Wooden Chair : Arm Loose .. no fixing points

[wbmkk]

I have an old wooden chair that has been in the shed for a bit too long.

Was thinking about painting it, or even just sanding and staining, but one arm is slightly loose.

There are no obvious signs of any fixings (screws) so I guess there are dowels where the arm joins the back and the side of the seat .. How do I remove the arm ?

Thanks

 

[KenGMac]

A couple of images would assist ?

 

[Alec_t]

How do I remove the arm ?

If the chair is very old, any glue on the dowels is likely water-soluble. You could try to get water into the joints (wrap in wet towels over night?) to release the dowels.

 

[wbmkk]

 

[wbmkk]

 

[wbmkk]

 

[wbmkk]

and where the arm joins the seat ...

 

[KenGMac]

Right, thanks for the images.

Suggest you allow the chair to dry out, bring it into the house keep it in a room for some time, any further Joints loosening of will become apparent.

As for a fix? joints will either be tenoned [unlikely] or as you suggest Dowels ?

If it were me, i would not try to dismantle, so long as the degree of movement on the joints is "Slight" If the movement is small, suggest using a Syringe to inject liquid glue between the different components.

You can inject the joint because they are loose, if needed a very, very thin drill will assist in getting the glue in to the joint.

Ken.

 

[KenGMac]

And, sorry about this.

You will need to "clamp" the joint / bits you have worked on, because of the difficult shapes, use rope to bind the bits together untill the glue sets.

 

[wbmkk]

KenGMac .. many thanks for your replies.
The movement is quite slight and I was going to check which way it is.
Mainly the handle is loose at the base. I am sure if the base was secured the movement at the back (where the arm joins the rear of the chair) would be minimal)
I check inside and lo and behold 3 screws. See extra pictures below.
Aghhh !!! one screw only and two holes

Now, even I should be able to fix the chair ... maybe some glue in other wide joints, then some decent screws in the two holes and that'll be it.

I'll probably just sand and paint the chair, it's a bit too far gone to consider staining etc.
Will get it covered too as I think it's a decent quality chair .. It's actually a Wylie & Lochhead chair

 

[wbmkk]

 

[wbmkk]