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I finally fixed that wobbly thrift store table leg
Picked up a solid oak side table at Goodwill for $12. One leg was loose, thought it would be a quick glue job. Nope. The dowel was snapped inside the hole. Took me three hours to drill it out with a 1/4 inch bit. Broke two drill bits in the process. Then I had to chisel out the old glue chunks by hand. Finally got a new dowel in there with wood glue and a clamp. Let it sit overnight and now that table is rock solid. Anyone else ever deal with a hidden broken dowel that took way too long to fix?
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juliawalker1mo ago
Had the same thing happen with a dining chair. Ended up using a screw extractor to pull out the broken dowel piece. Saved me from drilling it out and wrecking the hole.
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patel.daniel1mo ago
Hate to disagree but screw extractors can be risky on wooden dowels. They're made for metal, not wood. The teeth dig in and can split the dowel worse. Then you're stuck with a bigger mess. A thin drill bit and a awl works better for wood. Just my experience though.
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