Replies

1. 
   jharveyb | Mar 04, 2024 05:28pm | #1

   I think if you ever go to repair it nicely, you will regret doing a funky repair job now. It will only make it harder to do it right. Can you just block that corner up for the party?

1. 
   MacCharles | Mar 04, 2024 05:51pm | #2

   Ok, thanks for answering.
   How would I go about fixing the leg nicely,
   isn't it possible to do that beautifully now and working on the rest later?

2. 
   pantalones868 | Mar 05, 2024 07:47pm | #3

   Wood glue does go bad. I put a date on mine and toss it after about a year. If ever it was frozen( not a problem for me where I live now --or it got over heated out it goes.
   If the sofa were mine and I was planning a restoration,I would either, A) whittle something like maybe a crutch as a funny temporary fix or B) set that corner on something, like maybe a brick. As someone said ,if you cob it together now you might be sorry later.

3. 
   rob_ss | Mar 06, 2024 05:12am | #4

   That leg is not an easy fix.

   It should have two mortises which hold the side rails and it will be very difficult to glue it back together effectively.
   Even though there are large areas of longer grain, there is a bit at the top that is essential to the structure.
   In theory, if you pieced every bit together with wood glue, it would be just as strong as before, but realistically, you won't ever get it perfect and only perfect is good enough. That kind of repair always fails, usually quickly.
   You could make a temporary fix by gluing the loose bit onto the leg, then gluing the leg onto the sofa, and that will work well enough for a while, but if you use PVA on the mortises, it will make later disassembly for repair very hard, and if you don't then it will be wobbly and will fall apart quickly.
   The best way to fix this properly is to make a new leg. It's not that hard and it's the only real lasting repair option. You could I suppose graft a new top on, leaving the lower part and foot, but it's harder to match the new wood to the old than to make a whole leg close enough to the others. A new leg will be stronger and will last. You will also need to consider if there are other loose joints and have them fixed too otherwise it will just fail again.
   This is a massive job - certainly within the grasp of a patient amateur with a decent workshop, but not a quick weekender.

   Were it mine, and me in your position needing a quick fix, I would glue the leg but make sure no glue got onto the tenons for the rails. I would use the old glue too. I would also put some books under the sofa to make sure that if my repair were to fail, no-one would end up on the floor. Since you need to make a new leg anyway, messing up the old one a bit more is not that big a deal. Mahogany is expensive, but you don't need a lot of it for one leg...

   Finally, if this is a valuable piece then a professional repair is the best option. If not, then the skills you learn fixing it will be worth the pain and tears.

4. 
   gulfstar | Mar 07, 2024 06:21am | #5

   All these advices point in the same direction, and for good reasons. I repaired such a sofa but to do a permanent and effective repair I had to remove the fabric. That leg not only supports the weight of the sofa and guests, it also joins the two stiles, you can see now that they are offset. I first removed the fabric and made a sturdy backing block of hardwood that joined the stiles together and would be invisible when the sofa got re-upholstered, then the leg is glued back together, it will only be strong enough if the surfaces meet perfectly with a lot of clamping pressure, wood glue is a poor filler, the thinner the joint thickness is, the stronger the joint. Without a well equipped wood shop, this is a task I would give to a cabinetmaker.