My Tangle with the ‘Titus Kentucky’ Method
Alright, let me tell you about this thing I tried, folks called it the ‘Titus Kentucky’ method. Sounds kinda funny, doesn’t it? I first heard about it from my neighbor, old man Henderson. He saw me struggling with this beat-up wooden stool I found on the curb. One leg was real loose.
He comes over, squinting, and says, “Ah, gotta use the Titus Kentucky on that.” I just looked at him. Titus who? Kentucky what? He just chuckled and said it was an old way his grandpa used for quick fixes, strong fixes.
So, naturally, I got curious. I dragged that wobbly stool into my garage. Cleared some space on the workbench. Henderson didn’t give me clear steps, more like vague pointers. “You gotta feel it,” he kept saying. Real helpful.
Here’s what I ended up doing:
- First, I tried just tightening the screws. Nope. Stripped. Of course.
- Then I remembered Henderson mumbling something about wood dust and glue. So, I swept up some sawdust from a previous project. Mixed it with wood glue until it was like a thick paste.
- I jammed that goop into the gap where the leg joined the seat. Really pushed it in there with a thin piece of scrap wood. Made a mess. Glue everywhere.
- Henderson also mentioned something about pressure. So, I flipped the stool upside down. Piled a bunch of heavy paint cans on the base overnight.
The next morning, I went to check. Cleaned off the dried, crusty glue drips. Gave the leg a wiggle. It felt… solid. Surprisingly solid.
Was it easy? Heck no. It felt random. Making paste out of dust? Seemed kinda backwards. And Henderson’s ‘instructions’ were basically useless riddles. I spent more time guessing than actually working.
But you know what? That stool is still holding up. I use it all the time in the garage. Doesn’t wobble one bit. So, this ‘Titus Kentucky’ thing, whatever it really is, maybe just a funny name for using sawdust filler, it actually worked for me that time. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t professional, but it got the job done. Sometimes those weird, old ways just work.
