Fix It Jobs

     If it is made out of wood and you have kids, there is a tendency that it can or will get broke.    The nice thing about it being made out of wood is that it can be fixed.    The nice thing about having kids is if something gets broke, you can always blame it on the kids.   (That is what I miss most about not having kids in the house anymore - the wife is starting to get tired of being blamed for everything that goes wrong). 

    Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Brian drove up the driveway with a trunk full of stuff that could use a little "Titebond glue".      Pictured to the right are three things.   1.   Was the toy box that was built earlier this year.    Someone had sat on the lid and the lid split into two pieces.    When taking the picture to the right, I had already glued the lid back together.   2.   Was a small chair that was a family heirloom.   It had a couple broken rungs and a leg that would not stay in.   3.   Was a drawer that came out of a chest of drawers.   The chest was bought on a garage sale and when it was brought home it was discovered that one of the drawers did not have a back.   The back to the drawer was completely gone.     And of course, my little buddy (yeah right) was snooping around in the box as I was taking the picture. 

    I had built this toy box according to the plans but I used some soft maple that I had in the wood pile.   I'm sure that it would have been better to use a hard wood of some sort like oak or something, but this was wood that came off the family farm, plus it had a really nice grain pattern to it.    Gluing the top back together could have been a little tricky because when the wood splits it also splinters some and that makes it difficult to get the seam to close properly.    Surprisingly, this came together fairly well.    Last time I simply installed the hinges as recommended, but this time I recessed the hinges in the wood so when the lid was closed, the back of the lid would set on the back of the toy box.    Next I installed two supports going cross ways so when the lid was closed the edges of the lid would be resting on those supports.   Finally I added two cleats to the inside bottom of the lid to help hold the lid together.    Last, I close the lid and sat on it myself.  (That would be the equivalent of seven grand kids sitting on it all at one time.   Wait, maybe six grand kids.   I've been exercising a little more lately.)   It held.    If I were to make any kind of box like this in the future, I think I would just add these supports and cleats right away.

   The chair was simple to fix.     The spindles could easily be replaced using dowels.    Along with all kinds of scrap wood, I just happened to have a pile of scrap dowels that could be used for this repair.    I bought a can of red spray paint and fixed this little guy right up.    I would guess that this chair is somewhere around 50 plus years old.    If someone took this to the Antique Road Show some appraiser would look at it and probably say: 

      "This chair was made by master craftsman Dan Tuckett and would be worth $500 today except some idiot sprayed red paint all over it.   After the addition of the red paint, its probably only worth $3".      Hmmm.  

   The last project was simple also.   I mean, it is the back of a drawer.   Who is going to see it?   I just grabbed some half inch plywood that was laying around, sanded it down, cut it to fit, and rounded over the top edge and glued and nailed it in place.    (It was so easy, that next Thanksgiving it will probably come back down in the trunk of Brian's car to be fixed the proper way.)

  I guess if any of you have chairs or drawers that need fixing (or are looking for a cat that would make somebody a good house pet) contact me.