# Glue up dowels holding chair together?



## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

Hi everyone,

I'm fixing the seat supports on this chair.  I noticed the dowels are not glued. Should I glue them or not?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would.








 







.


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## MasterSplinter (Jan 12, 2013)

Yes glue them.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I would glue them. If it has never been glued and there is raw wood in the joint then any wood glue would work fine. If it has been glued before or the wood is sealed in any way I would use a slow set two part epoxy.


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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

That's 3 for 3, I will glue. No glue before so TB2.

Thanks very much


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## dlb (Nov 13, 2012)

If there was glue on the dowels then I would re-glue them together.
I have seen chairs made with no glue at all. They were designed that way and the type of wood & moisture content selected for the chair was critical in order to avoid glue.
Looking at the photograph I doubt your chair was intended to be made without glue.


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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

Seems to be a cheap chair. There might have been glue, but not much. All sides came apart easily except one.

Interesting that the screws attaching the seat supports were mostly stripped. I glued the supports and drilled new holes and added new screws.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

There is the possibility the chair was not glued for shipping purposes. I did some work for an antique dealer that was buying furniture from Taiwan which was completely finished like that but it was unassembled and neatly packed in boxes. You could fit three or four of these chairs in a suitcase the way they had them packed. These chairs could easily be assembled without any glue however the antique dealer was selling most of these chairs to restaurants and wanted them more durable so he had me permanently assemble them.


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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

Chair seems rock solid now. No more falling through it. (yes, myself and my mother in law)


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