Bad Furniture Repair and How to Fix It - Woodworking Restoration

Please don’t repair a piece of furniture without knowing how to fix it properly. This bad furniture repair took more time to fix that it would have the first time. See how to undo this bad furniture repair and learn how to fix it the right way. If you don’t, you could permanently ruin the furniture so it can’t be repaired and the parts would have to be replaced.

Welcome to the workshop of Wooden It Be Nice, where we repair furniture. We’re sharing the trade secrets of how we work to help build a community about furniture repairs. This is a disappearing skill and it can help build local businesses that can’t be served any other way than by local experts.

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Watch Scott take apart this bad furniture repair - a chair with a broken chair leg that was poorly repaired. The chair leg was held in place with some construction adhesive and brad nails. It might have looked like it was strong enough, but chairs get pushing use, and this didn’t stand up. Because chairs have a lot of shifting wight on them, they’re stressed and can sometimes fail. This bad repair was done by someone who didn’t take the time to learn how to do it the right way (i.e., look it up on YouTube and find someone who can show you how to fix it).

The next step is to clean all the old glue off the parts because we need bare wood for wood glue to work properly. Once the parts are cleaned up, it’s a matter of test fitting the parts to ensure there’s a good fit before applying the glue and clamps. In this repair, there were some wood fibres that needed to be aligned to get the best possible fit. When choosing a glue, you need the right glue for the job. Scott uses 6 different glues (see video link above for more detail) in the workshop and for this project, he chose wood glue and epoxy.

Once the piece is put back together, you may have holes or cracks that need to be filled and stained. Wax sticks and stain markers are easy to use as long as you match them appropriately. See the techniques Scott uses to make all this happen.

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#repair #restoration #bad

[dagoestlund]

Great video! I'm Dag from Bodø, Norway. What I really appreciate about your videos are your very good and thorough narrative, the quality of the camera-work with razor-sharp close-ups, and the clean audio track without any annoying background noises or music during your commentary sessions. I have just recently taken up some woodworking repairs myself, and have highly valued the excellent instructions provided in your videos. Thank you.

[jamestavelli]

Do I have a broken chair? No. Do I fix broken chairs regularly? No. Do I anticipate ever needing this skill? No. And yet here I am watching this video with great intrigue.

[Thepourdeuxchanson]

Brit here, watching from the USA. I love the quiet precision of your instructions, and lack of background music or attempts to be funny. I like a person who presents nice clear lesson without gimmicks, and you are he. Thank you very much. I'm now watching for pleasure, beyond necessity.

[hyperjas]

His voice is like the Bob Ross of furniture repair. Was waiting to hear him say something about "happy little chair legs".

[mattschamel]

A quick tip for reinforcing the fracture due to weak grain structure.
Once you've made the repair to the leg, bore a hole from the top (the style of leg will dictate what diameter and how deep) and glue and insert a dowel into the hole. I typically I prefer a 3/4" oak or maple dowel. This ties the broken pieces together with more of the good meat of the leg, and gives the screw something more to grab into.
Keep up the good work.

[richardbrooks]

I like to watch Thomas Johnson Antique repair. The guy is a master.

[guilhermesalles]

Brazil here. Recently quit my job to start learning something new that doesn't destroy my soul, and I've found that repair work is just amazing. I'm really considering trying to start a small business with home repairs (furniture, electric, the works). These kinds of videos are really nice to get ideas of how to work on many different things.

[binnad]

🇺🇸 USA in Arizona here. I feel like your channel (which I discovered because I was trying to figure out what the original finish was on a cedar chest I'm restoring) is one of the most helpful, informative channels I've found.

I love that you walk viewers through the whole process, start to finish. I feel far more prepared for my cedar chest restoration AND a few of my chair projects.

[tjplusproductions]

I'm from Pennsylvania and have been doing repairs all my life. It's nice to see somebody doing this and showing a whole generation how to fix things. Keep up the good work! Tom

[davidmonty]

I'm from Vermont. I also watch Thomas Johnson's and Dashner Design's channels. You do a very good job with your videos. Whenever you post I make sure to watch. Also enjoy your Home Improvement Woodworking channel. Perfect length and content. I have learned a lot.

[terrynesbitt-foster]

I am from Dakabin, just about 35 Km north of Brisbane Australia. Thank you so much, (I have today Watching you) used my 92 year old hands to successfully repair a carver chair that has been waiting 15 years for attention. In time for my wife to use after her knee replacement, which needs a strong chair. Good on yer!

[jormavesa]

Greetings from Finland. I'm not sure what algorythms brought me here, but I always appericiate a well made video on woodworking. I'm a Master of Craft in Restoration (carpentry and joinery, building restoration) and Oltermann/chairman of the Finnish National Guild of Restoration. Have to say this was a nicely done repair, and a truly well made presentation.

[GaryGordon]

Hungary youtube recommendation mostly because I watch other channels like Diresta, John Malecki.
Let me tell you man, that in my opinion you are the Bob Ross of furniture repair.... came for the repair and stayed because of the calmness and peace...
Have a nice one and stay safe!

[maciejstrozynski]

Watching from Poland 🇵🇱, it is always nice to watch new channels whose authors shares their knowledge. I learned something new, and would love to learn more about this wood fillers.

[izzymarleydominguezreyes]

Sir, thank you for teaching repairs! Your voice is very calm. I enjoy listening to your videos!

[MRUD]

I am from Germany. Working as a master craftsman in furniture making. designing and producing furnitures. I like to learn about how to they do it in other countries, finding new idears, getting inspiration for new projects

[jrstags]

Houston, Texas, I really enjoyed this video. I have an antique table that has been in my family for decades originally from Scotland or Ireland. It was handed down to my mothers side of the family who is from Ireland. It was passed down to my Poppy ( my mothers father) and then passed down to her. Watching your videos has shown me ways of being more careful with the process. I am not a furniture repairman, I am a construction carpenter. I just started dabbling in furniture repair a couple years ago, and your videos are helping out a lot. Thank you brother for sharing your tips and tricks.

[pmanneke]

Greetings from the Netherlands 🇱🇺, thanks for the great videos! This is the first time I watch furniture repairs, normally I watch woodworking and wooden boat building.

[RayMrRobert]

I’m Rob from Fort Lauderdale Florida USA. I find you to be extraordinary as you use great sense keeping an eye on the future if you need to repair or someone else does. No cheap shots. You are a patient man. Hats off to you brother.

[BCJ]

I think you're one of the very best at explaining and demonstrating WHAT you're doing, HOW, and WHY. There are other channels that are fun to watch but nowhere near as instructive as yours. Thanks, Scott!