Loose chair legs
 

Loose chair legs.

Just a post noting my experiences figuring it may help some other lost
soul out there searching Google Groups...

Problem: Loose chair legs. Mortise and tenon joints. You know the
routine... chair legs loosen, so you scrape out the crusty glue,
re-glue and the chair is fine... for a couple months. Soon the legs
are all loose again and the chair feels like it's going to implode any
day into a pile of kindling.

Solution: POLYURETHANE GLUE. A common brand is Gorilla Glue. The stuff
is manna from heaven. Elixir of the gods. Wood glue extraordinaire.
It's kinda expensive. Buy it anyway.

For those that have never experienced polyurethane glue, it looks like
thick maple syrup and as it cures, it foams a little, filling any gaps
and spreading through the joint. I'd say it triples its volume. Just
buy some and try it out... it's cool.

In addition to gap filling, the cured glue is VERY tough and I think
even a tiny bit flexible. At the very least it's not brittle like some
glues.

Anyhow, I glue up the legs, the excess oozes out and once dry, can be
scraped off pretty easily. For me, where the legs mortise into the
underside of the seat, I just leave the extra glue for a little added
strength. No one will see it unless they are slithering around your
kitchen floor on their back, in which case, you may have bigger
problems than a little visible glue.

I have a few formerly troublesome chairs repaired with polyurethane
glue that are still rock solid over two years later. And keep in mind
one of those chairs is being used by a teenager that leans back in the
chair, leans forward, leans sideways, and oddly finds it comfortable
leaning back on ONE rear chair leg. Two plus years and it's still as
solid as the day I glued it up.

----

Also, let me note I tried the silcone route on a chair which didn't
work so well. The theory sounded pretty good... use silicone caulk
instead of glue because the silicone will move with the wood and not
crack like glue.

Well, while that's true, I found myself with chairs that continued to
be quite wobbly... although the chair parts were held together pretty
well. I didn't have to worry about a chair collapsing into a pile of
pixy sticks, but the rubbery wobble got REALLY annoying.

- Joe Barta

Anyhow, I glue up the legs, the excess oozes out and once dry, can be
scraped off pretty easily. For me, where the legs mortise into the
underside of the seat, I just leave the extra glue for a little added
strength. No one will see it unless they are slithering around your
kitchen floor on their back, in which case, you may have bigger
problems than a little visible glue.


- Joe Barta
Using Polyurathane glue: Could I use masking tape tape to prevent the oozes
from
smearing over the leg?


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On Thu, 4 Nov 2004 16:44:25 +0800, "chinkc"
wrote:


Anyhow, I glue up the legs, the excess oozes out and once dry, can be
scraped off pretty easily. For me, where the legs mortise into the
underside of the seat, I just leave the extra glue for a little added
strength. No one will see it unless they are slithering around your
kitchen floor on their back, in which case, you may have bigger
problems than a little visible glue.


- Joe Barta
Using Polyurathane glue: Could I use masking tape tape to prevent the oozes
from
smearing over the leg?

Treat that part of leg first with something the glue won't stick to
when it hardens [wax? vaseline?], or I've used a wide elastic band
that snapped tightly around the part before applying. Cut carefully
around the joint with a utility knife before removing the waste.

If using masking tape, try the [green] painter's tape. It's easy to
remove.

Problem: Loose chair legs. Mortise and tenon joints. You know the
routine... chair legs loosen, so you scrape out the crusty glue,
re-glue and the chair is fine... for a couple months. Soon the legs
are all loose again and the chair feels like it's going to implode any
day into a pile of kindling.

Solution: POLYURETHANE GLUE. A common brand is Gorilla Glue. The stuff
is manna from heaven. Elixir of the gods. Wood glue extraordinaire.
It's kinda expensive. Buy it anyway.

Here's quick and dirty solution that works quite well.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...&ccurrenc y=2

I agree, this is the way to do it. One economical alternative is PL
Premium polyurethane construction adhesive. It comes in a cylinder for
a caulk gun. It's less expensive than most poly glues, and it works
wonderfully. It comes out about the consistency of peanut butter (same
color too). Like the other polys, it foams while curing and expands.

