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Thonet repair options?

By Creede on Nov 18, 2008 under Tags: , ,

Thonet Back
Rick sent me an email yesterday asking for some help, and unfortunately I had no idea where to begin. I thought I would put it out to the group to see if someone has any good ideas. He write;

I have some Thonet bent plywood chairs that need to have the back support piece repaired/replaced (the glue joints have ‘sprung’ loose and you can’t lean back anymore). any ideas? I’ll pay to have it done well.
Rick, New Orleans

Does anyone know if you can repair that piece, or maybe even buy a new back support?

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Creede is a frugal design junkie. He loves miminamist and mid-century influences and often finds himself with a hammer and drill in hand in order to achieve the style he wants without breaking the bank.

  • jh

    any good furniture builder should be able to repair it to a functional level. it will never be as strong as it was originally but it is better to do a good repair and keep all of that good patina then get a new back and ruin the chair.

    i would try to pry the cracked plys open a little bit and use some good 2 part epoxy to glue it tight again.

    just my 2 cents…

  • http://www.rickolivier.com rick olivier

    Thanks, jh, and yes, that will probably be what I end up trying. A friend tried to re-fab some of the supports using glued-up veneer in a vacuum bag but it didn’t work out. I think that type of fabrication requires steaming and large scale forms. Do you think I should add screws for strength?

    rick

  • http://Grassrootsmodern.com Creede

    Rick, I like the epoxy idea. If you could get enough in there it would be super solid. I would only do screws as a last resort.

  • http://zoedane.com chris barlow

    Get you some Epoxy and a few medical syringe. Mix up the epoxy and bend the wood back so that the cracks are opened up enough to slide the syringe into the crack and inject the epoxy deep into the gaps.
    Then clamp it heavily. It wont be as good as new but it should be pretty close.

  • Markus

    Ditto – Chris Barlow! That’s exactly what I was going to suggest! I’ve used epoxy for furniture repairs and it worked very well. Try and inject as deep down in the crack as you can to insure a solid bond. And clamp it down really well…24 hrs to be sure.

  • jh

    sounds like epoxy wins! the forms for these weren’t steam bent, they were definitely ply-formed with a form. don’t use screws! the epoxy will be just fine if you get enough in there….i would do it for you if you lived closer….i like stuff like that.

  • http://www.rickolivier.com rick olivier

    Thanks for all the input. I have some AMAZING 2-part West Marine epoxy but I don’t think it will be thin enough to inject, may have to use a thinner epox. Another issue is the residue from the original glue, which I have no way of removing (short of breaking apart the piece) and could prevent good adhesion.

    re: steam forming ply…. I’ve only seen pictures of this industrial ply-forming done with steamed plywood. I’d be amazed if this Thonet type of fabbing could be done on dry plywood!

    r.o.

  • jh

    i think the bentwood chairs (the chairs made of solid wood that is curved) are steam bent, but the chairs made of ply are form bent. they actually apply each layer of the ply individually. each layer is glued and placed on a shaped form. it is flexible until the glue dries in that shape and then it stays that way forever…make sense? (except in the case of your chair which wants to return to its flat self)

    good luck with the repair…you can do it!

  • http://zoedane.com chris barlow

    You might try something like this, they are made for this purpose.

    http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=20003&cat=1,110,42967&ap=1

  • a.r.

    I just got a set of Thonet chairs with the same problem. I will definitely try this fix. I have the luxury of refinishing the chairs once I’m done, since the original finish was ruined by a stint in somebody’s workshop.

    Thanks for the advice!

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