On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:58:52 -0700, Tim Douglass
wrote:

I have in my possession 3 old swivel desk chairs. one dates to the
1940s, I think, another to the late '20s and the third is documented
to 1898. They are all in mostly good condition with a few notable
issues. The biggest issues is with casters, since every type of caster
I have tried that looks even remotely appropriate falls apart after
only a few months in use. Normally what happens is that the cheap
metal socket that goes into the leg deforms and the casters start
leaning, from there the ball bearings for the swivel quickly
deteriorate and the caster is worthless. This is even with casters
supposedly rated at 200 lbs. I have tried every source I could find
for something reasonable, but the only ones I can find that look solid
are rather modernistic in design - chrome and clear plastic. Does
anyone have any suggestions for how to deal with this short of just
buying the casters by the gross and replacing them every couple of
months?

If it is the metal inserts that are causing the problem, get a
machinist friend to rurn out a set of good thick ones that won't
deform and install the best caster you can find that looks good.

Second question is on the 1898 chair. It is white oak and has a crack
(along a glue line) down the length of the seat. I have just had the
metal tilt/swivel mechanism on this chair repaired and want to fix the
crack before reassembling it all. Am I correct in assuming that hot
hide glue would be the preferred glue for this repair? This is the
only wood repair this chair needs and I want to match with what it was
originally built with.
Hide gue would likely be the "best (as far as restoration) method, but
nothing wrong with a good epoxy or poly-urethane glue either.

Question 3 has to do with the 1920s chair. It has a cane seat (broken
and must be replaced) and a leather padded back. The leather is in
reasonably good shape, with no tears or holes, but is very dried out
and I want to condition it before this chair goes back into service.
Anyone have any recommendations on what to use on the leather?

Neetsfoot oil or connolly hide food Clean well with Lexol leather
cleaner first. The connolly hide food is likely the best solution.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.