The only problem is that if you don't use it all in one application (I
never do), it cures inside the tip and seals shut. This is easily fixed
by drilling out the cured stuff when you need to use it.

This is VERY strong glue. I originally started using it to splice
together 2-liter bottles to make water rockets. A 4-inch diameter seam
could take 100 psi with no problem. That comes to 1256 lbs. of force
held together by a 12.5 inch-long smear of the stuff. And it was
getting that kind of adhesion on plastic!

Yeah, it'll hold a chair together.

Don't use water to clean it up. Just dry shop towels. If you get it on
your hands (don't), use dry rags to get it off. If you use water, it
will cure really fast and set up. You may even want to wet surfaces
before application, but I have no evidence that this helps. I've never
had a PL Premium joint fail at the glue, applied wet or dry.

-Mike

I agree, this is the way to do it. One economical alternative is PL
Premium polyurethane construction adhesive. It comes in a cylinder for
a caulk gun. It's less expensive than most poly glues, and it works
wonderfully. It comes out about the consistency of peanut butter (same
color too). Like the other polys, it foams while curing and expands.

The only problem is that if you don't use it all in one application (I
never do), it cures inside the tip and seals shut. This is easily fixed
by drilling out the cured stuff when you need to use it.

This is VERY strong glue. I originally started using it to splice
together 2-liter bottles to make water rockets. A 4-inch diameter seam
could take 100 psi with no problem. That comes to 1256 lbs. of force
held together by a 12.5 inch-long smear of the stuff. And it was
getting that kind of adhesion on plastic!

Yeah, it'll hold a chair together.

Don't use water to clean it up. Just dry shop towels. If you get it on
your hands (don't), use dry rags to get it off. If you use water, it
will cure really fast and set up. You may even want to wet surfaces
before application, but I have no evidence that this helps. I've never
had a PL Premium joint fail at the glue, applied wet or dry.

-Mike

snip

Solution: POLYURETHANE GLUE. A common brand is Gorilla Glue. The stuff
is manna from heaven. Elixir of the gods. Wood glue extraordinaire.
It's kinda expensive. Buy it anyway.

For those that have never experienced polyurethane glue, it looks like
thick maple syrup and as it cures, it foams a little, filling any gaps
and spreading through the joint. I'd say it triples its volume. Just
buy some and try it out... it's cool.

In addition to gap filling, the cured glue is VERY tough and I think
even a tiny bit flexible. At the very least it's not brittle like some
glues.



- Joe Barta


Joe's got the fix. I've repaired most of my kitchen and dining room
chairs with Gorilla Glue and none of them have separated again. I
have yet to have a joint that I used Gorilla Glue on fail.

Yes, poly glue is very strong.

However, it is very inflexible, a sharp strike can cause it to separate. I
know someone who used it to glue up a mallet and it separated when he was
(enthusiastically) banging on it.

Best way I've found to get it off your hands is to plunge them into my dust
collector pre-separater can and rub. Driest environment I can think of.

Yes, it does expand to fill gaps, however, the expanded foam doesn't have
any structural strength. Use it on well-fit joints.

M2CW
FWIW
YMMV,

Joe

"Joe Barta" wrote in message
om...
Loose chair legs.

Just a post noting my experiences figuring it may help some other lost
soul out there searching Google Groups...

Problem: Loose chair legs. Mortise and tenon joints. You know the
routine... chair legs loosen, so you scrape out the crusty glue,
re-glue and the chair is fine... for a couple months. Soon the legs
are all loose again and the chair feels like it's going to implode any
day into a pile of kindling.

Solution: POLYURETHANE GLUE. A common brand is Gorilla Glue. The stuff
is manna from heaven. Elixir of the gods. Wood glue extraordinaire.
It's kinda expensive. Buy it anyway.

For those that have never experienced polyurethane glue, it looks like
thick maple syrup and as it cures, it foams a little, filling any gaps
and spreading through the joint. I'd say it triples its volume. Just
buy some and try it out... it's cool.

In addition to gap filling, the cured glue is VERY tough and I think
even a tiny bit flexible. At the very least it's not brittle like some
glues.

