Dresser Repair

 Before I get to the dresser, here is a photo of my new sand paper box. The hacksaw blade is screwed to the lid with two small washers offering spacing between the blade and the lid. I drew markings at one inch spaces for easy measurement while using the blade to tear sheets of paper to size.

  A week ago we brought a three drawer dresser home for our cottage/condo because it had dried out totally and was falling apart badly.  Eva reminded me that the dresser was nearly forty years old and so...should be forgiven its weaknesses.

  The top of the dresser came loose and then the sides sprung apart, and then the drawers wouldn't open and close properly.  You can see that the piece was held together mostly with glue, and the dowels were more for alignment than strength.  In the process of taking this apart I discovered that the construction was all just glue and staples. I guess it was sufficient for something not much used, and and this point it was sure easy to take apart.  

  After I got room to work by taking the drawers out it was easy enough to scrape away the old glue.  Once the old joints were cleaned up and I used Gorilla Glue and clamps to pull it back together. In this case I also made sure to dampen the joints first as Gorilla Glue works better on slightly damp wood.  After 24 hours the glue was set and the dresser was solid.

  Since I had the piece here, and apart I decided to re-enforce some of the joints that were somewhat frail and only held together with a small glue surface and a couple of staples.

  In the photo you can see that I am gluing wood pieces in to support the divider upon which the drawers run.  Once the glue has fully cured I plan to put a few small screws (maybe even a pocket hole or two) in to support the glue and make the dresser more rigid.  This way I hope that the joints that haven't let go yet, won't, and the dresser can hang out for another forty years.

  After all the carpentry is done I touched up the various dings and scratches with some spray paint and the piece looks pretty much like new.  

  Yes, it is a cheap piece of furniture, and yes it could have been easily replaced but, it was fixable using limited tools and skills. And so it did not need to become land fill.

REDUCE, REUSE, REPAIR, RECYCLE

 cheers, ianw