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Default Restoring an oak church pew

Gentlemen

Thank you very much for your replies and advice.

Michael is correct, there are screw holes in the ends that would have
gone into the floor. There is also no glue in the mortised ends so I
presume they were jointed as Andy pointed out. There is a tiny dovetail
angle to the mortised end that I did not notice the first time around,
but to complicate things the seat base is curved to accommodate the
parishioners backsides so I won't be able to slide the seat into the
sides from the front. The back is flat though and there are screw holes
at the base of the back where it was screwed to the seat.

From all your advice, I'm thinking of this plan:

1. Cut inch-wide pieces off the seat and use them as a simple block to
go underneath the seat, screwed to the side and the seat
2. Put small wedges in the underside of the seat to push it up, thus
leaving no visible gap in the seat base. (I don't think I'm smart
enough to do Sonny's excellent suggestion
3. Make a dovetail out of the back and slide the back down its
dovetailed groove in the side
4. Screw the back to the seat

Does this seem reasonable?
All my best

Simon


Michael Latcha wrote:
The ends of the pews were most likely screwed to the floor with angle
brackets, trapping the seat and back between them in the rabbeted grooves.
If you want the pew free-standing, you have all sorts of choices to attach
the ends to the seat and back. Personally, I'd concentrate on attaching
only the seat to the ends and let the back float in the grooves.

Michael Latcha - at home in Redford, MI