Grandpa's revolver

[Donald Sinclair]

I am aiming to repair my late father’s revolving desk chair.
The trickiest problem is a crack in one of the legs.
I would prefer to cope with the crack rather than to make a new leg.

The legs fit in to grooves in a cast iron barrel.
Each leg is retained by one vertical screw through the top of the barrel,
and is tied to the others at the bottom by a steel plate, with a screw that points upwards and outwards.

The crack has arisen because the weight of the user tends to push the feet ends of the legs outwards.

Suggestions please.

 

[Cabinetman]

Several things come to mind, there has been a lot of wear where the shoulders and the dovetail have been rubbing on the cast iron over the years, it’s interesting there are two separate repairs to the bottom screw hole already.
If it was me I would carefully split the wood along the crack probably with a sharp wedge and then using a straw and bits of thin card get glue into the split as far in as is possible and then cramp it up nice and tight. You may need to cut two fresh shoulders, you will then need to glue on a piece of very thin thin wood to one face of the dovetail so that it fits the socket again.
Where the screw hole has enlarged, it obviously doesn’t work knocking in a piece of wood to fill the hole as you are then screwing into end grain, I think it needs a piece of wood letting in with the grain going the same way as the leg to screw into.
Another thought was to have extensions welded to the bottom plate so that you could get another screw in a bit further along the leg but that’s probably going a bit too far. Ian

 

[Donald Sinclair]

Several things come to mind, there has been a lot of wear where the shoulders and the dovetail have been rubbing on the cast iron over the years, it’s interesting there are two separate repairs to the bottom screw hole already.
If it was me I would carefully split the wood along the crack probably with a sharp wedge and then using a straw and bits of thin card get glue into the split as far in as is possible and then cramp it up nice and tight. You may need to cut two fresh shoulders, you will then need to glue on a piece of very thin thin wood to one face of the dovetail so that it fits the socket again.
Where the screw hole has enlarged, it obviously doesn’t work knocking in a piece of wood to fill the hole as you are then screwing into end grain, I think it needs a piece of wood letting in with the grain going the same way as the leg to screw into.
Another thought was to have extensions welded to the bottom plate so that you could get another screw in a bit further along the leg but that’s probably going a bit too far. Ian

Many thanks for the thoughtful suggestions Cabinetman.
There is the beginnings of a crack in the same place in another leg, so a modified bottom plate might be a good option to consider.

 

[Richard_C]

I have one just like that. My father got it as a gift from the manager of a cinema that closed in the early 60s. I reckon the design hadn't changed for a century before that. It had the odd crack and eventually woodworm. A friend if his who was a keen DIY woodworker made 4 new legs using one old one as a template, I suspect on a Bandsaw or similar, rounded off with a router. I've had it for 25+ years in regular use and it's still perfectly fine. If you want to keep it original, how about filling the screw holes and crack with epoxy resin, allow to harden for a day or few then drill new pilot holes.

A caveat, if it has castors as mine does. New chairs have 5 legs. With the old 4 point design it is possible to lean back too far and by chance you are putting a load exactly midpoint twixt 2 legs, the 2 in front lift so you have the whole thing scoot out from under you. Bang.

Another thought, sort the screw holes and cracks then how about saw cutting a slot in the end grain that faces the middle, refit leg and drive a wedge in from the bottom such that it expands and tightens into the casting. Cut excess wedge off.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Another thought, sort the screw holes and cracks then how about saw cutting a slot in the end grain that faces the middle, refit leg and drive a wedge in from the bottom such that it expands and tightens into the casting. Cut excess wedge off.

A foxed wedge perhaps?

 

[Duncan A]

Veritas Chair Doctor Glue is designed specifically for dealing with cracks such as these. Widely available, just do a Google search.
Duncan

 

[mikej460]

If you think of it as a roof then the rafters (legs) are splaying outwards so you need some ties to stop this. my first thoughts are wrought iron - have you got a local smithy or forge that could make something for you?

