I do not agree with you regarding dowels. There are usually three mistakes made that compromise the repair. 1) Not using a hardwood dowel. 2) Not insuring that the dowel seats all the way (and is good fit). 3) Not cutting a groove (or two) along the length of the dowel in order to give the glue someplace to go. Without the last, one will find it impossible to seat the dowel.
#3 has been the killer for me, along with not tapering/chamfering the ends of the dowel. Keeping the stress away from the bottom edge of the hole makes dowels less likely to split the parts being joined when driven all the way down.
Another informative and enjoyable video. Any reason not to put a couple of bowties/dutchmen on the underside of that seat to keep the split at bay? Other than cost? -John
Thanks for leaving the missed risers (?) part of the video. it`s reassuring to us. shows us how normal it is.. Also, thanks for the explanation of how to use turning chisels.
hi great video i must admit i have been making dowel repairs for years i am a good spindle turner an have reproduced parts when necessery ,what repair do you reccomend for the second rocking chair ? make a new part ? thanks again for a great video
@Fixingfurniture thanks for the lesson. I have a very similar rocker to repair. I don't have a lathe unfortunately. Nor do I have money to pay someone who does. For woodfill there's another option for custom fill...remove the old finish then once it's clean you can sand the area. Collect the dust and mix it with ca glue really well...
Good video. I am retired, but I have 30 + years professional experience in building, finishing and repairing high end custom furniture. You're right about having to have a good eye and a knack for matching color. Fortunately, I do. I also have a four year university degree in fine art, which also helps. I became very proficient in touch up work. I'm so glad that you pointed out that the angle you look at a color retouch affects how the eye perceives it. I remember when I first started doing retouch I had worked on a repair of a cigarette burn on a mahogany table top. I had puttied it in and applied a lacquer topcoat, then using Mohawk™ Two Minute Touchup materials and a fine artist's brush, I carefully painted in the grain, gave it a another coat of lacquer, and stepped back to admire my work. It was perfect! You could never tell that had been a two inch long,3/8" wide, black burn on this fine piece of furniture. Then I put up my kit on a shelf on the other side of the room. When I came back I saw the retouch from a different angle. Damn! It stuck out like a sore thumb. I mean, it couldn't have been more obvious if you had a spotlight shining on it. All I could do was compromise. I touched it up from several different angles until I finally got it to look decent from any angle. Thereafter when doing large touch ups, I used a similar approach from the start. I learned to do touch ups so they would look best from the angle they would most likely be seen. Remember, you are camouflaging the defect, not eliminating it.
I've done this too for 30+ years. I say you can't duplicate chatoyance. Now, having said that, I am willing to pay money to anyone who can prove me wrong.
Scott, nice repair on the child's rocker. I'm always interested in seeing how color matching with dyes and stains and wax stick blending is accomplished. I'm also interested in that weird "don't do this" rocker repair. Did you ever fix it? Almost surely there was a set of arms on it that I would think would help strengthen that weak back joint. I also assume the spindle with the bad bottom end repair is just another more elaborate lathe job. If you did repair it were you able to design a stronger back joint? Anyway, I would love to see that chair repaired and a video posted. Cheers from VT!
Scott, you are such a good teacher! I have been subscribed for awhile now and you have never failed to teach me something - not only with furniture repair but (in my eyes, more importantly) also as a woodworker. You are cautious, careful and very contentious. Thank you for the lesson.
Hi Scott from the UK. I bought a very old set of chairs, which at one point had castors added to the front legs. They seemed retrofitted, and half of the casters were badly damaged beyond repair, or in very bad shape. I'd removed them and planned to fix the front legs back to the correct length (that is sans castors) using the previous method - would it still be suitable if the force is travelling directly downwards, or is there any alternative fix rather than replacing the legs entirely?
It really depends on the dimension of the material you're working with. It might be possible to use a "foot" with an integrated tenon. We can discuss it over a Zoom session if you're interested. Here's a link to buy an advice session - woodenitbenice.ca/collections/woodworking-advice-sessions
¡De los errores se aprende! Y quien no aprende de ellos es un necio. Muchas gracias por compartir sus experiencias y más aún por la hidalguía de reconocer cuando uno se ha equivocado. Tiene mucha razón en ese tipo de reparaciones. Yo hice una vez algo parecido el arreglo no duró ni una semana, se rompió y el daño fue peor. Sus videos son muy instructivos e ilustrativos, gracias por compartirlos. Saludos y éxitos en sus proyectos.
Here's a video with a review of spreaders clamps. There are links in the video description for shopping. This should give you everything you need. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4o32qUx1dlw.html
The clean lathe system looks like it performs great! Nice work designing that. Hardware stores around me do sell red oak dowels, which isn't the best for fine furniture, but at least it is sturdy if you don't have a lathe.
