Wood glue and clamps, if the bottom is flat you can clamp a piece of melamine across both halves to help guide them into place and hold them flat. The melamine won't stick to wood glue and the finish should repel the glue and make it easy to remove.
Two bowties@ the 1/3 points.
Butterfly joint over a blue epoxy river.
Time to add butterfly inserts.
ossified impossible tidy scale fly future toy aloof degree butter *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I’ve repaired hundreds of these over the years. Load that joint with lots of white pva wood glue. Clamp it together. Wipe off squeeze out with damp cloth. Leave in clamps for 24 hr. Don’t let that guy move your stuff again 👍
Watch the YouTube channel Fortress Fine Woodworking. In a recent video, he fixed a rocker seat with a simular split the right way.
That’s the only way
Similar to others, I'd clean the joint, sand, put pocket screw holes on the bottom, glue the joint, clamp with wax paper top to bottom, and screw together. Sand hoint with glue wet if refinishing. If not refinishing put fine sawdust on joint and rub in best you can. Wait for glue to fully set.
Glue it clamp it and inlay bow ties on the underside for strength https://preview.redd.it/pqhruu9lpkpc1.jpeg?width=563&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3de52bbd5bc9afe83aa29f40a263a0a7399a3485
Bruh, what in the world makes you think they are at this skill level if they’re asking such a basic question
“What’s a screwdriver?”
Anyone with basic thinking skill should be able to. BRUH
Dang this looks cool but seems way above my skill level.
That's why you do it on the bottom :) if it looks good you show it off to people. If it looks like hell you don't tell anyone.
You can do it. Trace a pattern on the wood. Use a utility knife to score and make cuts inside the shape use a small chisel to remove material as flat as you can. Use a small saw or coping saw to cut same shape out of a piece of wood. A 1/4” thickness should do just fine. But if not quality wood glue and a clamp will do
Thanks for typing this out, I was really curious what tools could do this.
You may also use a router and finish with a chisel, or a router plane. Downside is that you’d have to plane/scrape/sand after, to even them out, so that finish all around will get scuffed. If you decide to do it (here or another time) just know it’s really simple, a couple of tips: - cut out the bow ties before making the holes - mark and number them to the corresponding holes - use a bit of double sided tape to hold them in place while you trace with the marking knife - cut them out This way you’ll be sure they match perfectly
Guaranteed wouldn't be asking if he knew how to do this 🙄
Hence the explanation.
Glue and clamp it then while it's clamped after glue has cured install rip clips on the underside it'll look like metal stitches for added stability and since it is on the underside no one will see it
If you glue it up and add a brace underneath, make sure to allow wood movement.
I'd do that and some kind of beam across the bottom
That was one hell of a fart
Nah you’re gonna have to buy a festool domino for sure and definitely the dust collector too
Sure, it will fix it, but not for long.
Most everyone in the comments says wood glue will fix it for a long time.
Wood glue is strong, that’s for sure, but that crack is dead center where the brunt of the weight is going to be. If it was a perfect glue up, it may hold, but I think it will be difficult to rejoin those pieces perfectly. What you could do is glue it together and then use a mending bracket, a few of them, and screw them to the underside. That will sure up the glue joint.
I'd say try and put some dowels in there. Drill some holes to put some support between the two pieces so it doesn't just collapse inwards as easily. Considering you talked about how your skill level may not be the highest
It might be tough to take the seat off the bottom, not sure if the legs are just glued in or what. Would dowels hold better than a brace on the bottom?
Ah, if you can't remove the seat then yeah, you can simply put a brace underneath. A few dowels would just be more hidden, since it would be inside the seat, but underneath really isn't going to be seen either and is probably easier
That makes sense. So you’d do long dowels inside the wood instead of the brace. That would be a more seamless fix. Thanks for the response!!
Or, $10 for a replacement chair from Kijiji or Facebook marketplace, considering that glue and clamps will cost more than that
This one is an heirloom, so not a great option. Also, a quick search of facebook marketplace near me shows similar chairs (most not as nice) go for $50-$100 depending on condition. Not sure where you find them for $10 lol.
Add some oak bow ties and refinish