Help with a chair repar

[here to stay]

The hooded castors on the wooden desk chair came loose. The castor sockets were plastic and have worn out. I have new castors with metal sockets to install.

But I can't get the old plastic sockets out. They are apparently so pushed into the surrounding wood and so old and brittle that the break off rather than come out. And I can't reach far enough in so I'm tending to end up with the plastic intact deep in the hole but the edges broken and widened. Worse I think than leaving it.

I've thought about drilling them out but I worry that it will enlarge the hole as I can't really tell where the plastic stops and wood starts until I hit wood. Then I thought about just hammering in the new sockets without removing the plastic. I donxt think it would split the wood but that plastic is well past being flexible. Argh. I really want to keep using this chair that was my father's. I suppose I could drill it out to glue in a dowel but to do that then to redrill a hole for the new socket? There is not all that much wood in that area.

Any ideas?

[feather]

These casters are on the bottom of each leg, correct?
Could you take an inch off the bottom of each leg, then fit with the casters? Would the inch lower chair bother you?

[here to stay]

Oct 1, 2016 16:17:05 GMT feather said:

These casters are on the bottom of each leg, correct?
Could you take an inch off the bottom of each leg, then fit with the casters? Would the inch lower chair bother you?

Although that is a creative thought, it has a curve in the leg at the bottom and there would not be enough downward facing wood left to re-drill for the new sockets. The remaining leg woukd be pointing outwards, not down.

[feather]

Oct 1, 2016 17:31:35 GMT here to stay said:

Oct 1, 2016 16:17:05 GMT feather said:

These casters are on the bottom of each leg, correct?
Could you take an inch off the bottom of each leg, then fit with the casters? Would the inch lower chair bother you?

Although that is a creative thought, it has a curve in the leg at the bottom and there would not be enough downward facing wood left to re-drill for the new sockets. The remaining leg woukd be pointing outwards, not down.

I got it. I hope you find a good solution! Best wishes.

[here to stay]

I just up and drove the metal sockets inside the plastic ones already there. Hopefully the plastic will hold. It certainly was holding well enough to be impossible to remove.