How to repair a rocking chair arm?

Christine12

Loose arm on rocking chair. Tried to repair with liquid nails but it hasn't worked. Please see photos and advise

JacobZ

Thank you for your post.

You should start by removing as much ofthe liquid nails as you can using a Craftright 5-in-1 Scraper or similar product, doing your best not to damage the timber underneath.

Once this is done, I would suggest that the arm was originally attached using a timber dowel in the hole I have circled below.

You should assess whether this dowel is still in place and if it is, remove it. I suspect it has degraded or even snapped over time with the rocking motion of the chair causing the arm to become loose. If you can separate the chair arm from the other timber, using a lever such as a screwdriver, this could be tapped out using any general hammer.

You might need to clean the hole up as well as it looks like some of the liquid nails has gotten into the hole. This could be achieved by wrapping 80 Grit Timber Sandpaper around a screwdriver or suitable hand tool.

Once the hole is cleaned up, you should measure the size of the hole and purchase a timber dowel of a suitable size along with some good quality wood glue such as Gorilla Wood Glue. Coat the dowel in wood glue, tap into place using a hammer and allow to set as per the glue's instructions. Remember to keep a rag or paper towel handy to clean up any of the glue that squeezes out.

You may then want to sand the area using 120 grit sandpaper and recoat with a stain of your choosing.

Let me know if you need any further assistance or would like more advice or clarification.

Jacob