Is this a good idea? Beginner’s question
auttyd23
| Posted in New To Woodworking on
I have this plain old dining chair set that I want to make more modern. I was wondering if it would completely compromise the structure if I sawed off the beams that are attached to the legs to make them free standing?
Replies
Post a photo.
Probably but a photo would help.
It will make them at least a little weaker, depending on how the legs are joined to the seat, removing the stretchers could make the chair srastically weaker.
Can you remove the stretcher without "sawing it off"? That way, you could replace it if it didn't work out.
It is impossible to say without a picture, and of course you run the risk of ruining your chairs, but most average chairs probably don't need the stretchers, provided their use is appropriate. As to whether or not it's a good idea, probably not, but hey - they are your chairs and you learn from doing and then finding out how it worked.
Stretchers prevent the chair legs from splaying when the chair is moved, placed unevenly or rocked. They don't help that much with racking, other than preventing loosening of the top joints (the importance of which is not to be underestimated)
If you look up Chippendale chairs, you will see that the finer legged options with thinner seat frames tend to have stretchers whereas the cabriolet leg types have heavier seat frames and no stretchers.
Legendary chairmaker, Brian Boggs doesn't seem to care - he makes his chairs with and without stretchers as the mood takes him (or so it appears from his portfolio) Stretchers then are as much about design as structure in many cases and it is unlikely that a chair that truly requires stretchers for integrity would last long in regular use. They do tend to be a bit over-engineered.
Overall your chairs will be more likely to survive without the stretchers if they are made with good wood, modern glues, and have thicker seat frames or the legs are glued into the seat. I have a G Plan set at home with legs about 1 inch square at the top and seat frames about 1 1/2 inches deep. No stretchers. Made in about 1960-1970 I suspect and still going strong. They have survived 4 years of heavy daily use with me so far.
If yours will be moved a lot, are made of knotty pine with poor joinery and are much thinner than that, then definitely leave the stretchers alone.
If your chairs might appeal to someone else as they are, it might be better to sell them and buy some you actually like.
If you do go ahead with the plan, then saw off the stretchers on the worst chair first. See how it moves and sits when they are removed. Does it look better to you? Will you also want to change the shape of the legs a little (difficult but can be done). Is it a catastrophe?
If you are happy then go ahead and do the rest. I'd fill the holes with builder's fill and sand smooth if painting or use the wood from the stretchers to make patches for the holes if not.
If you want to put the stretchers back then provided you sawed carefully, it should be possible to make a sliver of wood fill the kerf (especially if you used a thin saw) if you can dismantle the chair to repair it, that is best, but if not, then use plenty of ordinary pva glue on the end grain and the connecting sliver and clamp. The truly paranoid will add a spline across the joint. It will not look as pretty or be as strong as the original, but it will probably last long enough that you will either die happy or be good enough at woodwork to figure out a better solution.
Just make sure you are not about to destroy a museum piece. Before you cut. You know....
With all that said, we don't know what the OP is calling "beams".
I was assuming the stretchers. But really, who knows?
I don't need a photo - the answer is no. You alter the construction of a chair hopefully all that hits the floor is your butt.
Chairs have withstood the test of time due to their construction and design. If you alter their design, you'll eventually discover why those 'beams' were there in the first place.
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