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That's just if you want to match the actual leg style. A round stick of wood with a hole in the right spot would technically work :-)

I don't have a lathe, but when I run across one, I'll give it a go, or ask a friend.

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The trick is hand carving the pegs exactly the right size to friction fit in the hole. Without a lathe that is tall ask.

But also I wonder if they didn't include some glue to hold that chair together originally. Screws in furniture are mostly just there to keep the thing together while the glue cures.

From the old wood work I've seen around the house, most appear to have glue with a wood dowel, pin, or shim to lock the glued piece into place while it dries, and aren't applying excess pressure to the grain causing a split piece of wood.

Yeah, on said antique chair there is some old wood glue. I imagine the friction joints wore down over time and the glue was poorly slopped in in an attempt to keep the thing together, but that glue, too, failed. I suspect the original did not have glue.

Things wear down, and about the only thing you can hope for is replaceable parts. Chair of Theseus, indeed!

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