I have some oak dining room chairs and a few are getting wobbly. Should I take them apart and re-glue them or will that make it worse. What should I do?
Yes take them apart and use wood clue and let stand for atleast 24 hours before you use them.
Don't take the risk one real bad knock and the baby falls on the floor. I didnt even have a wobbly table I had a puppy and my partner went CRAZY!! The ps3 is fine of course but he still nearly balled his eyes out lmao. If you can't get another stand put something under the wobbly part to make it sturdy :)
No it wont make them worse. You can take them apart and re-glue them. I d use a polyurethane glue such as Pro-Bond or Gorilla glue. Disassemble the chairs; well coat the inside of the holes with glue, wet the dowels with plain water, re-assemble and clamp up until the glue cures. Check back after 20 - 30 minbutes, you may have to clean up with mineral spirits,glue that has bubbled out of the joint.
I hate to voice the dissenting opinion, but I respectfully disagree with the other answers. Often attempting to disassemble a chair joint can cause more harm than good. Of course it depends on your specific chair, but because of the way a chair is assembled, you may have to stress or pull several joints apart in order to re-glue one. I would consider other methods first. One way is to squirt adhesive into the joint with a syringe. They make a glue applicator specifically for that purpose. If the joint is a mortise and tenon (hole and peg), you can sometimes drill a small hole in the chair leg opposite the joint just big enough to fit the syringe nozzle. Fill the hole with adhesive and clamp. Another available product (also with a syringe applicator) simply swells the joint so it becomes a tight, wobble free fit. In my experience, it works - but only temporarily. I also disagree with using 'Gorilla' type glue. Poly glues are strong, but expand when they dry and try to force the glue joint apart. Certainly you can avoid this by securely clamping the joint, but I think a yellow carpenter's glue is a better choice. They are also much easier to clean up. Either way, if you do separate the joint, remove as much of the old adhesive as possible. Glue works best when adhering to raw, unsealed wood. Good luck!
