Dismantling:

Locate and remove any screws holding the seat to the corner blocks. Remove the corner blocks. The corner-block screws are often very tight and will require some effort to extract. Sometimes they even twist off, as one of mine did. If there are nails pinning the corner blocks in place, lever them off with a flat screwdriver. Always use a block of scrap wood to protect the chair wood.

Now, using a soft pencil, mark all the components before you dismantle the chair. Keep it simple: ‘L’ for left, ‘R’ for right, and arrows to indicate ‘up’ and ‘forward’ positions.

There may be dowels pinned through the joints. (Sometimes they are pinned right through the joint . Through-dowels may be punched either inwards , or outwards.)

If you find blind dowels, drill them out using a bit the exact size of the dowel. Start the hole in precisely the centre of the dowel. If you’re lucky, the dowel will come free on the drill tip. Now, take the chair apart. Always use a softwood pad between your mallet and the chair.