Just fixed my 50th wobbly chair leg with a single toothpick

I was working on an old dining chair yesterday and realized it was the 50th time I've used that trick. It sounds silly, but pulling a toothpick from the kitchen drawer, dipping it in wood glue, and jamming it into the screw hole really does the job every time. I started counting after a friend in Phoenix asked me how to fix her bar stools last year. Has anyone found a better method for stripped screw holes in soft wood?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy2mo ago

Jamming it into the screw hole" is a temporary fix at best. A toothpick and glue just creates a mushy plug that strips out again in a few months, especially on something like a dining chair that gets daily use. You're better off using a proper wood filler or a real hardwood dowel. I tried the toothpick thing on a kitchen stool and had to redo it three times before I just drilled it out and glued in a piece of oak dowel. That was five years ago and it's still solid.

faith_lopez482mo ago

Ever try fixing a wobbly table leg with matchsticks? My dad did that for years until the whole thing just gave out during Thanksgiving dinner, lmao. We had to eat with plates on our laps while gravy soaked into the carpet.

margaretf402mo ago

My uncle's whole deck collapsed after a decade of matchstick fixes, so I feel you, @faith_lopez48.