Antique Chair Back to Life Restoration

I bought this chair recently on the clearance (25 cent) table at Habitat for Humanity and felt the need to rescue it and bring it back to life. 

I looked all over the chair to try to estimate a date but with the flat head screws and shapes of the screws that pre-date the 30s, my guess would be 20s to 30s? The first thing to do is to take the chair apart to get to its bare bones to start the restoration. The frame couldn’t be taken apart so I did what I could. Once disassembled, I sanded the old stain, or what remained of the former stain. The chair was discolored in many areas and very dry. It didn’t take much to get the old stain off the chair.

Once sanded, I cleaned the wood and then used a light stain to bring an original shade back to the chair. A few parts required an extra coat of stain. I kept the original cushion but cleaned it.  Had to use wood glue to attach a couple of broken pieces and one loose piece. I put the chair back together and it was stable and the stain brought back much luster to the char and I will be used in our house. From a 25 cent clearance table nearing the trash compactor to a useable and beautiful chair.

One unique characteristic was an unknown signature. Once I unscrewed the wood base for the seat, where two pieces of wood connected was a signature in blue ink. I made sure to keep the signature untouched and when screwing the chair back together, the signature is hidden for a future owner to come across.