material trials

google search "how to fix a broken chair"

interestingly the first examples that come up are very similar to my chosen chair. 
this style of chair must have a serious history of being unreliable, easy to break and frustrating to repair.


http://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/fix-broken-chair-32425/
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7740719_fix-wooden-maple-chair-spindles.html