Repairing Boston Rocker,

My wife an I saved a rocker from the in-laws who were going to give it away. We learned that it is a Boston rocker and may be worth a few bucks. It has some damage and we want to know if we should have it repaired or leave it as is. It is a dark painted would with flower designs. With the thick seat and thin spindles of a boston rocker.

The chair has a couple of problems. First the seat is seriously cracked with the grain but not completely broken off, it looks as if it could be clamped and glued without a major problem, maybe using biscuits if needed. The second problem is on the arm. At the point where the spindle would go through the armrest at the back , the armrest is broken off. It had been fixed long ago by wrapping around the spindle with a piece of brass.

Is it better to fix it or leave it as is?

Could I just glue the seat myself?

If it should be repaired how much would it cost?

How much may it be worth (Now or repaired)

Thanks in advance

Vaughn Arthur

Unless the decoration is original and exceptional, rockers are just about the slowest selling antique furniture item (at least in New England). The two areas of damage you have are the most common spots for repair. I would keep the old arm repair as is, the seat you could either biscuit, or use a metal plate(s).

Vaughn & Melinda Arthur (WhiteTree Pottery) wrote:

Just one addition, using a biscuit joiner on a piece of wood with an uneven edge (along the split), which is also going to have a curve carved into it on one side, is not going to be an easy job. You also don't know ahead of time how much damage you are going to do completing the break so that you can insert the biscuits. You are also going to have to pretty much disassemble the rocker before you can get the biscuit cutter in position to cut the slots. I'm not saying it can't be done, but only if you are an experienced woodworker with a good deal of practice making biscuit joints. On a piece such as this you can't just run it through the planer to eliminate the errors.

Richard Ward

I really didn't mean biscuit, I meant a Dutchman, essentially a wooden cleat. I have seen this repair on some of my chairs. Not fully awake yet.

That's okay. They are equally tasty, in my experience.