Replies

1. 
   joinerswork | Feb 02, 2008 04:31am | #1

   Sedgewick,

   I'll take a wild guess, and presume the chairs are factory made.  Production chairs often suffer from two deficiencies: inadequate tenon length, and inadequate quantity of glue.  The spindles' coming loose may be a result of one or both of these shortcomings.  Not much you can do if the holes are shallow, and the tenons short, but you can apply an amount of glue sufficient to hold the spindles in place for a while, at least.  Unfortunately, the best way to do this is to dis-assemble the loose pieces from their home, and paint the holes, and the mating tenons, with glue.  Re-assemble, and wipe away the squeeze-out.  This is the part that the factory wanted to avoid, see?  Because it is (1) an additional operation, and (2) a pain in the neck.

   Short of dis-assembly, you may be able to try to pry the pieces apart enough to paint the tenons, and push them down again, but you will notice that nearly all the glue is wiped off the tenons by the time they are home again.  Better to pry apart, paint the tenons, drill into the sockets from the edge of the seat with a tiny (1/16") drill, and inject some glue into the inside of the joint.  Then, by waggling the loose parts around, you might be able to spread the glue across the hole/tenon interface, and get a decent job. Fill the holes you drilled with colored wax crayon (by minwax or similar).

   Ray

1. 
   Sedgewick | Feb 02, 2008 04:47am | #2

   Thanks! I will give that a try.

2. 
   RonK | Feb 02, 2008 06:25am | #3

   I am not sure exactly where you are referring but perhaps you can adjust them re-glue and drive wedges to hold them?