Ideas for repairing an old church pew

[martinfd]

Hello,

I've got an old, oak, church pew that I inherited with my house. It had been left outside and been badly repaired in the past, so I've sanded it down and I'm trying to decide whether it's worth salvaging. I haven't paid anything for it and I don't want to spend a lot on it, so I'm looking to do this on a budget. Intention is to varnish it for internal use.

The feet of the pew were in a terrible state, clearly a lot of water damage. It doesn't look like wet rot, but there are various parts where the wood is very soft. I've started on it with some spare ronseal wood rot hardener that I had , but I'll need more to finish it (and will probably need to drill a few holes to make sure it's soaking right through the affected areas). I've also started using some wood filler to patch it up, but I'll need to buy more of that as well to finish.

The main problem is the front section of the bench has come off. The previous owner puts screws through the bench into a short plank on the underside to hold them together - it looked terrible so I don't want to repeat that.

There's a groove on both the detached section and the main section, so I'm assuming there was originally a piece of wood in there holding it together (sorry, don't know the right term for that!) The groove is about 8mm high and 10mm deep, and is partially damaged on the main section (see photo)

Any suggestions? I'm not convinced a piece of wood to go into these slots along with wood glow is going to be enough. I've thought about using some thin metal brackets on the bottom so they are less visually obvious than a wooden support, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. I wondered about using some dowels, but I'm not sure where I'd put them (if in the middle of the pieces that would need to be through slotted area, so 20mm of dowel in the middle wouldn't be securely fitted).

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[foxhole]

Glue should be enough, you could cut the base off the legs off and replace.

 

[chappers]

yeah there would have been a timber fillet in there holding the two together with glue.
Don't suppose you have the piece that has split out and does it go right to the end.
If possible that's the way I would fix it as original.
Otherwise do as the previous owner did, but with a piece of oak maybe chamfered or bullnosed on the front and then glue and screw the whole thing back together but from the underside this time or from both sides and plug the holes with oak plugs(you will need to countersink a 13mm hole to take the plugs).
Looks like you are missing a central support to the bench too as for the legs either do as you already are or cut an inch off.
Otherwise it's a nice pew and definitely worth throwing a few quid and a bit of time at.

 

[matz]

if you glue it has to cramped properly and this is where DIY repairs fall down. Glue alone isnt strong enough, it needs to be well cramped front to back with a cramp every 12"

 

[Tippo]

View attachment 88673 View attachment 88674 View attachment 88675

Hello,

I've got an old, oak, church pew that I inherited with my house. It had been left outside and been badly repaired in the past, so I've sanded it down and I'm trying to decide whether it's worth salvaging. I haven't paid anything for it and I don't want to spend a lot on it, so I'm looking to do this on a budget. Intention is to varnish it for internal use.

The feet of the pew were in a terrible state, clearly a lot of water damage. It doesn't look like wet rot, but there are various parts where the wood is very soft. I've started on it with some spare ronseal wood rot hardener that I had , but I'll need more to finish it (and will probably need to drill a few holes to make sure it's soaking right through the affected areas). I've also started using some wood filler to patch it up, but I'll need to buy more of that as well to finish.

The main problem is the front section of the bench has come off. The previous owner puts screws through the bench into a short plank on the underside to hold them together - it looked terrible so I don't want to repeat that.

There's a groove on both the detached section and the main section, so I'm assuming there was originally a piece of wood in there holding it together (sorry, don't know the right term for that!) The groove is about 8mm high and 10mm deep, and is partially damaged on the main section (see photo)

Any suggestions? I'm not convinced a piece of wood to go into these slots along with wood glow is going to be enough. I've thought about using some thin metal brackets on the bottom so they are less visually obvious than a wooden support, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. I wondered about using some dowels, but I'm not sure where I'd put them (if in the middle of the pieces that would need to be through slotted area, so 20mm of dowel in the middle wouldn't be securely fitted).

Thanks for any ideas!

View attachment 88673 View attachment 88674 View attachment 88675

Hello,

I've got an old, oak, church pew that I inherited with my house. It had been left outside and been badly repaired in the past, so I've sanded it down and I'm trying to decide whether it's worth salvaging. I haven't paid anything for it and I don't want to spend a lot on it, so I'm looking to do this on a budget. Intention is to varnish it for internal use.

The feet of the pew were in a terrible state, clearly a lot of water damage. It doesn't look like wet rot, but there are various parts where the wood is very soft. I've started on it with some spare ronseal wood rot hardener that I had , but I'll need more to finish it (and will probably need to drill a few holes to make sure it's soaking right through the affected areas). I've also started using some wood filler to patch it up, but I'll need to buy more of that as well to finish.

The main problem is the front section of the bench has come off. The previous owner puts screws through the bench into a short plank on the underside to hold them together - it looked terrible so I don't want to repeat that.

There's a groove on both the detached section and the main section, so I'm assuming there was originally a piece of wood in there holding it together (sorry, don't know the right term for that!) The groove is about 8mm high and 10mm deep, and is partially damaged on the main section (see photo)

Any suggestions? I'm not convinced a piece of wood to go into these slots along with wood glow is going to be enough. I've thought about using some thin metal brackets on the bottom so they are less visually obvious than a wooden support, but I'd like to avoid that if possible. I wondered about using some dowels, but I'm not sure where I'd put them (if in the middle of the pieces that would need to be through slotted area, so 20mm of dowel in the middle wouldn't be securely fitted).

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Tippo]

Hi Martin,
Sorry but are you sure it is Oak the wings look very much like
Pitch Pine and if it is I think Oak would look out of place.
I think providing you have the tools it should be quite straight
forward,
Good Luck with it.

 

[Dave54]

Looks like pitch pine to me too. I'm as certain as I can be without actually seeing it.
A lot of them are pitch pine.
As already said there would have been a chamfered or bullnosed piece on the front edge. I'd try to get a piece of old pitch pine from a reclamation place for that. Failing that a piece of decent softwood (from a timber merchant, not one of the sheds) stained to suit.

 

[Tippo]

if you glue it has to cramped properly and this is where DIY repairs fall down. Glue alone isnt strong enough, it needs to be well cramped front to back with a cramp every 12"

Hi Matz, Sorry, but every twelve inches with such strong timber
I would of used three sash cramps plus something like
2" blocks to protect edges of pine.
If you don't have sash cramps and no one to borrow from I'm sure you
could hire them for a nominal sum.

Cheers.

 

[matz]

yes its pitch pine. Cramping every 12" yes maybe slightly OTT, sorry. My acid test would be if you cramp at each end and one in the middle, would more glue squeeze out of you stuck on more cramps and the answer is yes.

 

[Tippo]

yes its pitch pine. Cramping every 12" yes maybe slightly OTT, sorry. My acid test would be if you cramp at each end and one in the middle, would more glue squeeze out of you stuck on more cramps and the answer is yes.

Hi Matz,
I have always cramped from the centre out how ever amount of cramps used.
Matz its nice to chat with you.
Cheers.
Tippo.