# re-glueing dining room chairs



## ross mathers (Oct 31, 2013)

I have three dinning room chairs which I have carefully taken apart, cleaned the old glue off and attempted to re-glue. Now the cushions do not fit. I tried to tap one cushion in with a rubber mallet and the frame became un-glued again. What am I doing wrong? Help, please.:sad:


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

welcome to the forum. without photo's, we are stabbing at a fix. i assume that the cushions are a ridgid frame that sit "into" the chair frame?!? have all of the chairs been re-assembled? you may want to dry fit the remainder to figure this out. maybe there are too many additional layers of covering on the cushions, increasing the size to not fit? maybe some cushions are different size, try different combinations. can the cushion be reduced in size. remove coverings?


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## ross mathers (Oct 31, 2013)

Thanks Tim Pa, I have discovered that the cushions were recovered a while back and it would appear that the new fabric is thicker than the original. I guess that I will have to undo the upholstery and plane the frame down a bit. Don't you hate it when a job ends up being twice as much work as you first thought? 
The chair which split after I pushed the cushion in has just the one joint loose. Do I need to pull the whole thing apart to get the glue out or is there a way of cleaning the joint without starting again? The glue is a crossed linked max bond PVA.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

not familiar with that glue, or how much your joint has opened up. I would try to stretch it open as much as possible (spreader clamp)and get as much glue in as I could (sometimes I blow it in w/compressed air). 

loose m&t joints can be strengthened w/ a dowel pin holding it together. good luck.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I've learned another way to get glue into smallish voids:

Start with a plastic drink straw, a skinny one. Get maybe 1" glue into one end of the straw.
Pinch that end flat and shove it down into the crack/void. Next, fold over the other open end like
you're rolling up the bottom of a tube of tooth paste. Out comes the glue at the other end.

Somebody here in some WWT thread posted that. I relate this with my gratitude.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I wouldn't re-glue joints with either a PVA, or an aliphatic resin glue. I would use a two part epoxy. Get as much in the joint as possible, and wipe off excess with acetone.


















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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*regluing vs taking apart*

First off, here's the glue description:
http://www.sarwood.com.au/our-products/hardware/adhesives/maxbondpva/

Essentially white Elmer's glue:
http://pvaglue.net/

Second, what can you do to remove or reglue?
http://www.ehow.com/how_8044214_remove-pva-glue-wood-joints.html

In my experience I found it best to completely dis-assemble each joint, clean off the old hide glue, install new dowels, and then reglue with Titiebond 2.

Like these: http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f9/what-chairs-these-39917/


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

In my experience taking apart joints and removing all the glue, no matter what kind it is, can change the fit of the joint. On some joints with some glues, all traces will not be removed. 

In cleaning the parts, and if the mating fit is changed, PVA's or aliphatic resin glues don't work well with any gaps, and don't work well with the presence of traces of other glues. On most repairs like that, a two part epoxy works best.


















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