Frame Repairs

Frage Legs

Frame Legs are legs that are built into the frame of the furniture. A typical example is the back legs on a sofa or a chair. In he picture below, you can see the front and the back legs (on the right and the left of the picture), which are part of the arm frame. 

When a leg is part of the frame, the leg is part of the verticle board that extends from the top back corner of the furniture all the way to the bottom  of the frame where it curves backward and extends out the bottom as the back leg.

 The horizontal boards of the back and the arms are usually doweled  and glued into this back board. Because of the bending of the board at the leg the grain of the wood is weaker at this point. Sometimes the back leg will break.

Since it the back leg is the bottom part of one of the main supports of the furniture it is a major job to replace the leg. Because of the dowels and braces, the joints have to be taken apart. Sometimes the glue has become old and some of the joints come apart reasonably well. However, if the glue of some of the joints are still holding very strong, it can be very difficult to get the joints apart.

To get the frame apart
If the sofa has hand tied springs, then the springs will have to be removed and retied after the frame has been put back together.

Options

Reglue the the Leg: This is only an option in some situations if the wood is strong, if it is a clean break. 

Replace the Leg frame. This would involve

• Strip the furniture down to its bear frame.
• Take the frame to a woodwork/furniture refinisher, who would.
  • take the frame apart enough to get the old frame leg out.
  • create a new leg and finish it to match.
  • Put the new leg in and reglue the frame

Replace with standard legs

Cut the back legs off at the bottom the furniture frame and add new legs to the back corners.

There is a variety of premade legs available, but may or may not match the other legs on the furniture.

This option would be much less expensive than the above option.