Restringing a Kay Bojesen Monkey with the Repair Kit

A Kay Bojesen Monkey that has been hung from shelves, lamps and children's hands for years eventually starts to sag: the arms drop, the legs swing loose and the pose no longer holds. This guide explains why that happens, what the repair kit contains and how to approach restringing calmly, so the figure can go back to its branch.

Why a Monkey starts to droop

The Monkey was first carved in 1951, and its charm has always depended on movement. The arms and legs are separate pieces of wood, and they are held to the body by a cord that runs inside the figure. That cord is what gives each joint its gentle resistance. When it is taut, you can set an arm above the head or hook both hands over a shelf edge and the Monkey stays exactly as you left it.

Cotton is a natural fibre, and over years of posing it stretches and relaxes. Nothing has broken, but the tension has gone. The first sign is usually an arm that will not stay raised. Later the legs begin to hang straight down and the figure slumps when you pick it up. At that stage oiling the wood or tightening anything from the outside will not help, because the problem sits inside the body. The answer is a new cord.

It helps to know the scale of what you are working with. The Monkey small in oiled teak and oiled limba stands 18.5 cm tall and weighs 0.17 kg, so its cord carries very little load. The Monkey large teak/limba is a different proposition: 47 cm tall and 2.25 kg, with heavier limbs pulling on the joints every time it hangs by its hands.

What is in the repair kit

The Spare part Repair Kit for Kay Bojesen Monkey (39250) is a slim pack, 0.3 cm high, 6 cm wide and 16 cm deep, and it weighs 0.1 kg. Inside are four things: printed instructions, a length of cotton cord, a nail and a rubber band. There is no glue, no tool set and nothing to drill, which says a good deal about how the Monkey is put together. It was designed to be taken apart and strung again by hand.

Treat the printed sheet as the authority. The nail and the rubber band each have a specific job in the sequence, and the instructions show where and when they come in. This article describes the work in general terms so you know what to expect; it is not a substitute for the steps in the box.

Preparing to restring

Good preparation matters more than skill here. Choose a time when you will not be interrupted, because a half-strung Monkey is awkward to put down and pick up again.

• Work on a soft surface. Lay a folded towel or a piece of felt on the table. Oiled teak and limba mark easily on a hard worktop, and loose limbs have a way of rolling off the edge.
• Read the instructions twice. Once to understand the whole job, once with the pieces in front of you, matching each drawing to the parts of your own figure.
• Keep the parts together. As the old cord comes out, the arms, legs and head become separate pieces. Lay them out in the same arrangement as the assembled Monkey, left arm on the left and so on, so each one goes back into its own socket.
• Clean hands, good light. The teak and limba are oiled, and fingerprints and grime show on the wood.

The job in general steps

Every figure is threaded in the sequence the kit shows, but the work falls into the same broad stages.

1. Remove the old cord. Follow the instructions to release the worn cord and take the limbs off. Do not pull hard on any part of the wood; if something resists, stop and check the drawing again.
2. Look before you rebuild. With the Monkey apart, check the joints and the holes the cord passes through. Wipe away dust with a dry, soft cloth.
3. Thread the new cotton cord. Pass the cord through the body and limbs in the order the instructions give, using the nail and the rubber band exactly as described. Move slowly and keep the cord from twisting.
4. Set the tension. This is the step that decides how the Monkey will behave for the next several years. Too loose and the limbs will droop again soon; too tight and the joints will be stiff and hard to pose. Aim for the point where an arm moves smoothly by hand and then stays where you put it.
5. Secure and test. Finish the cord as the instructions show, then work each arm and leg through its full range a few times. Try a pose with both arms up and let the Monkey hang briefly from your fingers before you trust it on a shelf.

Patience is the main requirement. It is normal to adjust the tension more than once, and it is better to undo a step than to force the wood. Kay Bojesen was a silversmith before he was a toymaker, and he wanted his lines to smile. A Monkey strung in a hurry, with one arm tighter than the other, never quite does.

Looking after the Monkey afterwards

A new cord resets the joints, and a little care keeps the rest of the figure in good condition. Wipe the wood with a dry, soft cloth. Keep the Monkey out of direct sunlight and away from radiators. It is not dishwasher safe. Grain and tone differ from one figure to the next because wood is a living material, so a slight change in colour over the years is part of its character rather than a fault.

For a fuller look at oils, untreated wood and lacquered finishes across the range, read our guide to caring for Kay Bojesen wooden figures.

How you pose the Monkey also affects how long the cord lasts. Hanging it by its hands is what it was designed for, but a heavy figure left in the same stretched position for months puts constant load on the cord. Change the pose now and then, and let the large Monkey sit on a shelf for part of the year rather than hanging all the time.

Repair as part of the design

It says something about Bojesen's thinking that a spare part kit exists at all. His wooden animals were made to be handled, played with and passed on, not kept behind glass, and a figure that can be restrung at the kitchen table can stay in a family for generations. The Monkey on the shelf today may well be the one a grandparent was given, with its third or fourth cord inside.

If your Monkey is in good shape and you want a companion for it, or you are choosing between sizes, browse the full Kay Bojesen collection of wooden figures, birds and Royal Guard soldiers.