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Good afternoon,
I don't post much just mostly browse. I have an issue with an old piano stool that has out of round mortises that the legs are glued into and am looking for a way to fill in the out of round portion to hold the legs solidly. I was able to get the legs removed and the tenons are not an issue (not out of round) they are a little small and I can correct them by gluing plane shavings to them. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can correct the problem I don't have the capability to completely fill them and re-bore to the correct size.
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Can you just epoxy to glue the legs back in? It has great gap filling capabilities, and you don't have to rebore anything (maybe).
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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Epoxy?? It might work. But if it does not, it will be difficult to correct.
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
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(10-31-2019, 01:37 PM)Cooler Wrote: Epoxy?? It might work. But if it does not, it will be difficult to correct.
Thank you gentlemen.
I was thinking of epoxy but wasn't sure of it's gap filling ability. I may try to experiment a little by trying to glue some plane shavings were the mortise is out of round and then use epoxy to gill any gaps.
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I use epoxy to repair chair joints all the time.
Even though everyone will say you have to remove all the wood glue, I do not.
Never had a repaired joint let go.
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(10-31-2019, 12:57 PM)JB in Upstate NY Wrote: Good afternoon,
I don't post much just mostly browse. I have an issue with an old piano stool that has out of round mortises that the legs are glued into and am looking for a way to fill in the out of round portion to hold the legs solidly. I was able to get the legs removed and the tenons are not an issue (not out of round) they are a little small and I can correct them by gluing plane shavings to them. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can correct the problem I don't have the capability to completely fill them and re-bore to the correct size.
Epoxy is a good way to fill the gaps. It flows like water if a filler is not mixed in. I imagine that you do not need a filler. First thing is to make sure the epoxy does not run out. tape the under side of the seat around the gaps. Then mix the epoxy and slowly ladle it thru the gaps with a plastic spoon. Any spillage can be removed right away with a few Q-tips. Wait til the following day to check the stool.
If by chance the gaps are large, 1/8" all the way thru then mix a bit of flour til it has the consistency of paste. I use Durhams Water Putty for a filler but flour will work fine.
mike
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Thank you all for the helpful replies I will let everyone know how it turns out.
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10-31-2019, 10:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-01-2019, 09:39 AM by Willyou.)
I recently had a similar experience with an old rocking chair that had very sloppy joints. I glued it all back together with T-88 and refinished it. I gave it to my daughter who a few weeks later said that the joints were coming loose. I was amazed. When I got the chair back, I made some test joints in scraps making them intentionally loose by about 1/16". I carefully mixed up some T-88 and let the joints set for 48 hours (maybe longer) and tried to break them. They did not break but, instead, the dowel just pulled out of the enlarged hole under sideways pressure. Again, I was amazed. I cleaned up the dowel and the hole, mixed up some more glue, and added sanding dust until the glue was a bit stiffer than peanut butter. Put it together again, let it cure, and then tested it again. This time the dowel broke under sideways pressure and the broken end stayed in the hole. I re-glued the chair using this method with much better success. It is too early to tell how long it will hold up.
During this process, I had an email exchange with a T-88 rep who said that regular T-88 is not made for that type of loose joint but, they do make a thicker product for that purpose (can't remember what it is called but, can be easily found on their site).
Follow-up: The System 3 product I couldn't remember is GelMagic. Product information says that it fills large gaps without loss of strength. Whereas, information for T-88 says it is for "normally fitted joints".
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Maybe twenty years ago, I repaired a set of 8 "nice" dinning chairs for my church using epoxy...no issues so far.
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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I glued the joints using expoxy and so far so good the stool is holding up just fine for my 5 year old granddaughter
