Our church has a rummage sale once a year to raise money for the school and people donate stuff to sell. Maybe 3-5 years ago, my wife and I saw two old director’s chair wooden frames towards the end of the sale when they were just trying to get rid of stuff. The finish showed a lot of exposure to water – probably from sitting on a deck but the wood was solid. The canvas seat and back strap were long gone as well. At any rate, we got both for $5, stuck them in the garage for a “some day maybe” project.
My eldest daughter was getting married and somehow my wife envisioned using the chairs in an area for people to take photos. Armed with this, she talked me into digging out the old frames and figuring out next steps. By the way, I had a lot going on and was truthfully only semi-interested in doing the work but that changed part way in and you’ll see why.
Finding Replacement Canvas Covers
Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it all in a rush so I had time to do some digging. The first big question was what to do about the missing canvas. Well, I found out they are called “covers” and there are two primary kinds – ones that connect to the frame with a round wood rod and others that use a flat piece of wood. Our’s used a flat rod.
The next step was to find out if we could even find affordable covers. Well, I started searching on Amazon and there are actually a lot of premade options [click here to open a browser tab with them].
To measure your chair, lock them fully open and measure from left to right and for the seat – front to back. For the top, I did top to bottom. The left to right measures are really critical because you don’t want the canvas to be super loose – it will stretch and sag with time.
The height of the back cover and the depth of the seat are flexible – your measures are the maximums. At most X inches tall or Y inches deep.
What I don’t have photos of is that we test fit the covers as soon as we got them. This was both in case we needed to return them and also, I did not want to spend a bunch of time restoring the wood that we couldn’t get covers for.
Restoring the Wood
In the summer, my shop extends into my driveway. One afternoon, I took a serious look at the wood and realized there were a number of cracks I needed to deal with. Thankfully they were all narrow because you can quickly and easily fill them with thin super glue – also known Cyanoacrelate or “CA” glue. Lately, I have been using Starbond brand thin CA and it works great.
You can see the weathered finish and a hairline crack in this forearm.
I did 2-3 applications of superglue on that crack. The first application will really soak into the wood grain so you let that cure for a minute or two and then apply another and wait. Another and wait. You keep applying thin CA glue until it stays on the surface. Another option if you have slightly wider cracks is to sand the wood at the same time and pack the crack with the combination of sawdust and uncured/wet CA glue.
I kept walking around the two chairs and moving them around so I could see all of the surfaces. Any time I found a crack, I filled it.
Sanding & Finishing
Next up, I needed to sand the chairs to get rid of the worn finish and the CA glue. I like to use a Dewalt 5″ Dual Action sander and it quickly cleaned up everything using 150 grit sanding discs.
Used a Dewalt 5″ dual action sander with 150 grit sandpaper to clean things up. Also used a fine sanding spong from Ace to clean up the rounded surfaces and spot touch ups.
I went around both chairs fixing dings and removing the old finish.
As I mentioned above, I really wasn’t into it until the next part. I started applying Minwax Provincial stain and just a beautiful orangish brown started coming out. Once I saw that, I was all in – I did not expect the wood to take the stain that nicely or be colored the way it was.
This is the first coat after I wiped down the chair and removed the initial stain that hadn’t soaked in.
Mixwax Provincial stain is sem-transparent and oil based. It really soaked in nicely and I applied two heavy coats. I applied the first using a blue shop towel, let it sit for about 10 minutes and wiped it off. I then did it a second time. I took care to wipe down the metal hardware so the superficial stain wouldn’t turn into a sticky residue.
Installing the Covers
I backed off the screws for the arms of the chairs enough so I could insert the canvas with the flat wood slats in them. That slats sit a tad higher than I wouldhave liked. I debated cutting down the slats to half their thickness but instead figured I’d see what happens over time.
Just back off the bottom screws enough so the canvas with the seat slat can be inserted in the groove behind the hinge.
