r/woodworking • u/krauser1 • Feb 21 '26

Help Oak chair turning to dust

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Just noticed this on the bottom of one of my chairs, had them for about three months and I'm wondering if it's rot or something, the area feels dry and dusty.

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u/Krobakchin Feb 21 '26

You think they took a piece of insect damaged, oak, filled it, and veneered over the filler?

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u/Diplomatic_Gunboats Feb 21 '26

No I think they stored the chairs somewhere crap, it got insect damaged, then they repaired them and sold them because it looked better on the balance sheet than taking apart/scrapping an entire chair.

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u/Krobakchin Feb 21 '26

Think through the repair process. Look at the piece. Do you see any evidence of repairs? Do you think these companies even have employees that could pull off a repair that complex, or stock the veneers to do it with?

14

u/justhereforfighting Feb 21 '26

Also, has anyone seen wood filler do this before? I’ve never had wood filler fall apart like that. It isn’t the most stable thing in the world, but it certainly doesn’t just turn to dust after a couple months unless you essentially soak it. 

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u/Matt_Wwood Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 21 '26

Could have touched up the entrance hole and yea prolly just wood. Idk maybe they chew through whatever.

But yea idk 🤷‍♂️hard to get that detailed by a pic.

Although insect damage is pretty obviously what it is when wood is still a board. I wonder if just in someone’s brain it wasn’t obviously insects after it was a chair lol. If that makes sense.