Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - chair repair

I have two French country chairs that I got for a song at a furniture store. The retail for $300 ea., but I got two broken ones for $30 ea.

Pardon my bad furniture terminology below! :D

The back is constructed of wood. The finish appears to be stain that fades from walnut to black with a glossy or semi glossy polyeurathane. There are two vertical wood back pieces. Mating those two are three curved wood pieces that connect them. You can view a picture very similar here (http://www.pughs-antiques-export.com/photos/2002/02-05/0205-95.jpg) though my chairs lack the decorative carving in the middle of the back "ladders".

Both chairs have clean breaks through the top ladder near the right hand vertical support. One was glued when I bought it. The other is still broken. Here is my plan:

1. Glue and clamp the one remaining broken ladder using Gorilla Glue.
2. Apply wood putty to any small cracks and crevices.
3. Sand the entire area smooth.
4. Apply and fade in black stain. Both broken areas currently are in the purely black area of the fading stain job.
5. Apply a polyurethane to the repair area, if the poly doesn't "match", apply a coat to the entire chair back area.

Do these ideas sound correct and what other steps am I missing or need to add??

Thanks for your help!

Sounds like a sound plan - be sure to clamp the pieces together for maximum bonding while the glue sets.

Check the finish before going any further. I suspect (unless the chairs have been refinished) the curent finish is lacquer. If it is you'll either have to strip the entire chair to use polyurethane, or apply a lacquer finish over the repair(s) - the two finishes are not compatible.

Thanks for the reply. Is there a sure way to tell if the current finish is lacquer or not??

Easy. Just dampen a rag with lacquer thinner nad rub an inconspicuous spot (like the back of a front leg).

If the finish is either lacquer or shellac, the rag will start to drag or stick. You'll get no reaction with either standard varnish or polyurethane.

Thanks for you encouragement and assistance George!! I hope it comes out well.

Making a repair such as the one described above is one of the more difficult gluing jobs. In essence, you're trying to glue the ends of two boards together.

Everyone knows wood glue performs best when the pieces are clamped and held under pressure until the glue sets - but how do you align (and hold) something like that in a clamp?

Use more than one clamp - and a little trick.

Use two small blocks of wood (for this application, I'd probably just break a paint paddle in half), one on each side, with a small "C" clamp to hold the blocks in place over the break. Then use a bar clamp to draw the two pieces together, adjusting the "C" clamp as needed to align and hold the pieces in a straight line.

To avoid gluing the blocks to the piece being glued, wrap the joint in good old fashioned wax paper, holding it in place with masking tape. Glue won't stick to wax paper, and whatever 'squeezeout' attaches to the piece you're working on can usually be easily chipped away with a sharp knife or chisel with no harm to the surrounding finish.

George,

You make it sound so easy! I hope to start this project this weekend and will let you know how it goes. South Hill, VA isn't too far from our home of Portsmouth, VA, so if you here a knock on your door, it's me!! :D

Confessions of an inexperienced refinisher

I clamped and glued the broken ladders with Gorilla Glue. Your wax paper trick worked like a charm. Then, I applied Minwax stainable wood filler to the joint areas. It felt like sandy glue. I over-applied and let dry. Sanding was fairly easy to do. I used Minwax ebony stain to cover. POOR results. The wood filler absorbed the stain, but the surrounding newly exposed wood wanted nothing to do with the stain. I applied more and let "dry" for 20 minutes with the same result. The surrounding wood went from blonde to a light brown and the filler took on a light black, but it looked like filler. :mad:

Out came the Krylon semi-gloss black enamel. Color match was terrific! Coverage was good. You can still see the filler at the right angle, but the whole area was now a uniform shade of black. Then I touched it up with clear lacquer. I have to thank you George.......the lacquer TOTALLY disappeared into the background sheen of the rest of the chair. The can of lacquer specifically stated not to use it over enamel paint, but it covered smooth and the sheen matched exactly.

Overall, I give myself 9 out of 10 stars. 7 go to George, 1 to ingenious use of black paint, and 1 to luck/skill. My thanks for your assistance. I wish I could show you a picture, but no digital camera as of yet! :(

Thanks!! :)

Rebecca:

Every once in a while I have to redo a gloss black finish. I do the same thing you did - fill the wood grain until it's smooth, then one coat of flat latex paint, then the gloss lacquer. It's worked so far, and I'm of the school "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"!

For small areas such as yours, I would have used Ivory Black artist oil color - thin slightly with naphtha, cover, let dry, then top coat with lacquer.