Notice the chair is not locked open. I needed it partially closed so I could easily insert the canvas seat and slats. In hindsight, I could have stained the ends of the slats but that didn’t occur to me at the time.
The back cover just slides on the posts. Lock the chair open only after both are installed.
I really like how they turned out.
Here’s another view of them at the wedding venue.
Summary
We got the frames for $5 and and then $29/ea for the replacement covers. We then used some CA glue, stain and sanding discs – I’d ballpark each of the two seats cost about $40/ea. I have no idea who made these frames but I think we saved a bit of money but that wasn’t the real goal here – we wound up restoring two chairs and creating some memories with them that we will have even longer.
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Have you ever had wood that is in tough shape or is too soft to work with? A quick fix is to use super glue on the wood and let it set. Let’s talk about this for a minute.
Super glue is actually a family of glues called “Cyanoacrylates“. The patent for the original product goes back to 1942 when BF Goodrich was looking for a clear adhesive for gun sights in WWII. As they say, the rest is history.
There are many different brands and types of super glue. For the brand, I stick with name brand and usually get biggger bottles from firms such as Bob Smith Inc (BSI), Starbond, Loctite, Gorilla Glue, etc. With the no-name generics, you never quite know what is really in the formula or how good it is.
The glues are available in different viscocities/thicknesses also ranging from Super thin to normal, to gel, etc. For our purposes, we want th thinnest glue we can buy. Why? Because it will really soak into the wood and follow all of the little cracks that are opening, seal and reinforce them.
So, when I say I am using it to seal and stabilize, what do I mean? To seal means that water can’t get in. To stabilize means it is soaking into the soft wood, filling small cracks and when it dries it will harden the treated area. I’ve used this to fill small cracks in wood rifle stocks, knife handles, tools, furniture – anything with wood.
Super Glue is good for stabilizing but not filling an area. If you need to build something up, fill in a gap, or rebuild an area, then use an epoxy.
These slats bench slats had chunks of wood missing that I built up using epoxy. I sanded them down flush and then applied two coats of thin CA glue to the surrounding wood to stabilize it. I then used an opaqe wood deck stain and you couldn’t even see the repairs.
I apply several coats. The first one I apply quite a bit of glue and just let it keep soaking in. You’ll see it following cracks and what not. Once I get the surface soaked, I stop and let it cure. I typically wil do 2-3 coats/applications depending on how bad the wood looks. Usually after the second coat everything is sealed stabilized.
As it cures you will see a light white-ish smoke. Don’t get the fumes in your eyes or it really stings – you don’t want to breath them either. Small pieces like a knife handle aren’t too bad. For pieces bigger than that, all of the fumes really make this something you either want to do outside or in a room with really good ventilation.
Let me show you a few photos form a recent project where I needed ro reinforce the area around a wood gate latch. The wood was in really tough shape and I didn’t have the time to go to buy the lumber, cut it and make a new one. I keep thin super glue in stock at all times for all kinds of projects so I just did that
Starbond makes good CA glues from my experience. I’ve used a number of their forumlas and been happy with the results. As you can see, the wood is in tough shape. It probably should be replaced but I don’t have the time.
I let gravity work with me and apply the glue to the top of the wood and let it soak into the end grain. I could see it going down the board and the wood looking wet where it travelled. You’ll use a fair amount of glue doing this, I went across the entire top of that board and watched for the glue to penetrate – in this case I wanted it down near the screws. When it the glue cures, the stabilized wood will still a bit darker than the surrounding untreated areas.
This board was in really tough shape. It soaked in a lot of glue and I kept adding it until I saw it saw it in that big crack.
Here, the CA can help seal the top and stop the small cracks but there is no way it can fill the big crack.
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Amazon is really cool. I can get good deals on stuff and have it delivered to where I live. The problem is that I used to historically look at the number of reviews and the average score to determine if something was worthwhile or not. A pure math approach of looking at the numbers is not working any more and let me tell you why.
