Upholstery WIP - chair from scratch

[Arron]

I've recently become very keen on upholstery.

Why, I hear you ask (amazed).

Well, its simple. Woodworking has been fun but it isn't very creative by nature. In fact its kind of anti-creative. Kind of brown and rectilinear.

At least with upholstery I still make furniture but I get to play with colour and texture.

The problem is, before you can do this

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or this

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or even this

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you have to do a lot of basic stuff first. And watch about a million Youtube videos (this is my favourite channel - https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=alo+upholstery+youtube&qpvt=alo+upholstery+youtube&FORM=VDRE)


So after doing a couple of basic recovering jobs, its time for the next step - a fully upholstered chair from scratch. I looked around and found this inspiration

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It looks elegant, challenging but not too overwhelming. So I'm going to make something similar from scratch. I'll be loosing the crossed legs, I kind of like them but they are his (Christopher Guy) trademark design and I don't like the idea of thieving someone else's design. Likewise the little nick in the back rail - I like it too but I think it would be theft so it will have to go.

Take the trademark features away and its really just a basic tub chair. But a little too basic in fact, so I'll probably carve something up and applique it on where the nick is, or maybe over the point where the legs meet the top back rail. Maybe a little flower grouping, or maybe some type of linen-fold thing, just to enliven it.

Then to finish it I'll probably spray with clear precat lacquer over a very dark stain. Then upholster with white fabric. That'll be the fun part and I'm not sure I have the skill needed so I hope it doesn't end in failure.

Hopefully there will be an upholsterer or two on the forum who can give me some guidance if I go wrong.

The other thing that is important is that I don't spend much money on the project - as its a bit of an overreach and I may fail. I already have the fabric (I think), enough recycled timber, some English lime for the carving, and some webbing, batting and cording. I'll probably need to buy the foam rubber, but that's about all I think.

I hope there are other people out there who have the same inclination and find this interesting.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

Anyway, I started on the project today and cut up the main chair components.

The timber came from a big haul of nail-free recycled timber that a neighbour threw out for council cleanup about a month ago.

Thats what I'm going to use.

I cut up some Tassie oak and laminated it into rough dimensions for the legs a few weeks ago and left it in the shed to acclimatise.

I had to cut the bottom rails from softwood because when I finally looked closely at what I had there wasnt much hardwood left. Consequently I've kept the rails massive, which is rather ugly but they wont be seen.

I'm not going to dwell on the woodworking because its pretty standard stuff.

These are the main chair components.

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The only thing thats a bit unusual is the front legs have a mitired lip on the top front edge about 6mm high. This is because I anticipate that the long, swoopy back rail will be difficult to make and I will probably laminate some thin veneers on top. The mitred edge will hide the endgrain.

The long mortises in the front leg will receive the chair bottom rail, stretcher rail and chair top rail, so it was simply an economy to cut them as one long mortise.

[shanesmith80]

Looks like it should be fun, i'm along for the ride.

I finished a chair recently and dabbled in the upholstery for the first time myself. Though mine was just sewing up 2 rectangular cushions. I got most of my supplies from http://www.homeupholsterer.com.au/ . They were very friendly and helpful with all my enquiries.

[q9]

I've just been watching a whole bunch of upholstery videos on youtube over the last week or so. Some really good info and demonstrations out there.

Here's a few to get you started:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8YjZ9O9HglSY4fzluW3PAw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vzl4CDjQE0

[bueller]

Count me in for the ride too. One day I'd love to make an upholstered wing back chair but that will be quite a few years away yet.

[Arron]

I've just been watching a whole bunch of upholstery videos on youtube over the last week or so. Some really good info and demonstrations out there.

Here's a few to get you started:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8YjZ9O9HglSY4fzluW3PAw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vzl4CDjQE0

Yep, those are both good. What I'd really like to see and have never found though is something that simply but comprehensively explains the differences between the different suspension systems (coil springs, zigzag springs, webbing etc). I think I've assembled this knowledge slowly from lots of different sources but I'd still love to see someone put it all together.

Also, the differences between the webbing materials remains a bit of a mystery. I'd like to see someone just explain which to use and where. This chair, for example is going to use vertically aligned webbing straps on both the inside and outside faces of the back. How do I choose between jute and elastic ?

[q9]

Yeah, I found some explanations for those too. You might have to dig through some of the videos on those channels to see when they recommend what...will have a look later tonight and see what I found...

[Arron]

Count me in for the ride too. One day I'd love to make an upholstered wing back chair but that will be quite a few years away yet.

Me too. I have saved this photo because its a favourite of mine. I know its not really wing back, but close enough. I like the strong contrast with the yellow back and the way its carried through the piping.

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I'd like to do that as a taller wingback.

[q9]

Now I have a seat on the train...

In my understanding, jute goes on the underside and you tie your springs to it, elastic goes on the top side and you put your foam on top as it provides the "spring". S-springs seem easier to work with , but maybe I'm wrong about that (or in fact all of it ;) )

[Arron]

I think there's a bit more to it then that. It's still pretty easy to find videos of people putting jute webbing under foam seats. It may be just economy - because jute is VERY cheap, or it may be because the elastic webbing has a shorter lifespan, or maybe its just tradition. The other thing about jute is that you need to stretch it really tight, so maybe some people think it will be too much stress for a lighter chairframe.

