Antique swivel office chair repair

[wkilleffer]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to repair an antique swivel office chair. It's one of those bentwood slat-back chairs, probably made of oak, with casters and a spring-loaded lean-back mechanism.

The finish needs work, but the wood is good.

The trouble is that something has bent one side of the mechanism bars where the bottom of the seat is screwed on. It looks like one or two of the screws might have come loose on the other side, putting more stress on the bent side. It's possible that whomever sat in the seat last might have been in for a wild moment.

Now, the bend has made it impossible to fasten the seat to the mechanism.

I *might* could use a prybar or something like that to bend it back into its proper place. But it might be easier and more of a sure thing to install a non-damaged mechanism. Does anyone know where I could get something like that?

The easiest thing to do would be to throw the chair away, but I think that would be almost criminal. They don't make chairs like this anymore, and I'd like to have a shot at making it nice again.

Thank you,
-Bill

[mrcaptainbob]

Chair repair....

ANy chance of dismounting the mechanism and 'persuadig' it into position with a hammer?

[wkilleffer]

ANy chance of dismounting the mechanism and 'persuadig' it into position with a hammer?

It's possible that the mechanism could be removed and pounded back into shape. It's the stress cracks that worry me a bit though.

[HayZee518]

try www.rockler.com they seems to have every odd fixture for woodworkers. even if they don't perhaps an email to them would turn up some ideas.