I’m noticing a lot of reviews where people give 4 to 5 stars without really using the product. I don’t know if they feel they need to report right away or just what but you will read stuff like “it looks good” or “it feels good” and nothing about the actual use. I suppose it’s better than nothing but not by much.
Also, some merchants reach out and correct problems then ask the buyer to revise the score. You know, I’m cool with that. A friend of mine recounted the story of being hounded – email after email – from the seller to change the score. So, you need to be aware of this too – I’m not a huge fan of wasting time troubleshooting stuff – I want it to hit the ground working.
Recommendations
Again, the basics are true. Products with no reviews are very risky and less than 30 are still risky but you are starting to get a safety margin. However, you must dive deeper to learn what folks are saying.
What I am finding is that you need to read the reviews and:
Look for people who actually used the product and are reporting back.
Look for trends – was the product great and having more and more problems or vise versa?
Look out for tons of edits where people post that they have revised the score after the vendor sent a replacement. Why was this necessary? I could understand a few but not a lot and definitely not a trend.
Be sure to click on the number of reviews right under the product name so you can see the breakdown of scores and even click on the number of stars to read the reviews. So, if you click on “1 star” you can read those reviews.
Fortunately with Amazon, they give great customer service and I can’t guess how many times they have made things right over the years. I think a lot of folks have a level of comfort with Amazon now and I also think you need to use the tools they gave us to make a better purchase decision.
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I use a ton of epoxy as part of my work plus fixing all kinds of stuff at home, on cars, guns, knives and more. I’d like to take a few minutes share some lessons learned with you to bear in mind on your next project that involves epoxy:
Buy quality epoxy – not cheap junk. Epoxy is a generic term and a lot of the no-name blister pack retail stuff is crap. Go for brand names. If they list real specs about the formulation then it is probably legit.
I recommend industrial epoxies and not the consumer stuff. My hands down favorite epoxy is Brownell’s Acra Glas liquid. It is strong and resists breaking down from repeated impacts very well. It’s one down side is that it takes a long time to set up so it may not be your best bet if you need something to be fixed and back in service quickly.
Know your application and match the formula to your need – there is no magical formula that does everything. You may need a putty, a fast cure, a short pot life, higher heat resistance, improved impact resistance, shear strength, etc. Figure out what you need and then look for the epoxy that will work best for you. At any given time I probably have 3-4 different formulations on hand.
The longer it takes an epoxy to cure the stronger it is. All things being equal, an epoxy that cures in 24 hours will be stronger than one that claims to do so in 5, 10 or 30 minutes.
Read the package – setting up vs. curing and reaching full strength are two very different things.
If you want to get epoxy to flow into wood or difficult areas, heat it up. The liquid thins as it warms up but note this will also speed up how fast it sets up and cures.
As epoxy gets colder, it takes longer and longer to cure. If you are working outside, use a space heater, flood light or other heat source to keep the epoxy and the work piece area being repaired at least 70F. I shoot for 80-90F.
Epoxy can get really thick as it gets cold and not want to come out of the containers. Either keep it inside where it is warm or at least warm it up before you use it,
Epoxy resin can sugar with age just like honey. What I mean is that will develop a solid mass in the resin bottle – it’s not really sugar! If you heat up a container of water, take the resin container’s lid off and then set it the container in the water, the resin will warm up and the solid will dissolve back into liquid. I buy 28oz or larger bottles of Acra-Glas that I don’t always use right away so when it sugars, I do this.
As mentioned above, I buy my epoxy in bulk. Acra-Glas can be measured by volume and it has a ratio of 1 hardener to 4 resin. The way I deal with this is very simple – I use 10cc syringes without needles. I have on syringe in a cup that I use for hardener and one syringe stored in a cup that I use for hardener. The reason I do this is that the two parts do not react to the air very fast. I may be able to use one syringe for a several weeks/months before it stops working so I set the syringe in its dedicated cup when done to be used again. I do not use fresh syringes every time. A 100 count syringe pack will last me at least a year.
