This is half "my best find ever" half "how do I fix it?"
Walked into my favorite little junk shop this afternoon and spotted the goofy runners first. Sure enough - Wegner's J16 rocking chair. In decent usable shape, but has some condition issues.
Most notably is the tenons that hold the runners in place. One looks like it lifted out a little and someone tried filling the gap with something. Another is slightly cracked along the runner, but seems solid.
Then there are a few other cracks in the wood that need gluing/clamping. And then the finish. It seems to be the lacquered beech finish, but the lacquer has dried and flaked in a lot of places. I'd like to avoid a complete refinish - because it's beautifully patinaed in some areas.
Any thoughts/advice about how to approach the tenon problems and the finish problem? General pictures below. More detail shots coming.
Is there any way to date the chair based on the stamps under the arm?
Lucky you!
I have one of these---got it for $15 at auction and walked away rather stunned. The seat on mine was badly stained so I redid it---five times. Turns out that style of seat is very, very difficult to weave well and mine is still not as good as I'd like but I've given up for now.
Mine is also lacquered beech but is in pretty good shape, no cracks or splits, just a little wear to the finish. I know you can get spray lacquer. Lacquer is tricky because it dries so quickly, so spray is the way to go, I think. Has the wood darkened from wear where the lacquer has flaked off? You'd have to sand that clean before applying new lacquer. And of course you would have to clean the whole thing very well anyway before re-lacquering even part of it. Count on some overspray.
When you say the runner is cracked, do you mean the rocker? I have fixed cracked parts in the past by forcing glue into the crack and then drilling a dowel hole in an inconspicuous spot. That's not always possible, obviously.
More pics
I had kind of a sense that the papercord seat would be a pain. This one is structurally very solid, but it's obviously been left outside and is faded, dirty, and dry. I'm going to attempt vacuuming and treating it with soap flakes before I attempt a full reweave.
Now for the wood problems: The lacquer is only flaking on some areas, the armrests, the sides of the runners. I'd like to keep as much of the original finish as possible...is it possible to touch up only those areas? Could I substitute something in place of a true lacquer?
Below are some of the pictures of the wood areas. The armrest has completely lifted off the tenon. I need to go in with a dremel and clear out the old glue and clamp that. Doesn't seem like it will be too much trouble.
The area of most concern is the mortise and tenon on the runner - which has lifted. I'm wondering if there are any suggestions about how to get that back into place? I'm hesitant to clamp or hammer it for fear of breaking the other armrest. It looks like some sort of white/wood type glue was used as an original 'fix'.
Thoughts? Woodworkers? Heath?
None
No movement in the extended runner mortise, but I think thats because its gobbed up with glue on the inside. Which causes (i think) to make the rock uneven when sitting in it. Or that might be caused by the runners being chewed up in different areas.
My main concern with tapping/clamping is that at the other end of that post is the M&T of the armrest, and I don't want to accidentally crack/split that.
Also
Has anyone ever used a product called Restore-A-Finish? Since the chair only needs touch-ups in a few areas: armrests/post caps/runner tops & bottoms - this seems too good to be true?
http://www.howardproducts.com/restora.htm
That's a
shame. I could tell more with additional photos, perhaps. It appears that the added glue was allowed to set with the joint in a partly-open position ? Obviously the best solution would be to remove the runner completely, assuming the glue joints can be persuaded to give up their grip. A deadblow mallet (that has a moving load of shot pellets inside, to prevent the head from bouncing off the work). A rubber mallet is almost useless, by contrast. If the two joints don't start moving almost immediately, don't pursue this course further.
Alternatively, you could try the Dremel to remove glue you can see -- but that doesn't guarantee that the joint will then slide home.
The arm seems to be split, perhaps from shrinking following weather soaking ? There's glue in the open split ?
You might saw a clean slot where the split is, and fill that with a spline of similar wood. If well done the wood will perfectly fit the slot, and if well glued will be a sound (if not invisible) repair. The glue connection to the top of the leg is potentially a separate issue.
Attempting tonight
This is my friday - home alone with furniture. Go me. In other news the Magic Dumpster granted me a pair of plastic Pollock chairs. One went to my co-worker, one went to my home office! SUuuuuuper duper comfortable. Ergonomic?...not so much.
SDR, I've tried wiggling a thin paint scraper into the outer edges of the M&T on the runner, which appear to be loose. I haven't poked much at the innards, but will be doing so tonight. Additional pictures to follow.
The arm has no glue in the split. The old glue is in the socket. I think I'm going to glue and clamp the split as much as possible, and let the crack remain as a remnant of its former life.
That would
be good -- though I have some doubts that the split might be clamped closed, because it looks so wide to me -- as if the wood had shrunk after swelling due to water damage ? Splits that have to be forced open to administer glue can be clamped closed. This one is different, I fear. But give it a try.
It's also possible that the top of the post is keeping the split open, if it was re-glued after the split occurred. . .?
I was going to suggest fitting a tapered piece of wood and gluing it in, if the split was free of glue. I'm glad it is.
The central tenon at the bottom is the one with glue on it, I imagine -- it ought to be, anyway.
Let us know how you make out. Tricky problems are the most fun to solve.
Success!!
After much hammering (my downstairs neighbors just LOVE me and my 'projects') and wiggling a paint scraper into the joint to break the glue I was able to cleanly separate the runner from the posts. Both tenons look okay, but covered in old crappy glue.
SDR- I think you're spot on with the armrest split. Doesn't seem to bear much relationship to the joint, ie. I can fit the post back into the socket very easily, and the crack isn't affected at all. I'm a little nervous about adding the spline into the crack...not sure the expertise is present.
I also was able to rub a spot of Restorafinish onto the separated runner, so we'll see tomorrow how it looks. Initial thoughts are that it is definitely darker. The lacquer present is shiny and smooth, semi-glossy. I really want to avoid refinishing the entire chair, so I hope it blends well enough to match the existing finish.
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