How to repair broken leg on rattan chair?

[annieerbs]

I got given this beautiful rattan chair. One of the front legs is broken. Looking for advice in how to repair this leg.

 

 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @annieerbs,

That's a bit of a difficult one, as it would be hard to rebuild the leg without much material around it. You could potentially cut the leg off flat and then drill up the core of it, allowing you to install an Everhang M10 x 80mm Zinc Plated Hanger Bolt. Then, you could get a hardwood dowel of a suitable thickness. Cut it to the length of the leg, drill out the centre and then screw it onto the exposed thread of the hanger bolt.

You could then lash it with jute twine to mimic the other legs and paint it to suit.

Let me tag @Dave-1, @Noyade and @Nailbag to see if they have some thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Dave-1]

Morning @annieerbs 

Could you show us a picture of the underside of the broken leg as well please?

I am currently thinking you need to replace the leg and the two stays on it. I am just wondering how the leg and stays are attached at the top. Stays hopefully will just be wound with the twine, the leg itself mmmm Will wait and see the photos. 

I do think this would be an interesting project, the leg may need to be turned on a lathe to make it the same as the others and for the twine to be ale to hold. Potentially you could ahve a search for a local mens club and someone in there may have the experience and tooling.

Dave

[annieerbs]

Thanks Mitchell. My concern is getting the angle correct.

[MitchellMc]

Yes, it would not be easy to recreate that curved profile and angle, @annieerbs. You might need to either settle on a functional repair and have a straight dowel leg, or you could fix an oversized dowel and then shape it down to replicate the curved original.

Mitchell

[Nailbag]

Hi @annieerbs 

As @MitchellMc mentioned, this is going to be a difficult repair project. Finding the right or as close to replacement leg will give you the best chance of a solid fix.

I just did a quick Google "replacement wooden chair legs" and found a lot of options available. It would be a matter of measuring one of the good legs and finding the closest match. There will still be I'm sure some modification required to fit the leg and adjust the angle of where it meets the ground so it doesn't rock.

Nailbag