You can definitely color epoxy. You can buy purpose-made dyes such as So-Strong or add in powdered tempra paint.
You can add fillers for strength or looks. When filling gaps, I mix 1/32″ milled glass fibers with the epoxy. The ratio depends on the epoxy you are using, how thick/pasty you want the result to be or how much you want it to still flow into place.
To get rid of bubbles you either need to draw a vacuum, apply pressure or at least use a heat gun to thin the epoxy once it is applied and this allows the trapped air to escape.
When I am gluing big objects together, such as wood panels, forms, or other construction I will use a cartridge based epoxy. My favorite is Hysol E-20HP. To use a cartridge, you need the dispensing gun and also the correct mixing tip. This allows you to squeeze the trigger and properly mixed epoxy comes out of the tip. When you are done, you just let the tip harden in place sealing the epoxy. When you are ready to use the gun again, you simply remove the plugged tip with a new one. This allows for you to deploy a bead of epoxy very quickly but the con is that you throw away a tip every time you stop. You also can’t color the epoxy first but it is fast and convenient on larger projects.
The surface must be clean for epoxy to work best. Remove dust, dirt, oil, etc.
A rough surface is always better than a smooth surface. I always recommend sanding, brushing or blasting a surface to improve adhesion. Not only do you increase the surface area but you also are creating a texture where the epoxy can get under the base material in thousands of tiny places to really grab hold.
Wear disposable gloves to avoid making a mess. I buy boxes of the Harbor Freight 5 mil nitrile gloves when they go on sale for $5.99/box of 100. They really are a good value for a medium-light duty disposable glove.
If you need to clamp parts together, wrap the assemble with wax paper to avoid gluing your clamps to the work piece – yeah, I’ve done that.
Whenever possible, I prefer to clamp work together to get this best bond.
Check, double-check and come back in again later and check your work again to make sure nothing has shifted.
I hope these tips help you with your next project.
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Folks, I work a lot with epoxy and reply on it as a structural adhesive to both fill gaps and bond parts together. I’ve done everything from fixing car parts, wood furniture, tools, rifle bedding, scope mount bedding, custom knife handles and much more with epoxy. It is incredibly versatile but you need to do some planning to really get what you want out of it predictably.
In case you didn’t know it, “epoxy” is a general term for a wide range of cured polyepoxide resins glues with different physical characteristics such as how long they cure, strength, temperature resistance and so forth (click here if you want to learn more about the chemistry). There are a ton of options out there as quality manufacturers experiment with different resin and hardener formulations. In short, not all epoxies are the same and for people concerned with the quality of what they are building, they need to think things through. For quite some time I’ve wanted to write down a series of tips for folks to get strong reliable results so here they are:
Buy a quality brand epoxy to begin with
What I have found over the years is that not all epoxies are created equal so spend the money and buy quality epoxy. There can be a huge difference in how well the epoxy will last over time and/or how strong it really is. Do not buy the bargain basement junk. In general, if the maker lists all the physical properties then it is a well thought out and executed formula. I have three epoxies that I use the most in order are Brownell’s AcraGlas liquid (not the gel), Locite E-120HP, JB KwikWeld and ITW Devcon Plastic Steel. Once in a while if I need a fast cure epoxy, I will get a retail blister pack of some five minute epoxy and I’ll explain more in a moment.
Strongly consider what your application is
Epoxy comes in many formulations. They can vary the chemistry of the resin, the hardener and the filler to behave differently. Consider the following example characteristics:
Liquid, Gel/Paste or Putty/Bar — The liquid can seep into pores and fibers plus it can be spread but it can run into places you do not want. Gels and pastes tend to stay put better but do not seep in as well. The really thick puttys and bars are great for filling space or creating an impromptu clamp or to seal a hole but they definite don’t sink in much.
