A Little Reconstruction

Thought I'd tackle one of the many "projects" I have sitting around the house. This is one sad chair I got from my mother. I don't know what happened to it--maybe someone dropped something heavy on it--anyway, some of the pegs were broken off and it fell apart.


I had to really work to get all the broken pieces off the chair and ended up cutting through some of the pegs with a coping saw. The plan is to drill out and replace the pegs and glue it back together and refinish it. I have already used Formby's Refinisher on it and removed a lot of the darkened shellac and finish. It's solid oak and sort of Mission-style and will go nicely with the Mission-style desk my father gave me.



On the left is one of the stringers. Unfortunately, the dowel ends, which were integral with the stringer have broken off. I will have to drill them out and put in pegs. They will not be as strong, but will hopefully stay together. On the right is one of the pieces of the seat frame.

Here are the steps I took to remove the glued-in old pegs.


I clamp the piece to a horse, padding it with a washcloth and get my biggest drill bit and drill through the center of the pegs.


Then I get a skinny wood chisel and a hammer and start tapping and prying out the rest of the glue and dowel. It doesn't look pretty and the edges get a little ragged, but they will be covered up when I'm done.


I can't take a picture of that step because I don't have another hand.





I got these nifty tools the other day. I could really do some damage with these puppies!

I cleaned up the holes with the appropriate size spade bit.


Then I glued in the pegs and glued and clamped some cracks and let it dry overnight.