Restoring bentwood chair arms, help required please

[fleshandbone]

Hi,

I’m new to this forum and quite new to restoring furniture, so really appreciate your advice. I purchased a pair of 1930s/1940s low-slung chairs with bentwood arms recently and wish to restore the damage and refinish them.

Where the arms have been bent, the oak has started to lift away from itself. At present this damage is superficial, please see the pictures.

What is the best way to approach this? I’d planned to glue the lifted strands back down where I can and then fill the remaining damage. A couple of posts on here recommend mixing a slow setting expoxy with sawdust, where as others recommend a colour matched filler. Would this be enough to stop the Oak lifting away again in the future or is there something else I should do to prevent this.

I realise there’s probably few ways that this can be done but would really appreciate the advice of someone who knows far more than me and how they would tackle this. Thanks in advance and for taking the time to read this post.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Well I don't think they will get any worse not after 70 years, so gluing and filling might be best way forward.
Stained epoxy and a curved clamping block would pull the lose bits in to place.
You can also get colored shellack sticks that you melt into gaps etc, restorers use them.

Pete

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Hi fleshandbone,

I would first of all flush out any dirt from the splits with some acetone using a hypodermic ( warm water if you can't get hold of acetone ). When it is dry, use the arm as a template and cut a block to shape. You can use almost any glue, I would use scotch but PVA or epoxy will do just as well. put plenty of glue in the splits, pushing it in with a feeler gauge or something similar, wipe off the excess glue, place a piece of polythene over the splits followed by something flexible like a piece of cork floor tile or some thick rubber sheet, then your shaped block on top and clamp nice and tight. leave overnight, remove blocks ect, clean off any glue and then fill and colour any gaps that remain.

 

[fleshandbone]

Many thanks for the advice Pete and Mrpercysnodgrass, it's really appreciated.

Mrpercysnodgrass, do you have any preference as to which Scotch glue you'd recommend? Thanks

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

I have been using Liberon scotch for the last few years with no problems. I think it does not matter much which brand you use so long as you get the heat and consistency right. When first made up I think it works best if it is allowed to stand on the heat for at least three or four hours,( this also helps to sterilize it, so that if you don't use it every day it will not go mouldy ) after that it just needs heating up for 30 - 40 minutes.

 

[dickm]

I wonder if Scotch glue is the best answer in this situation? I'm guessing the breaks will be almost exactly where a sitter will put sweaty palms when rising from the chair, and the damp will get into the repair, loosening the glue. Or any glue near the surface will feel sticky to the touch. In situations like this where it's not an original joint being glued/re-glued, I prefer to use Cascamite, reserving Scotch glue for those joints where it was originally used.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

They would have to have very long arms indeed I think cascamite would be too brittle for this job, with a lot of stress on the bend a flexible glue like scotch or PVA would be best.
That aside, the glue would not be on the surface, the excess having been washed away and filler of some sort placed where the timber is missing. "clean off any glue and then fill and colour any gaps that remain."