The Mystery Corner Cupboard – Chapter 5 – Adventure of Restoration Continued

Now that the right foot was structurally sound, it was time to restore the 2-part mahogany bracket foot face. The left half (front facing) was basically sound and intact. The right side, though, had lost the lower 1/5 to decay.

The owner had, years ago, built up most of the missing part with window glazing compound and done a passable job shaping and coloring it. I elected to stabilize the rotted parts, and keep her repair (after all, it was part of its history) but to build it up or trim it as needed to refine its shape. The last step was to bring the color up and make that putty look like old mahogany.

On the top, cove-molded edge, I repaired a couple of split-open nail holes; the original nails had completely rusted away.

For nails to completely rust away, and for mahogany to rot like this, proves this piece was in a very damp/wet area a very long time. Why? Because this type of mahogany is almost impervious to water. Boats are made of it.

Now that the right bracket face was restored, it was time to re-fasten the faces to the foot structure. They matched up everywhere but on the bottom. A quarter inch on the bottom right must have rotted away.

It could have been faked (I was ready to be done with this foot and move on to something else), but it wouldn’t have been right. I found a mahogany scrap with matching grain and color and “grafted” it on,

then shaped it down. This time it matched well. I fastened it on.

The left foot required only minor repairs. I made them and did fine touches – light shimming of minor gaps between bracket faces and substrates. At last the feet were restored.

No Longer a Pile of Loose Pieces

Today I took the last steps to make sure that all the repaired and prepared pieces fit together well.

This chair didn’t have only wooden joints, but some early flat- and round head screws were used to lock the seat to the back and the lower arms to the sides of the seat and uprights (the chair back).

Most of the metal fasteners attached to seat joints that were damaged and weakened by splits, etc., or further weakened by added fasteners.   Since I had restored 3 of the 4 seat joints (where the once solid wood was split apart, but now was glued back together), it was the moment of truth to:

1.  Accurately drill out the original screw holes that I’d plugged.

2. Be sure I had either the correct original fasteners, or faithful replacements, and…

3.  Actually pull those joints back together as they’d been long ago.   This was a bit hairy — would the restored joints stand up to the intense forces I was now subjecting them to?  Yes!  They all held — it was gratifying indeed.

If Only His Mom Could See It Now

After that, feeling how strong the lower arms were, made me think of the owner’s mother.  She wouldn’t be bothered by their wobbliness now!

I then proceeded with test fitting the rest of the chair.  With only a little easing of a couple of too-tight joints, it all fit well and was truly ready to glue back together for the next 100 years.  I was so ready to reglue it all at last.

Then, as typically happens when clear sailing seems at hand — a last minute glitch.  One of the upper back rails (horizontal members), third from top, dropped some frass — old powder post beetle dust, on my bench top.  NOT good!  This showed they’d been burrowing inside, turning solid wood to tunnels and… frass.

Okay, should I treat the source to fry the bugs and strengthen the affected wood?  Or, as I so wanted to do, just assume it’s really not a problem and just get to what I really wanted to do: glue that chair.  But no, the standard here is, “Do it really right.”

So, after fixing the bug problem, tonight’s quitting time is 8pm instead of  6.  But there’ll be no unpleasant bug surprises down the road.  Plus, I got to reglue it anyway.  It will be like a rock.

And kudos to this chair’s owner for caring enough that this heirloom be done really right.

Next – reproduce the missing upper arms and install the gingerbread pieces we’ve made, and put it all together, restored to its original form at last.

Notes On Restoring The 1880s Gingerbread Rocking Chair

At first the chair seemed solid.  But there was some flex…then I noticed the nail heads…then the splits/cracks in the seat at the joints.  Okay, it had to come apart.  The owner said yes, do it really right.

First, the nails had to come out.  They  were rusted under the surface — hard to get out — but out they came.  Then, the chair came completely apart.  My goodness — 39 pieces!   (And that’s not counting the 11 missing pieces I’ll have to make.)

Challenge of the Seat

When did the right front corner get broken up?  Long ago, maybe 100 years, going by the holes that were drilled and the type of bolts used to strengthen it.  Countless summers passed and the cracks widened, filled with glue, paint, and dust of the ages.  It looked unrestorable.  Could I get the stuff out so glue would bond?  Wouldn’t the now-warped-apart wood pull it apart again anyway?  Maybe.   But I dove in.

The water-based glue softened and removed along with the dust.  The paint scraped out – it was only near the surfaces. I decided to try to re-form the warped wood, a gamble with no guarantees.  Thankfully, after some steps, it flattened out.  Then it all glued and held together nicely.  I ended up having to do this on two other corners as well, though without the bolt holes.  All restored well.                                                                                                    

Once seat parts were restored I was happily test fitting it together when I noticed, oh oh – that dowel’s too short.  If I reused the old one, the seat might hold together 25 years — or might not.  If I hand made a longer, better fitting one, it would strengthen the seat and probably last a good bit longer.  It’s the same old test.  Rush past, save time, speed the job — OR do it right?  Okay, make a new dowel.  (I ended up making two.)

On the way back to the house to rinse out glue rags, I passed by the Butterfly Bush and noticed a Tiger Swallowtail obviously enjoying the flowers.  Then I saw it was missing its swallowtails and part of its wings.  What happened?  Nearby was another one, everything perfect, as though it just got off the showroom floor.  But they both danced just as happily, undeterred by anything that had or hadn’t happened before.  Hmm, worthy example, indeed.

Next we’ll move through the rest of the challenges to restoring the basic chair, then do some sleuth work: what were the missing parts like?  Then set about making them real again.