10:21 Keep your lateral pressure away from the blade. If you're pushing the wood into the fence and you move to far forward, you start pushing the wood against the blade, trapping the blade. That's when kickbacks can happen. I see this done time and time again on RU-vid. Never trap the blade.
Wow! I would have spelled "Shoot" a little differently!!! :) I now have a better appreciation for the concept of hide glue being reversible. I sometimes catch errors later after the glue is dry. Thank you for the video!
Do the acrylic stains raise the grain since it'd be water based? That's usually the main drawback. Maybe that's what burnishing with the paper solves. Looks like a good result though.
I truly admire your skill in furniture repair. The way you present things is easy to understand and calm in the way you explain. That vacuum system on your lathe is a wonderfully simple but ingenious idea. Keep up the great work as I have subscribed and liked this video and look forward to many more in the future.
Scott - I appreciate you and respect your work and guidance. With this video however, I would have to agree to disagree with some of your guidance. The repair you made to a plain rung was better with a new piece. The prior repair was poorly done. End gluing is never a long term viable solution for any repair. Inserting a dowel in the midpoint of a leg or rung would not rely on only end gluing and would be suitable. Additionally, with a more ornate or decorative rung or leg, it would not always be practical to turn a new piece. That should not mean a chair should be discarded. I have made several repairs with the dowel technique over the years and they have held up without any issues. It is about when you should and when you should not insert a dowel and the proper methods and adhesives. IMHO a blanket statement of you “should not do this” is too finite and can mislead and misinform the viewer. When in doubt an experienced professional should be consulted for the most suitable approach.
My top priority is to deal with honest people. When I'm happy, I'll send business their way. Once I've been cheated by someone who has tried to sell me over-priced or unnecessary repairs, I'll warn everyone away.
Hello my dear friend. I liked your work and your channel very much. You are very successful and thank you for sharing it with us. Best regards, greetings from Turkey
Thats some contraption you have for collecting dust .I use a 4 inch hose connected to Dust Deputy .The skew chisel works better than a roughing gouge on the lathe almost no sanding required
A dowel joint is a strong joint if it's done correctly. Dowels have been used in joints throughout history. But part of what you are saying is correct. The strength of the joint is along the sides of the dowel. This works well if the wood the dowel is going into is thick enough. Then the weak spot at the end of the dowel that you spoke of is not weak at all. But when you have paper thin wood around the dowel, it's an extremely weak joint. It's the same thing if you secure something with a screw or a bolt. That can be an extremely strong joint. But only if it has a lot wood around the fastener to give it that strength. If you screw into thin or compromised wood, that joint will fall apart. And another factor to consider in a glue joint is surface area. The more contact surface between the two pieces being glued, the stronger the connection.
There's a "dowel" repair I've been wanting to try, but haven't had a chance to test yet. My idea is to drill a hole using a "stepless" drill, and put a cone on the dowel to match. It would be mostly side grain. And I wouldn't use a home center dowel, but instead something at least as strong as the original wood. If you've tried that, I'd be interested to hear your results.
I'll point out the obvious that dowels and loose tenons are used to make new furniture. So using dowels to repair is neither an absolutely good or bad idea. It can work well in some cases and it's a bad idea in other cases. Logical conclusion. Knowing when it will work and when it won't is professional knowledge. I like how Scott learns from seeing failed attempts at dowel repair to learn when it's a bad idea to use them. (He'll never see the good dowel repairs because, well, those joints won't come apart and enter his shop)
That metal sprung rocker looked as if it had arms bracing the back to begin with. Their removal would have increased the strain on the back and isn’t that more likely to be the reason for the back failure rather than flawed design?
Easy to buy birch dowel rod on the web, get one close to the original diameter (no one will notice if it's not exact) and then fit as shown in the video.
@@jamesbenenati1039 Not so simple for me. I have a more decorative H-stretcher on a 1959 Windsor chair with a broken tenon. It would require a lathe to properly replicate, not to mention staining, etc. It complicates the repair. So, I'm going with the repair in Scott's retracted video, which I believe will be adequate for my purposes.
It seems to me that, perhaps, a serious problem here that was overlooked was a _structural_ repair of the chair seat. Do you have another video that covers this? I have such a chair in need of repair -- where the entire seat was split and partially repaired with a metal strap on the bottom. Suggestions?
It would be nice to see a video on how to tell what finish is on an existing piece if we aren't refinishing the whole piece and also what finishes are appropriate for a piece of furniture and why. Don't know if you've done that before.
Another great video. Im interesting in seeing even more videos about how to touch up finishes (not necessarily stain colors) as well as more content about non-toxic finishing options. Love the channel.
If the only option is a dowel type situation, create a dowel across the grain then when installing, you will always have across grain to end grain situation. This is similar to a normal doweled joint where there is always a cross grain situation and an end grain to cross grain.