Anyhow, I glue up the legs, the excess oozes out and once dry, can be
scraped off pretty easily. For me, where the legs mortise into the
underside of the seat, I just leave the extra glue for a little added
strength. No one will see it unless they are slithering around your
kitchen floor on their back, in which case, you may have bigger
problems than a little visible glue.

I have a few formerly troublesome chairs repaired with polyurethane
glue that are still rock solid over two years later. And keep in mind
one of those chairs is being used by a teenager that leans back in the
chair, leans forward, leans sideways, and oddly finds it comfortable
leaning back on ONE rear chair leg. Two plus years and it's still as
solid as the day I glued it up.

----

Also, let me note I tried the silcone route on a chair which didn't
work so well. The theory sounded pretty good... use silicone caulk
instead of glue because the silicone will move with the wood and not
crack like glue.

Well, while that's true, I found myself with chairs that continued to
be quite wobbly... although the chair parts were held together pretty
well. I didn't have to worry about a chair collapsing into a pile of
pixy sticks, but the rubbery wobble got REALLY annoying.

- Joe Barta

Thus the article in FWW an number of years back which concluded that
silicone glue was the optimum, possibly with a pin?

"Cafferata Family" wrote in message
om...
Yes, poly glue is very strong.

However, it is very inflexible, a sharp strike can cause it to separate.
I
know someone who used it to glue up a mallet and it separated when he was
(enthusiastically) banging on it.

Yes, it does expand to fill gaps, however, the expanded foam doesn't have
any structural strength. Use it on well-fit joints.

I didn't see that article, do you have an issue #?

Joe C.

"George" george@least wrote in message
...
Thus the article in FWW an number of years back which concluded that
silicone glue was the optimum, possibly with a pin?

"Cafferata Family" wrote in message
om...
Yes, poly glue is very strong.

However, it is very inflexible, a sharp strike can cause it to separate.
I
know someone who used it to glue up a mallet and it separated when he
was
(enthusiastically) banging on it.

Yes, it does expand to fill gaps, however, the expanded foam doesn't
have
any structural strength. Use it on well-fit joints.

Gotta be forever ago. Believe it was by Hoadley himself. Excuse my not
going down to the six plus feet of issues downstairs. Perhaps a member of
the website could help.

"Joe C." wrote in message
om...
I didn't see that article, do you have an issue #?

Joe C.

"George" george@least wrote in message
...
Thus the article in FWW an number of years back which concluded that
silicone glue was the optimum, possibly with a pin?

This is VERY strong glue. I originally started using it to splice
together 2-liter bottles to make water rockets.

OK, Mike. You can't get away with that kind of a tease. I know it's off
topic, but you have to tell us how you make water rockets from soda bottles.

The problem with factory made chairs is that the stretchers attempt to hold
the legs together. If the chair is made correctly, the stretchers are a tad
long, and actually hold the legs *apart* pushing against each other, and
wedging them against the holes in the seat. A properly made chair is an
engineering wonder. But Gorilla Glue works pretty well. I've also fixed them
with a fox wedge.

If you Google for "water rockets" you'll find more information than you
want. Essentially, a 2-liter bottle makes a rocket on it's own. Put 1
liter of water in it, then pressurize the air to ~100psi, turn it
upside down, release the pressure, and it's gone. They hit 100mph in
about 6 feet, then become tumbling projectiles, good for around 100
feet of altitude.

So then you start modifying them. Nose ballast, fins, timed parachute
releases, then, of course, splicing. You cut the bottom off of one
bottle (leaving some of the inward curvature) and the top off of
another. Spread some PL premium around the bottomless bottle, and
insert it into the topless one, with about 1" of overlap. You now have
a much larger rocket. Repeat as necessary.

I once made a 4-bottle rocket (3 feet long) that went about 500 feet
without fins, and just a weight on the nose.

You can also make 2-stage rockets (booster and sustainer). These are
really fun. One guy in Dallas hit 1000 feet with a big booster topped
with a sustainer made from a flourescent light cover (clear, plastic,
$2 at the Borg).

Lots of fun. It's been a while though. As my son gets older (he's 2
now) I imagine he and I together can convince SWMBO that this is a good
way to spend some time...

-Mike

Loose chair legs
 

replying to Joe Barta, Jamespillar wrote:
Use silicone caulk for this purpose.

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