You may have a broken chair/rocker leg or spindle on your kid's furniture. The strength of this repair is critical in providing safety for your child. There are several ways to make these repairs to provide strength. Your good judgment comes into play when deciding the best technique.
If you are working on a round or turned leg/spindle, you are limited by the smallest dimension of the leg as to what size dowel rod you may use. You can find a good selection of repair dowels at a store like Lowes. Obviously, the larger the diameter, the stronger the dowel and thus the repair. Some dowels come with ribs or grooves on their surfaces to increase the gluing surface and aid in distributing the glue into the repair. However, those dowels are generally too short for the repair that we will illustrate here. It may be necessary to make your own grooves on the surface of a smooth dowel rod. Dowel materials are made from different woods and a hardwood is preferred. Kids furniture often is subject to hard use and so strength is important.
Depending on the leg diameter, use a 1/4", 5/16", or 3/8" dowel. First, glue the break with white glue and clamp. Let it cure for 24/48 hours. Then, per the illustration, very accurately drill a hole through the leg into the spindle about 1/4" longer than the dowel. Since a dry fit doesn't work well with a dowel repair, check your measurements carefully before applying the glue. If the hole isn't deep enough or the dowel sticks out too far, that will cause you trouble. Again it is very important to apply glue evenly to the inside walls of the hole as well as to the dowel. Carefully tap the dowel into the repair. Be sure to go about an equal distance on either side of the repair and leave about an 1/8" at the outside end to fill and finish the repair. Clamp the repair making sure that the pieces are completely together without over tightening. Wipe away excess glue with a damp cloth.
If your repair is in the length of the leg and if the break is close to one end of the leg/spindle, you can glue the repair and drill in only one direction as described above. If the break is too far into the leg, then it requires that you drill the leg first in one direction then the other and get it lined up straight in the process. This would be very difficult to do by 'eye.' If you have access to a drill press and can clamp each piece securely and straight in all planes, you have a good chance for success. If the holes are not lined up accurately then the repaired leg will be crooked.
Does all of this sound like too much work to repair your kid's furniture? Then how about taking some time to check out all of the wonderful kids rockers and chairs on our website, http://www.kidspaintedfurnitureshop.com/.
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