Expert: Eileen Cronk - 12/18/2008

Question
I have a small table with a drawer +-60cmm wide 40cm deep and 50cm high. The tenons/mortises are slowly coming apart, but not enough to separate. I wish I could dismantle or disassemble it completely to refurbish erevry piece, and reassemble it properly, if I force a bit it may break some part - is there a safe way to separate a tenon/mortise ?
In advance, thank for every help
JL

Answer
Hello JL
Nice to hear from you.
The only way to safely seperate such joins is to soften the glue using heat (I use rags dipped in hot vinegar and placed around the joint) and a gentle persuasion with a rubber mallet.
But often we get that accomplished and find that very small nails were also added. These nails are very hard to see and darn near impossible to remove without damage. So look carefully for those. Hopefully there are not any.
But you can repair the loose places that will not come apart and in most cases its not advisable to try anyway.
Here is a product I highly recommend for this type of repair as long as the mortise does not go right through the wood. If it does the glue will not stay put.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&cat=1,110&p=30261
Have a look and read the page. Perhaps it will solve your problem.
Hope this helps
Regards
Eileen