These dining chairs are 21 years old and are heavily used. We have houseguests each week who are on the hefty side (260 lbs to over 300 lbs) and play games at the table for 6 hours at a time.
I have repaired them many times, including several rounds of complete disassembly, cleaning out all old glue. Re-gluing, clamping, screwing. But the forces are strong and persistent on these lightly braced joints.
We are ready to add new bracing to the design, even at the risk of problems in stain-matching or having painted metal showing.
So I am open to your ideas on how to improve the design.
I have 4 other photos that are failing to upload, so I will keep on changing formats and see if I can make it work.