Temperature – you need to think both about the temperature when you are mixing and applying the epoxy as some will not set up at all if too cold. You also need to think about the heat when in operation because many epoxies soften and lose their bond the hotter they get. For example, you may apply epoxy to an exhaust manifold but it will blow off when it gets hot.
Pot life – this is how long you can still apply it before it starts to thicken. Some folks will refer to this as working time. You need to mix the two parts together, apply the epoxy, position and clamp the work before you run out of time. Keep this in mind.
Cure time – this is how long until the epoxy reaches full strength
Color – you can get epoxies in different colors
Ratio / mixing – some are by volume or by weight. The easy consumer stuff is usually 1:1 by volume but when you get into the more sophisticated epoxies the volumes vary or a digital scale is needed
Heat resistance – some epoxies resist heat better than others before they soften and “let go”
Shock resistance – some formulations hold up better than others before they start the break apart and “sugar”. Sugaring refers to the powdery look epoxy gets as it breaks apart. Brownell’s AcraGlas, Loctite E-120HP, JB KwikWeld and ITW Devcon Plastic Steel have all held up very well for me under shocks. My go-to epoxy for most work is Acra-Glas liquid because it holds up so very well.
Others – there are other factors that may matter to you but the important thing is to think through your application
Go with as long of a curing time as you can for maximum strength
What many people do not know is that the faster an epoxy cures, the weaker it is. Conversely, the longer the formulation takes to cure, the stronger it is. All things being equal, a 24 hour curing epoxy will be stronger than 90-second, 5-minute, 30-minute and so forth epoxies. Now there is a time and a place where speed is needed and also situations where strength is paramount. When I make khukuri hands and other things where strength is critical, I always use a 24 hour epoxy.
Use the Proper Ratios
Be sure to carefully follow the mixing ratios. For volume ratio work, I use 10cc or larger syringes without the needles on them to meter liquid resin and hardener. For example, I like AcraGlas and it is 4 parts resin to 1 part hardener. I keep two syringes separated that I re-use over and over. With the syringe in the holding cup labeled “resin”, I use it to draw 4 cubic centimeters (CCs) of resin out and squirt it into a mixing cup. With the hardener syringe, I meter out 1 CC of hardener into the cup. Now you can vary that. If you need a smaller about, meter out 2 CC of resin and 1/2CC of hardener. The syringes really help. If you are doing larger volumes then either use bigger syringes or disposable cups that have measurements printed on the side. Also note how I pour from the bulk container into the smaller intermediary containers that are easy to work with plus I avoid contamination, dropping a big bottle, etc.
The Loctite E-120HP comes in a specialized dispenser tube that uses a gun and tip to do all the mixing. It’s cool as can be for volume work where additional coloring or fillers are not needed.
For the Devcon Plastic Steel, I use my digital scale.
Here’s one thing not to do: Some guys have heard that if they add more hardener it will cure faster. This may be true but the resulting cured epoxy will be weaker. Do not deviate from the manufacturer’s recommendations if you want the physical properties they report.
Mix thoroughly
Folks, I can’t stress this enough. Mix the heck out of the two parts and combine them thoroughly. If you are doing larger volumes, consider doing what is known as a double pour. Pour the two parts into a first container, mix them thoroughly and then pour the combination into the middle of a second container and mix. What a double pour does is avoid having unmixed materials that have stuck to the walls of the container come out when you are applying the epoxy. Keep your pot life / working time in mind.
Most of the time I am using a generic 5oz plastic cup and plastic knife to do the mixing. I buy them by the hundreds for Ronin’s Grips and they are cheap regardless. Do not use styrofoam.
Prepare the surface
Whatever you want to bond epoxy to had better be clean and free of oils, greases, waxes, release agents and so forth. Second, the more abraded the surface the better. If you abrasive blast a surface not only can you double the surface area being bonded together but the irregular surface creates many opportunities for the epoxy to get “under” material to create a better grip. If you can’t blast then at least sand the surface with 80-100 grit sand paper.
