Restoring old oak chair but at a loss for something I've never seen

Question

I am trying to restore an old oak chair that was given to me by my mother. It was my great grandfather's and is probably 120-140 yrs old. At the front of the chair seat there is a long ~3/8ths slit, like a long dado that runs about 5 inches from the front of the seat. Much of whatever had been put into the slit has disintegrated but some of it remains. It looks to be some sort of fabric or material that has long since hardened. I was thinking about chiseling out what remains and then routing a 3/8ths piece of oak to put into the open gap. Has anyone come across anything like this or any recommendations? Pictures attached.

Thank you - Brian

Answer 1

It looks to be some sort of fabric or material that has long since hardened.

Check the chair for markings that could tell you who manufactured the chair. That could help you find other examples that in turn might help you figure out what the groove was for. There were probably a lot of companies that made chairs like yours a century or more ago. Two that seem iconic are Sikes Chair Company and Gunlocke.

To me, it looks like the groove might have been used to secure some trim, like a leather-wrapped chord, or a full leather or cloth seat. Here's Gunlocke's modern version of a swivel chair that looks like yours:

You can see how the leather cover seems to be held in place by a bead that's likely pushed into a groove in the seat.

I was thinking about chiseling out what remains and then routing a 3/8ths piece of oak to put into the open gap.

I don't know if your chair has any value as is; you might want to check that out before you attempt any restoration or modification. Aside from preserving value, it's your chair and you should do what you like. I think I'd probably remove the remaining material and hope to figure out what it is, and then try to replicate the original.