How to Fix Wobbly Chair Backs With Elephant Glue

Fix wobbly chair legs before they break.

Most chairs are held together with a combination of nails and glue. Over time, the adhesive holding the chair legs to the seat and holding the dowel rods securely between the chair legs may loosen. When this occurs, the chair will wobble back and forth whenever anyone sits in it. If you do not fix the wobbly chair legs and dowels, the chair legs will eventually fall apart -- dumping the unlucky person sitting in the chair to the floor. Repairing the chair with elephant glue, or superglue, before this occurs saves the chair and prevents a potential injury.

Things You'll Need

• Dead blow hammer
• Acetone
• Putty knife
• Cotton swab
• Pipe-cleaning brush
• Elephant glue

Instructions

1. Turn the chair over. Look carefully around the chair's joints and seat for small nails and screws. Remove any nails and screws your come across.

2. Strike the underside of the chair's seat with the dead blow hammer as close to the back leg of the chair as possible to separate the chair leg from the seat. Continue striking the chair with the dead blow hammer until both back legs come free.

3. Strike the chair legs with the dead blow hammer to free the dowel rods.

4. Soak the tips of the dowel rods and chair legs in acetone for five minutes to dissolve the old adhesive. Scrape away remaining old glue with a putty knife.

5. Clean out old glue from the chair legs' dowel holes with a cotton swab dipped in acetone and a pipe-cleaning brush.

6. Place a generous amount of elephant glue into the dowel holes one at a time. Push the dowel rods back into place and hold them there for 30 seconds -- giving the adhesive time to work.

7. Glue the chair legs to the seat of the chair. You must glue both back chair legs at the same time. Apply downward pressure to the chair legs for 30 seconds to one minute to let the glue set.

8. Sit the chair in an out of the way area. Do not sit in the chair or let anyone else sit in the chair for 24 hours. This gives the elephant glue time to completely cure.

Tips & Warnings

• Although you can remove and re-glue the front chair legs, doing so is not necessary to stop the chair's wobble. You only need to remove the back chair legs and dowels.

• If you damaged your chair's legs or dowel rods when taking it apart, use epoxy glue rather than elephant glue to repair the chair. Epoxy glue can fill damaged areas whereas elephant glue cannot.

• If you plan to take apart and re-glue your entire chair rather than just the back legs and dowels, label each chair part with a letter or number written on masking tape. This ensures that you do not get confused and put the chair back together incorrectly.

• Exact drying times may vary depending on the type of elephant glue you have.

• It is not necessary to replace any nails or screws your removed from the chair when disassembling it.

• If you do not remove all of the chair's nails and screws, striking the chair with the dead blow hammer may break the chair's legs or rods.

• If your chair has a wood stain, acetone can damage the stain. Soak stained chair legs and dowels in hot water

• Always re-glue the dowel rods first. If you re-glue the chair legs first, you will not be able to fit the dowel rods back into place.

References

• The Family Handyman: Fix a Wobbly Chair – Re-glue a Wobbly Chair
• Popular Woodworking: Regluing Doweled Chairs

Resources

• The Early Show: Repairing Wooden Chairs
• eHomeResource.com: Furniture Repair Tips – Drawers, Doors, Upholstery, Chairs