Howdy folks -
Picked up a 1932 model 91L Lowboy dirt cheap that was saved from the dumpster by a local construction guy. It's a complete chassis and good grill cloth but looks like they used one of the legs to carry it out and it's snapped off. What's the best option to fix this and make it solid but original? All I've come up with is to drill both ends and insert a wood rod, then glue and clamp.
Thanks.
Pictures please,
It's too hard to answer without seeing the damage
Kirk
a wooden dowel inside the leg, as you suggest is the usual way to fix that sort of damage.
A prosthesis shouldn't be too hard to do, if at least 2 of the other legs are still good. Otherwise consider a four legger replacement. Agree that dowell and stud would be needed followed by trimming and staining, don't be in a rush. Bottom of cabinet is not as critical, so long as your get correct hue and gloss, well, you know that.
A good picture of the leg and stub would be important to determine the best approach. If the break is clean (no wood missing) and is following the grain giving a long stretch of contact, glue and clamping might be a better idea. A break nearly horizontal with limited surface a dowel may be the best. The new glues with enough surface to glue to and well clamped for drying can be stronger than the original wood.
JMHO, Jerry
The leg may have been broken off when it was pitched into the dumpster, or maybe that was the reason it was pitched out. In any event if the leg is not rotten, or insect damaged, then boring a large hole in the leg and the style above it, to accommodate a hardwood dowel, would be the best repair method. In terms of dowel size I would want to use at least a 5/8'' diameter dowel, or up to 3/4'' if it will fit. The trick is drilling the hole straight, for that you would at least want to use a Forstner bit which has a cylindrical shape. Better yet would be if the leg could be mounted in a leg and then riffle bored to fit the dowel. On some cabinets the legs were just held on by a dowel that would fit into holes in the bottom rail, I'm not sure if a model 91 is one of these or not but I think so, in this case it would make it much easier to repair, you would just have to drill out the old dowel and replace it with the new.
Regards
Arran
As noted, a photo will help decide. Also knowing what tools you have available. You probably don't have a set of Forstner bits on hand, and the ones I've seen for sale recently aren't real Forstners, but have cutting teeth on the bottom edge. In any event the best way of aligning the break is to clamp the broken stub in place, and bore from the bottom all the way through the joint. Then you know the hole is aligned.
Quick-and-dirty is to drill holes in each direction and use an undersize dowel or steel rod, with epoxy to take up the misalignment.