If I refinish it, I think I should do so while it is disassembled. It would just be a lot easier to get an even color on the leg spindles if I could work from all sides. But it's been weather-ing a lot here and that means I'd have to work inside. I've been putting off working on this for almost a year, so I should probably not throw roadblocks and caltrops in my own path.

I'd been hoping that gravity (turning the chair upside down) after pounding things in with a padded rubber mallet would be sufficient in lieu of clamps. It can hardly get worse than it is now because sitting in the chair makes scary noises. ....