Replies

1. 
   mlindy | Jan 11, 2023 11:32pm | #1

   If you are lucky, these joints were glued with hide glue, in which case you can work them loose with hot water brushed on at the joints. Also, if you are lucky most of the joints will be somewhat loose. It takes patience to brush some water on the joint, wiggle it some, wait for capillary action to draw liquid into the joint and gradually loosen the joint. The joints that are already loose will clean up more easily, but also require patience. Unless the other joints are rock solid, it is best to disassemble the stool, then reassemble. Use liquid hide glue (Old Brown Glue, Titebond Liquid Hide glue, etc) so you'll be able to do it again if needed. If someone used PVA glue it is going to be more difficult for you and your best bet may be to clean and reglue the loose joints and call it good until the next episode of failure.
   Why do you need to take the feet off? If needed, you might see if the pads on the bottom pry loose and expose a screw that holds the metal in place.

   Here's a link to a discussion in this forum from years ago about this topic:
   https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/softening-hide-glue-joints

   Good luck!

1. 
   xtal_01 | Jan 11, 2023 11:54pm | #2

   Thanks so much!

   I usually "try" to do things the correct way. I like the idea of taking it completely apart and re-gluing it.

   I will try the warm water .... I am not in hurry, don't care if it takes a week to get apart.

   Question ... why not just use something like Titebond III ? Will that not hold for life (well I am 60 so say 30 years)?

   I do like the idea of being able to fix it again if needed.

   The rubber is worn down so much the steel is scratching the floor ... just need some sort of feet. I didn't want to break anything taking these off.

   thanks .... Mike

2. 
   john_c2 | Jan 12, 2023 05:45am | #5

   There's no such thing as "hold for life." If you ever need to make a repair down the line, any of the Titebonds, epoxy, etc will make your life miserable. I wouldn't use anything but hide glue.

2. 
   stevieray | Jan 12, 2023 02:27am | #3

   I believe hide glue will stick to old hide glue, which is a benefit when regluing joints. PVA glues have to be completely scraped off to bare wood.

3. 
   rob_ss | Jan 12, 2023 03:35am | #4

   Have a watch of Tom Johnson on Youtube.
   He does a lot of this sort of thing and would generally dismantle as much as possible, clean the joints and re-glue.
   If your joints are sloppy and the pieces don't hold together well if not glued, then you will need to fix that before gluing.

   https://www.youtube.com/user/johnsonrestoration/videos

4. 
   jharveyb | Jan 12, 2023 10:46am | #6

   I have taken a different route for chair repair. My dining chairs had been re-glued several times without holding up. I was able to get them completely apart, rough sanded the glued surfaces, and reglued using epoxy, as the joints were not tight. They have held up really well, much better than any of the other times they were reglued. I didn't even imagine that I was getting all the glue out of the holes; just wrapped coarse sandpaper around a dowel and got what I could.
   Epoxy is not a forever glue; acetone will soften it enough to get joints apart. I was fortunate to get that information from a tech guy at an epoxy company, after a glue-up creeped before the epoxy set up (I had thought it was set up and removed the clamp to use on another part of the piece.) After turning the air blue with profane words, I called the epoxy company. I drilled a very small hole into the joint, and injected acetone for a couple days. The joint slid apart. I use long set epoxy a lot for complicated glue-ups, as it doesn't cause the joints to stick partway together before I can get the clamps on.

5. 
   user-6480500 | Jan 12, 2023 10:53am | #7

   It would appear that the glue currently holding your stool together is protein glue or commonly called hide glue. This after several decades crystalizes, thus the furniture it is holding together starts coming apart. mlindy suggestions have started you in the right direction. You are fortunate if an epoxy or white/brown latex glue has not been used in the past in some part to repair. Do not force anything apart. Take your time and only fix what you can get apart. The feet appear to have a crimped-on plate. Nylon foot pads available in which you can drill a small hole through this plate to attach with screw or nail.

6. 
   xtal_01 | Jan 12, 2023 12:05pm | #8

   You guys are awesome!

   I have build a house but never gotten into furniture repair. I am cleaning out my mom's place and got a few little thinks like this (small tables, chairs, ...).

   All seem to be loose like this. Lucky for me, none seem to have been repaired before.

   I would just like to do some repairs and make them usable again.

   Thanks again so very much for the advice!

   Mike

7. 
   bilyo | Jan 12, 2023 01:38pm | #9

   I agree with the use of hide glue. If you have a joint that is loose but reluctant to come apart, use heat and water to soften the old glue. Don't worry about getting all of the old glue off; just the loose stuff. However, consider that the finish, based on your photos, looks in very good condition. I would use caution with the heat and water so that you don't also end up doing a refinish job. My advice is that you only work on the loose joints and leave the others alone for now. They may stay together for the rest of your life time. Or, reparing the loose ones may put enough pressure on the others that they fail in the near future. Deal with that when/if the time comes.

8. 
   ysu65 | Jan 12, 2023 06:22pm | #10

   Chairs are tough, even the piano stool, they take a beating. I have taken apart our faux kitchen Windsor bow back bases and redid them. I tried to clean out any loose glue, added a small fox tenon into the stretchers, and re-glued them. So far, so good.

   I have done some country style chairs, shaped the green wood uprights with a draw knife, dried the stretchers, then assembled. No issues so far. Good luck.