I recently purchased a furniture clamp so that I could glue the seat of a table chair which had split at a seam. Well, I could have glued it, but I needed a furniture clamp to hold it together by the sides, not just the top and bottom.
But now that I have a furniture clamp, I have lots of furniture to glue.
Case in point: The table from the set with the chair which needed gluing had a couple of seams that let go. These were on the feet of the pedestal of the pedestal table, horizontal seams, and both pieces of the split feet remain affixed to the pedestal.
So we took the leaf out, inverted it on a couple of sawhorses (so we would not stumble over it in the darkness), I bought another furniture clamp, and I glued them.
Clamping vertically, that is, to hold the pieces together, was difficult due to the curve of the feet, so they did not end up with a real tight or even even join, but they’re better.
In addition to inspecting the setting of the clamps, Nico really wanted to get into the hollow center of the pedestal–to the point I figured out how I would take the table apart to get him out. In doing so, I discovered that the feet pieces were not affixed with dowels but with bolts, so I could probably have removed them and glued them better apart. If they don’t hold, I’ll do it right the next time.
At any rate, I now have two furniture clamps of different sizes, so maybe I will start constructing fine furniture (although that would require more tools and/or training on my part).
But I can’t help but note that two items from this set have needed gluing this year. So perhaps the glue is hitting its expiration dates in it. Or maybe these pieces suffer extra stress when sliding/moving them since they’re on carpeting and not tile, leading to different torquing stresses. Or both.
So what was my point? Eh, probably “Look how handy I am!” And/or “Look at Nico, doing the sorts of things which have earned him his own Web site.”
