Broken Chair Fix?

C

coolcrow

Joined
Aug 5, 2007
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I've have this chair for only a little over a year. Last night when I sat down, I noticed the seat jiggled a little bit. Upon further investigation, I found that a weld on the back is coming apart. This particular weld supports most of the weight of the person sitting in it. I'd rather not have to buy a new one. Does anybody have any ideas as to how I could fix this? I have very limited access to power tools, and it won't fit easily in my car, so I don't really want to have to take it anywhere to have it fixed. I was thinking maybe an epoxy or something of that nature, but I have very little experience in those sort of things so I don't know if that would be strong enough. There are a few pics to help to understand the situation. Thanks for all the help guys.



 
I had a very similar thing happen to me. In my case the metal was so thin, I doubt it could have been effectively welded. It's done.
 
JB Weld epoxy. Go with the standard JB, not JB Quick. Wire-brush off all the paint, hit it with brake parts cleaner to get any oils or other junk off and follow the directions on the package. Lay down a nice even fillett and wait a day before you even touch it.

J-
 
J B Weld is good but I don't think it'll hold on a chair,not supporting that much weight.I fixed one for one of my sons,they can be welded,but it needs to be done with mig,or tig would probably be better.For what most welders would want to fix it,you would probably be better off getting a new chair.
 
If the weld itself was failing, assuming it wasn't defective, then there is a design flaw putting too much stress on that point. It could be repaired, but only with something stronger than the original weld. I doubt that JBweld or anything similar would work too well.
 
I checked out the stuff at my local hardware store. They had JB Weld along with some other epoxies. Most packages said that the epoxies could hold 3500 pounds, but I figure that's stretching it quite a bit. I found three different things that sound like they may work. I found JB Weld, a regular metal epoxy, and an industrial metal epoxy. Anybody have any opinion as to what would be best? I figure I might as well give it a shot before I go chair hunting. I can risk a couple bucks on an epoxy that might fix it. I'm planning on using something on Friday because I'm leaving town for the weekend. That way I can give whatever I use some time to cure.
 
When they say that JB weld will hold 3500 lbs, they're talking about the tensile strength. As a comparison, basic welding filler material has tensile strengths between 60,000 and 70,000 lbs. So if the joint failed at the weld, then replacing the weld with an equal amount of epoxy won't do you any good unfortunately.
You can use the JBweld, but you need to increase the area of the bond in order for it to be strong enough. You best bet would be to look around at the hardware store for a small L shaped bracket you could use to reinforce the joint, and give more area for the jbweld to adhere to. Glue the joint back in its original position, then glue the L bracket underneath it, bonding it to both the vertical peice and the horizontal peice.
 
Want a different approach? Got an electric or battery-operated drill and some bits for it? If I understand your second photo showing the details of the break, there is a short horizontal piece of tubing that was welded to the upright or vertical piece on the right. It forms a socket for the other horizontal piece located further to the left to slide into. If you can get to each end of this assembly with your drill and maybe a quarter-inch bit, you could drill each end (each side) and then use a long bolt to hold it all together. Lacking a bolt long enough, you can use a piece of threaded rod (sometimes called All-Thread) cut to the correct length with a hacksaw and then installed with a washer and a nut on each end. Tip: Before you cut threaded rod put a nut or two on it, but located away from your cut. Then, after you saw it and maybe smooth up the cut a bit with a file, you screw the nuts off in order to straighten out the threads that are dinged a little when it's cut. Then you can put your rod where it needs to go and start the nut(s) back on where they need to go. Don't forget a washer under each nut.
 
Matt Shade said:
When they say that JB weld will hold 3500 lbs, they're talking about the tensile strength. As a comparison, basic welding filler material has tensile strengths between 60,000 and 70,000 lbs. So if the joint failed at the weld, then replacing the weld with an equal amount of epoxy won't do you any good unfortunately.
You can use the JBweld, but you need to increase the area of the bond in order for it to be strong enough. You best bet would be to look around at the hardware store for a small L shaped bracket you could use to reinforce the joint, and give more area for the jbweld to adhere to. Glue the joint back in its original position, then glue the L bracket underneath it, bonding it to both the vertical peice and the horizontal peice.
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That idea sounds like it just might work. Thanks for the tip.
 
I don't have confidence in epoxy alone to hold for long; it needs reinforcement. Put a piece of wood along the vertical pipe to take the weight of the horizontal pipe, and clamp it to the vertical with two hose clamps. That will be the load-bearing member; then all you have to do is stabilize the horizontal so it doesn't fall off it. Epoxy could work for that.

There are a lot of different ways to do it depending on what materials are easiest to scrounge. I said wood and hose clamps, but you're good at knotwork you could lash it together, or you could drill holes and use nuts & bolts. You could use plastic pipe or steel pipe instead of a piece of wood.... Wood and hose clamps is probably the easiest way.

Trouble is it'll probably break somewhere else in a while. I had a cheap steel futon frame that kept breaking like that, and I would fix it, and then six months later it would break in a different place and I would have to fix it again. Finally I got tired of that and bought a much sturdier wood futon frame that didn't cost much more. So I would say fix it now but think in terms of replacing it with something better in six months or a year.
 
I've made chair, settee and bookcase of stainless steel tubing .They've never warped, cracked or broken !!! BTW they seem to make a lot of furniture with minimum specs for average people .The average male is 150 lbs IIRC so if you are larger or heavier the chair will fail !
 
Cougar Allen said:
So I would say fix it now but think in terms of replacing it with something better in six months or a year.
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That's more or less the plan. I live in a college dorm (on the 16th floor) where everything is a pain in the ass to move in or out. I'm just looking for a fix that might last me until around May or so. After that I don't care what happens to the damn thing.
 
coolcrow said:
That's more or less the plan. I live in a college dorm (on the 16th floor) where everything is a pain in the ass to move in or out. I'm just looking for a fix that might last me until around May or so. After that I don't care what happens to the damn thing.
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You could weld it or put in a screw or add some sort of bracket or something... but I'm thinkin'... duct tape.

And remember, if the women don't find ya' handsome, at least they should find ya' handy.



Seriously, duct tape will probably get you through May.
 
Well, I decided to go with the "weld" epoxy I found at my local hardware store. I filled the crack with it on Friday. I also attached three metal support pieces around the joint with the epoxy. I used the entire syringe of epoxy just to be safe. I got back Sunday and it had hardened nicely. I sat in it for a while, and it held. I then decided to cover the entire joint with duct tape just to be sure that it wasn't coming apart. I used black tape so it wouldn't be to noticeable and ghetto looking. I just hope she holds for a while.
 
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