Your thoughts on using dowels for repair are very interesting. Given that, what's your opinion of using dominoes for repair work? Thanks for putting out your content. Very helpful.
Hi Paul. When repairing work, it really depends on how much wood structure you're taking out when modifying it with a domino. The key is to ensure the furniture is strong. As you've seen, the flaw in adding dowels in these examples is that they weakens the furniture. I hope that helps. Scott
Hi, any advice as to how I can restore a matte finish on a white wood dresser? I accidentally cleaned a spot on it with something that made this one section all glossy so the finish looks horribly uneven now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
What about using a tapered drill bit and a dowel tapered at the same angle? Would need to make some jigs to shape the dowels. But could save time for a complex turning or where rare wood is involved
As a professional, I wouldn't recommend another way to do this. If you are repairing your own chair, and don't care about repairing it to extend the life of the chair in the future, you could try epoxy to hold it together. If that fails, the repair by a pro will be more expensive or you may have to throw out the chair.
Scott, I truly enjoy your videos, and as a beginner in furniture repair I get a lot of useful advice out of them. I also loved how you did not edit out your mistake (which was something very familiar :)). Definitely interested in color matching, but I would also like to know more about the acrylic stain you are using. I don't live in North-America, so my choices will probably be different, but it would help my research. And one more thing, I would love to know how you sharpen your woodworking tools, this is an area where I struggle a lot :) Many thanks again for making these videos available.
I just love watching artisans at work. It gives me a sense of satisfaction I'm rarely able to generate from my own sad efforts. And I always smile when I hear Canadians pronounce the word 'out'. Excellent video, thank you.
Thanks for another great video, Scott! While I agree that dowels are not the best way to repair a stretcher, there are some jobs where dowels come in mighty handy! The previous repair was probably doing the best he could with what he had. Your logic makes sense. Looking forward to your next video! On a side note, have you been watching the development of the possible mandatory inclusion of “saw stop” technology on new table saws? I’d like to hear your thoughts (good or bad) about that idea. Maybe as part of a bigger safety theme. You always are doing the safe things!
I am watching your videos for quite a while. I think each of them are having quite valuable lessons. I also look at the videos of other people who repair furniture, but your working technique, cleanliness, analytical approach and on-point explanations are incredibly beautiful and of much better quality. Thank you very much for these shares.
Another great tutorial Scott, one thing I have noticed over the years that I have been watching you and also Thomas Johnson. is that you conflict in your method to take apart an Item/chair what ever. he uses vinegar also but alway more often than not. he uses a mallet to knock them apart. altho I have seen him use a spreader also. but most of the time a hammer. And with great success I might add. I just attribute that to personal preference. but also ingest that skill factor and experience come into play also. Just a personal observation thanks again I never come away with out learning something, and at 81 , I'm proof that you are never too old to learn. ECF
I would love to see a course on everything that has to do with color matching! I understand that an ounce of cure is worth a pound of prevention, meaning the closer you can get the better. I understand using oil based toners to “tweak” the color. I also understand that there is a type of special lacquer that you can use after each time you put a layer of stain on to give you multiple chances to “build up the color ” and get the color right. My problem is that no one sells these products where I live in Alaska. because these are considered hazardous materials, the shipping is extremely expensive! So, understanding alternatives would be very helpful, also understanding the differences between water based and oil based stains and how the process differs. It looks like you just layered the water based stain on top of itself to “tone” the part. Finally if all else fails or you make a mistake while you are developing the skill what do you do? I love your videos! I think it is so sad that nowadays when something breaks you just throw it in the garbage and buy a new one. It’s too bad that commercial furniture isn’t made like it used to be.
Scott, this is another great video; you're an excellent teacher. One thing that I would add is that when color matching, ideally you want to be right on. However, this is nearly impossible. So if you err, it is better to err on the side of darker rather than lighter. Why? Lighter is naturally more noticeable to the eye.
I like drilling out a mortise by about 1/64 of an inch and making the tenon wider by the same so as to get new ‘raw’ wood to glue to. Great job, thanks.
@@FixingFurniture When putting a dowel in a drilled hole, air and glue are trapped in front of the dowel while inserting. Sawing or scratching an escape channel along the dowel allows air and glue to escape.
It's funny you put this video out now. I am currently repairing a coffee table with an X-stretcher. There is an acorn that ties the stretchers together in the middle. It has been repaired previously, and they used a technique similar to what you talked about. Thanks for the great video.
If only this was a live video Scott, i could see those 2 back spindles were not in place while you were putting the wedges in as soon as you turned the chair upside down 😢
Yes, that would have been helpful. I was distracted by filming at the same time as assembling the piece. Thankfully I got those wedges pulled out without breaking them. Cheers
