Replies

1. 
   woodrae | Mar 20, 2007 06:17am | #1

   Chris—

   If indeed someone used epoxy in an attempt to ‘fix’ the chair, they’ve made your life miserable. There is just no easy way to remove the stuff, and no solvents that effectively release its bond. Having said this, I would still take a number of steps that may help coax your chair apart and ready for real fixing.

   First, if the glue is an off-white color, it could be epoxy, but it may be a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glue, such as regular white or yellow glue. So the first thing I would do would be to inject either some hot water or white vinegar into each joint that needs disassembling. Let the liquid soak the fibers for a minute or two, then gently coach the parts apart with a soft mallet such as a deadblow or with reversed clamps.

   If vinegar or hot water won’t budge the joints, try heat. A heat gun is best, but a powerful hairdryer can work in a pinch. Aim the heat at the shoulders of the joint, and heat the surface very hot, but not to the point of scorching. This may soften the glue and allow you to disassemble as before.

   If you’re still glued tight, the next step is to try directing some steam—any way you can—into each joint. Let the steam saturate the wood fibers, and then try disassembly. If the chair is 100 years old, this will definitely loosen the original hide glue that was used during its construction.

   OK, let’s assume everything is still tight and refuses to budge, and that epoxy is truly the culprit. Here’s the ‘miserable’ part, but don’t panic. The following is done to chairs and other furniture on a daily basis in professional repair shops. You’ll need to disassemble the joints by cutting into them.

   While I can’t give you specific information without seeing the actual chair, the general idea is to saw or drill out the rungs and stretchers where they enter larger parts, such as the seat, leg or back rail. While there are many ways to do this depending on the specific joint at hand, there are two basic methods to employ: Either drill through the heavier member from the outside, freeing the smaller, trapped part, or saw away the smaller part, such as a rung, and drill out its remainder.

   Both approaches require that you then fix the intentionally damaged part by either making a new one or by cutting in a new part for the damaged area. For example, you can saw a rung apart, re-drill the mortise it fit into, turn a new rung (with a tenon), cut a scarf joint (which is basically a long, sloping miter) on both the old rung and the new, and glue the two parts together by wrapping them with masking tape or stretchy rubber, such as an old inner tube or surgical tubing. The other example would be to drill through a joint from the outside, clean out and re-drill the mortise, make a new rung or similar part, glue the new rung in place, and then plug the entrance hole with a face-grain plug that matches the grain of the surrounding wood.

   An important point to keep in mind during reconstruction is that all of the old glue must be removed before adding new glue. If it’s only hide glue, you don’t have to be too fussy, and a good scraping will suffice. But modern glues like PVAs and epoxies must be removed entirely or the new adhesive won’t stick. Oftentimes this means assiduous scraping, and sometimes it means re-drilling a hole to a bigger size or resizing a tenon by first scraping it of glue and then wrapping it with veneer and glue to fatten it up.

   By the way, when you do re-glue, do your future restorer (if it’s a good chair, there will be one) a favor: Use a glue such as hot-hide glue or white or yellow glue… but please avoid epoxy!

   Good luck,
   Andy Rae

1. 
   cmiller231 | Mar 20, 2007 07:30am | #2

   WOW! : Well, first of all  thank you very much for  what sounds like the last word in chair disassembly. 

         I certainly will try  everything you have said .Mainly i've been trying to twist the rungs apart while waiting for an answer about the glues .Of course i know it is hard to give advice on things you haven't seen . I bought this glue from Woodcraft supply made by Vertas  (spelling?)  that company in Canada  anyway .In the package was a real nice glue  injector  with about a 1/16 " needle ..I plan on using vinegar in it among the other things you suggested .

      I've been planing on using a hot hide glue anway glue . My projects have been large as of late , like a chest of draweres 56" W x 48" H x 20 " deep .The yellow glues just dry too fast  for me >

                                                                          T hank You  Chris