 

[TRITON]

Revolver ?? Crumbs i though this was about a gun

But I see after reading the first line thats not the case.

Then shouldn't this thread be called - Repairing my Grandfathers crack ?

 

[mikej460]

I must admit I nearly ended my post with 'and if that doesn't work find some ammunition..'

 

[SimonStevensCanes]

re gluing the crack, a trick I've seen (and since used to good results) is to generously apply glue to the surface of the crack and then use a shop vac from the otherwise to draw the glue through. You can see it working as the glue on the surface starts to disappear in to the crack. Of course, wedging the crack as wide as you dare whilst doing this will achieve better results.

 

[Donald Sinclair]

Veritas Chair Doctor Glue is designed specifically for dealing with cracks such as these. Widely available, just do a Google search.
Duncan

Many thanks for this information. I am patiently waiting for some to arrive from Axminster. I might have been tempted to get it from Amazon but fortunately they only had the smaller size. I don't want other suppliers to disappear, but Amazon are so dammed efficient, and their returns policy is user-friendly.

 

[Donald Sinclair]

re gluing the crack, a trick I've seen (and since used to good results) is to generously apply glue to the surface of the crack and then use a shop vac from the otherwise to draw the glue through. You can see it working as the glue on the surface starts to disappear in to the crack. Of course, wedging the crack as wide as you dare whilst doing this will achieve better results.

Many thanks for this suggestion. I will try to put it in to practise. I guess I will have to supply glue to the far ends of the crack, and suck it out the screw hole.

 

[Donald Sinclair]

I have one just like that. My father got it as a gift from the manager of a cinema that closed in the early 60s. I reckon the design hadn't changed for a century before that. It had the odd crack and eventually woodworm. A friend if his who was a keen DIY woodworker made 4 new legs using one old one as a template, I suspect on a Bandsaw or similar, rounded off with a router. I've had it for 25+ years in regular use and it's still perfectly fine. If you want to keep it original, how about filling the screw holes and crack with epoxy resin, allow to harden for a day or few then drill new pilot holes.

A caveat, if it has castors as mine does. New chairs have 5 legs. With the old 4 point design it is possible to lean back too far and by chance you are putting a load exactly midpoint twixt 2 legs, the 2 in front lift so you have the whole thing scoot out from under you. Bang.

Another thought, sort the screw holes and cracks then how about saw cutting a slot in the end grain that faces the middle, refit leg and drive a wedge in from the bottom such that it expands and tightens into the casting. Cut excess wedge off.

Thank you for your sugestions and warning.
I have been keeping a slab of wood since I inherited the chair 30 years ago, in case I need to make a new leg, or set of legs. Sadly it is mahogany, so not a good match for the rest of the chair which is oak.
I can remember the chair being tipped out from under me.
Luckily it does not appear to ever have been fitted with castors.

 

[Donald Sinclair]

Revolver ?? Crumbs i though this was about a gun

But I see after reading the first line thats not the case.

Then shouldn't this thread be called - Repairing my Grandfathers crack ?

Sadly the grandfather in question resides in a nearby cemetary so repairs are not feasible.

 

[Donald Sinclair]

If you think of it as a roof then the rafters (legs) are splaying outwards so you need some ties to stop this. my first thoughts are wrought iron - have you got a local smithy or forge that could make something for you?

Thank you for the insight.
Taking your point along with Cabinetman's final point, I may well get someone to laser cut a new steel bottom plate with longer arms so as to discourage the legs from splaying, but in an inconspicuous way. The axle of the chair sticks down below the cast iron barrel, so straight across ties would have to go lower down and would be noticeable.

 

[billw]

Many thanks for this information. I am patiently waiting for some to arrive from Axminster. I might have been tempted to get it from Amazon but fortunately they only had the smaller size. I don't want other suppliers to disappear, but Amazon are so dammed efficient, and their returns policy is user-friendly.

Don't forget Amazon are both a seller and a marketplace that smaller businesses use as a platform. It's the future!