Carpentry and Woodworking - Chair repair Help!

Hello,

I am new to this forum, and apologize if I am posting in the wrong area. I have a chair with a wood frame that cracked/ripped apart from the base. The metal theads that held the screws from the base to the wood of the chair actually ripped out, and the wood around it cracked. It would be great if anyone has some ideas on how to repair this, or even make it stronger than before. Aesthetics are not quite as important! Here are some pictures, that I attached to help.............

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/bd0505/chair/DSCF1769.jpg

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/bd0505/chair/DSCF1768.jpg

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/bd0505/chair/DSCF1770.jpg

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/bd0505/chair/DSCF1771.jpg

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/bd0505/chair/DSCF1774.jpg

Agian, any ideas on repair, or maybe a more appropriate place to ask this question would be great.

Thanks for your time!

Hold the part that came out of the wood with a plier and remove the bolts on the 3 that pulled out. Use a large slottred screwdriver to remove the one remaining in the chair. Or you may have to carefully use a punch to knock it out.
Buy some bolts slightly smaller than the holes left from the inserts pulling out. The lenght needs to be long enough to go through the 2 pieces of wood plus have lenght to include 2 flat washers and a locking type nut.
You will probably need to enlarge the holes on the base so the bolts will go through them.
Then simply put a flat washer on the bolt and put it through the wooden base and seat wood. Put the other flat washer on the bolt and then the locking nut.
Do this with all 4 bolts and tighten them until the washer begins to sink into the wood. That should hold it fine until someone get a little too rambunchous with the chair again.
What little tear out there is on the wood of the chair now should not be a problem because when you bolt the 2 pieces together it will be clamped into place between them. You can put some carpenter's glue there if you want but I really see no need for it.

Thanks for the help badeyeben!. I will give this a try!

If you haven't done the other idea, there is another option to do.
1. Measure the thickness of the wood [t] that the threaded inserts were in.
2. Measure the length of screw that protrudes through [x] the "other wood." Also, know the overall length [L] of the screws.
3. Subtract the protruded length [x] from the overall length [L] of the screw and add the thickness of the wood [t] that used to house the threaded insert.
4. Buy screws as close to the same size and diameter of the old screws with the length figured as... L-x+t=new screw length. Buy "T-Nuts" to match the thread of the new screws. Try to find T-Nuts with the larges flange available at the Big Box store near you.
5. On the chair, you will have to drill the hole the rest of the way through to match the size of the new T-nuts.
6. Assemble the T-Nuts into the holes with the flanges on the outside of the parts so that they clamp the boards together when you tighten them.

The cracked wood concerns me. If the cracks are severe enough, you may want to adhere a plate of some sort on the non-mating surface and have the T-nuts go through that as well.

Thanks BIG DAN! That also sounds like a good solution. First, I need to go to the Big box store and see what hardware they actually have available, then I can determine which way to go about fixing the chair.

Also Big Dan, when you mentioned using a plate, what material should it be made out of??

Thanks agian!

I could see it being made of either a piece of hardwood - like 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Oversize the length a bit. Scuff the chair's finish off and glue with a good wood glue. After the glue dries, make the holes go through this piece as well. The T-Nuts won't come in a ton of lengths, so your screw will have to grow to match this distance.
Some would allow a shorter screw since the nuts are fully threaded, but I like to have the screw go at least to the back of the T-Nut, if not through it.

Since the t-nuts and screws are generally a high gloss zinc finish, you may want to paint them black to "hide" them from being too noticeable. Just a thought, though you said it was not important. You might be able to do the T-Nuts before installation. I have even used a black sharpy to color them afterwards. That works OK, too.

The cracked wood concerns me. If the cracks are severe enough, you may want to adhere a plate of some sort on the non-mating surface and have the T-nuts go through that as well.

Looking at the photos again...
If the cracked wood is only though the outer most layer of veneer, I wouldn't be too concerned with the additional plate. If it is through more than two, I would begin considering it.