I have a wooden chair that is all wobbly because the screw holes are wallowed out. Using larger wood screws is not an option. I believe the traditional repair is to drill out the holes, glue in some dowels, and re-drill. Being lazy, I thought I might see whether there are any space-age expoxies that I can use to fill the holes instead.

Any suggestions?

It's a little hard to do it correctly, but as in everything, taking the time to do it the right way pays off in the end.

You answered your on question. Good luck.

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I took a wood shop back in high school, and they 'short cut' the instructor used was to fill the screw hole with Elmers glue and hammer in tooth picks to fill the hole, then re-insert the screw after everything had dried. I have no idea how well this works for anything critical, but I have had some success with this on a couple of door latch and hinge applications.

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Gorilla Glue man.

Yep. Gorilla glue expands sort of like foam. My only suggestion would be to allow it to cure for several days before you drill it, because even though it says full cure in like 12 hours on the bottle, it still seems a little elastic to me until a few days have passed, and its original intended use is not to be used in such a thick application, so more cure seems logical.

I have a 200 y.o. bed that my wife ordered from France. The frame around the footboard pulled away at two corners and the highly decorative panel that makes the bed fell out. The bed is put together with pegs, not nails or screws. Not caring about resale (Carleton ), I gorilla glued all the seams and put four ratchet straps on the sucker and heaved it together at about 3oo#. My 230# brother has, well, deflowered that bed several times and it has held together. I also did the drill and tap like you describe on a victrola stand we use for a bookshelf and a coffee table.

Course the dowel thing isn't much harder, but you have to be careful on something like a chair, because you could split the wood assuming it is fairly narrow if you use too wide of a dowell.

Oh, and the resin/harderner type epoxy thing would work and of course I use this repair on boats (two weeks ago, in fact) , but a: you better have a hell of a fast drill because that stuff is very difficult to drill into, and b: I find that it doesn't bind as well to wood as it does to fiberglass or plastic, so you may find your "plug" spinning out.

If you go gorilla, use an awl or punch to make an indentation before you drill.

So we know that it will stand up to oscillating stresses.

That's similar to the dowel concept. It's sort of like using an anchor to hold screws in concrete. The dowel method is the best, though.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Hey, here is something I actually know about!

Get a dowel and put a point on it and taper it to be a little larger than the hole you are trying to repair. Cut it to length plus at least 1/2" extra. Put some yellow wood glue (called PVA) on the plug and in the hole. Drive the plug into the hole with some light hammer blows. Allow the glue to dry completely (at least 24 hours so it can cure). Then drill a new hole and put the original screw back in. If you are concerned about the screw working loose, you can put a little glue on the screw, but before you do, make sure to dry fit everything first so you don't have wet glue on the parts and realize that things don't fit for whatever reason.

I always say that the hallmark of a good woodworker is their ability to fix their F___ Ups. Good Luck!

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
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Fill holes with West Systems epoxy mixed with 406. Let it kick and re drill the hole.
Note: make sure to wet out wood first with resin to avoid a dry joint.

If its in a varnished peice or its a repair that will be visable when done, mix in saw dust to color the repair. If you can mix in saw dust from part you are working on the match is usualy very good. Still visable though.

I do this like everyday on some boat related project, give me a tough one!

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That is like, three times harder than doing it the dowel way, which dculkin thought was too much trouble, sport.

if the hole is not too huge, i often just put some elmers in and put in the screw. after it dries it will be fine. again, it cant be too grossly wallowed out.

tom w

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Hmm well I could have those holes filled in less time then it took to post this. But then again I work with West Systems on almost a daily basis so its what you get used to I guess.


But usualy the right way, and quick way are two different things.

Maybe a shot of glue then?

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I don't think having dculkin watch the Gougian Brothers (sp?) instructional tapes for West Epoxy Systems will speed the process along.


Should he paint the chair with Interlux after he fixes it too? Maybe do the seat in Awlgrip.

The epoxy method's not bad but you have the mixing time and hassle.

Here's the cmac method. Buy a supply of dowels from 1/8th up to 3/8th at least, 1/2 inch can be useful sometimes. Cut them into roughly 1 foot lengths -- that way you can haul around a bundle of various sizes rubber-banded together in your tool box. If you don't have a dowel that is a perfectly tight fit in the hole you need to plug, go the next size up, never use one that's slightly loose in the hole.

Get ahold of a roll of Porter Cable adhesive backed 80 grit sandpaper. Amazon has the price crossed out there but you can get it at most lumber yards for around $15. Worth its weight in Brazilian Rosewood. The stuff is 4 1/2 " wide. I cut blocks -- 1/2 " MDF is the best but plywood will do -- 4 1/2" x 2" approx and wrap three sides. Cut the excess with a utility knife and sand any bit hanging over with an older sanding block. This can also be real handy on one side of a piece of doorskin (1/8 plywood) or 1/4" ply. MDF (medium density fiberboard) is trick, I used to assiduously save scraps of it on jobsites -- 1/4 or 1/2 my favorite. In the long run, you'll spend less on sandpaper with this stuff than sheets cause you're not scrunching it all up while using it. I've tried the lighter grits, 120, 150, and those don't work as well - lose their bite too quick.

Anyway, on the dowell, if it's quite a bit bigger than he hole, I shave it down a bit with my knife and then sand it with the block. Spin it as you sand and put a slight taper on it. When it gets to where you can put it about as far as the depth of the screw, maybe a little less, give it a bit of Titebond and drive it in with a hammer, not too hard. By the time you've cut off the excess with a sharp chisel, the glue will have enough bite to allow you to drill.

I've done it hundreds of times. With that kind of friction/tight fit, Titebond will start to grab right away. For best results, use a 1/16th bit to start the new hole. It's much easier to aim those with accuracy. The bit size you need for your screw, say 1/8, will be much more likely to wander especially with the different characteristics of the original wood vs. the plug/dowell. The 1/8 bit will track the hole the 1/16 bit made.

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