So here are two rules to bear in mind when it comes to the surface:
Clean, clean, clean and wear gloves to not contaminate the surface with oil from your skin
Shiny is bad. A polished smooth surface will not give you anywhere near the bonding strength that a blasted or abraded surface will. I blast everything that I can – metals, micarta, plastic and even wood. It makes a world of difference – seriously.
The following is a bakelite handle from an electric griddle of my parents’. The unit works great and has sentimental value so I cleaned it, blasted it, cut a quick cross hatch pattern to give even more grip and then cleaned it again. It set up like a rock and we used it all Memorial Day morning to cook hundreds and hundreds of pancakes with no problem.\
Heating Epoxy
Heat can help you two ways. First, by warming epoxy it tends to flow better. If you need to to soak into wood or other surfaces, consider using a heat gun to blow/chase the epoxy into the wood. Do not burn the epoxy – just warm it up. Second, in general, warming epoxy up tends to make it cure faster. Now there are limits and you need to either experiment or talk to the vendor before doing anything too radical. I will often use a halogen light or other heat source to warm the surface up to 80-100F. In chemistry, there is a formula known as the Arrhenius Equation that notes that for each additional 10 degrees Celsius added, a reaction rate doubles (click here for more info on the equation). My experience is that you want the heat to penetrate and warm all of the epoxy and not just the surface and you also do not want to burn the epoxy. In general, I do not exceed 100F but that is just me. I found something that works good enough and have just stayed there.
Also pay attention to the minimum temperature requirements for curing. Some epoxies will not do anything at all at freezing. Some take forever to cure at 50F. It just depends. When in doubt, use a lamp or something to gently heat the part.
Coloring Epoxy
What many folks do not know is that you can actually color epoxy. I have found two approaches that work. First, use powdered tempera paint. You can stir in a bit of black powder to get black epoxy. Now I did this starting out and have since moved to using epoxy dyes so I am added less powder to the mix because I want to save the volume for glass fillers which we will talk about next.
Fillers
You can modify the physical strength of epoxy by adding a substrate or fillers. For example, fiberglass is matted glass fiber that bonded together with epoxy made for that purpose. Folks working with carbon fibers are using epoxy for bonding that together. I add 1/32″ milled glass fibers to my epoxies to get more strength. If I want more of a paste, I add more glass fiber and if I want it to be more of a liquid, I use less. The exact volume of glass fiber depends on what you are trying to do. Some vendors will give you recommendations and others will not.
Clamping / Work holding
In general, you want to apply the epoxy and then clamp everything together really well and then let it sit. You may choose to use traditional clamps, vacuum, etc. Bear in mind two things:
1. Be careful that you secure the material and that it can’t shift while curing. I can’t tell you how many times I have checked stuff and found out it moved and had to change my approach. Figure this out before you apply the glue in case you need to make something, change your approach, etc. Check it regularly to make sure it hasn’t shifted regardless. Every time I think something can’t move – it does.
2. The epoxy will run out of what you are working on. Decide how you are going to deal with it. Wax paper can protect your tools and table. You can scrape the epoxy off after it has partially cured. You can wipe things down with acetone when partially cured. Just think it through otherwise you are going to glue stuff together really well that you do not want bonded – trust me. It is a real headache so plan for seepage/dripping and how you will deal with it.
Patience
This is something I have gotten better at over the years – wait the recommended amount of time. If they say 24 hours then wait 24 hours. If you have questions about using the part sooner then ask the manufacturer. For example, you might be able to assemble something after 10 hours but not actually put it under strain for 24 hours. Factor in the temperature. The colder it is then the longer it will take. Remember what I said about the heat from lamps above.
Safety
Yeah, I had to add this. Follow all guidance from the vendors. The resins aren’t too bad but some of the hardeners are nasty. Wear rubber gloves, use eye protection, work in a well ventilated area and wear a real good dust mask when sanding. I use N99 masks now for everything.
I hope you found this general epoxy guidance helpful!
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