I do know that the S-springs are cheaper and easier to work with then coil springs. The choice for me for the drop in seat is between s-springs and elastic/jute webbing under foam - especially bearing in mind that by its design this is not a chair to be sat in much - not like a dining chair - but just occasionally.

Also, for the back, I'm leaning towards elastic webbing (lighter grade for backs) but jute webbing would be cheaper. The main issue with the outside back is whether either will be more inclined to show through and destroy the smooth line of the fabric cover.

I will need to work all these questions through before I get to the upholstery, till then there is woodwork, carving and finishing to do so it will be a few weeks away.

[Christos]

This should be a cool work in progress. Pulling up a chair to watch the progress.

Just on my personal opinion I prefer the back of the chair not to have a nick in it. So a continuous curve would look better.

[NCArcher]

I'm along for the ride as well. I've made and upholstered a kids chair, which went pretty well but I was copying an existing one. The kid I made it for is 26 now :doh:

[Xanthorrhoeas]

This should be interesting to read and learn from. My bias, as will be obvious, is antique furniture, so the concepts below may not be of interest to you.

A few thoughts for you: The longevity of the materials used is important. Traditional early 19th century upholstery that I am familiar with used jute webbing and teased horsehair for its springiness. The teased horsehair still has spring 180 years later, but the jute webbing died about 50 years or more ago. Contemporary jute webbing does not seem to be as high quality as that early webbing. I have one piece that was professionally reupholstered perhaps 25 years ago and the jute webbing began to fail over 15 years ago. Some of the online videos from the UK talk about using linen webbing as being higher quality but I have yet to source any of it. Perhaps more jute straps, closer together might help it to survive.

The rubber straps (not elastic btw, rubber is inelastic) also have a fairly short life, so it depends on how long you want your work to last. If the aim is 50 to 100 years I would not use the rubber straps. if you are happy to reupholster in 10 years then the rubber is probably OK.

There are many different rubber and plastic foams out there. Some of them have a very short lifespan. I do not know how to choose the ones that last but there must be a source of information. Of course you could always use teased horsehair instead. You can still buy it in Australia (or at least could a couple of years ago when I bought some cartons of it) from Leffler in Melbourne.

One suggestion for the back - so as to hide the straps - would be to use a layer of stiffer material over the straps and under the fabric. I have seen that done on furniture made in the early 20th century.

[Arron]

HI Xantho, glad to have you aboard.

I did spend a bit of time researching webbing today.

Looking through the book 'The Upholsterers Step by Step Handbook', the author distinguishes between:

Rubber webbing, usually made by Pirelli, which is this

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and Elasticated (sic) webbing, which is this

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I think the term 'elasticated' is a bit esoteric and I think its now just 'elastic'.

That author says 'only use elasticated webbing under a foam pad', but I think he means 'dont use elasticated webbing anywhere but under foam pad' rather then 'dont use any other type of webbing under a foam pad', as is almost clear from the context. When discussing jute webbing he says it can be 'used under a traditional stuffed pad and under foam'.

He describes flax and flax/linen webbing and notes a preference for it among traditionalists but doesn't make any case for it being superior.

I think 10 years lifespan is a bit short for quality elastic webbing. I think peoples estimation of how long it will last is biased by the tendency of factory furniture-makers to use an inferior product just to save a few dollars. The premium elastic webbing should last 30 years, and I base that on the furniture we have in our house. The inferior webbing used in our dining chairs lasted only about 10-15 years but they were from Freedom Furniture so I wasnt surprised.

I am a member of the Open Library so should make an effort to get some more printed matter on the subject, rather then YouTube videos, which are a nice way to learn technique but usually present product choices as a given rather then discuss the pros and cons.

[Arron]

Yesterday was bad day.

I thought I should glue the major components of the chair up so that I could use live measures for cutting the next group of components. I thought it wouuld be quick and simple. It wasnt.

I decided not to use mortise&tenon joints in the rear legs as I wasn't confident of getting the angles right, so I thought I would rely on end-grain glueing, screws and brackets. Also, because clamps are all but useless on something with so few parallel or perpendicular surfaces the screws would have to function as clamps.

With no self-aligning joints and no reliable reference points its hard to get everything right at once.

I ended up with a chair with a twisted frame and back legs with quite different amounts of layback. I was amazed at how easy it is to go wrong - I'm not used to working with curves I guess.

I ended up having to sit and have a good think about it and then pull it apart and reglue it. This time I marked all the positions for the feet on the ground and used band clamps to get it all aligned, then screwed. The result is quite good, here it is.

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So the lessons learnt were. Really overdo the marking of everything first, especially some reference point which gives you a consistent height above ground and consistent slope for the back legs. I think ideally this should have been done before the back legs were cut from the board (and laminated), perhaps with a swipe across the tablesaw giving a shallow cut thats clear and permanent. Its difficult to provide reliable reference marks after the legs are shaped because every bit of them curve or taper in a different direction.

Secondly I'd make something which forces the legs into the correct angle without having to endlessly run around with a square and sliding bevel. I think some plywood offcuts which are hot-melt-glued to the bottom of the legs would do - sort of like very wide boots which, when sitting squarely on the ground align the legs with no arguments.

And another thing I learnt was that if you predrill holes, then size the timber in preparation for end-grain glueing, do make sure you redrill the holes after the size dries. Otherwise, the timber expands, tightens up the hole, and the screw binds up in an awful gluey mess as you drive it - to the point where it can be impossible to tighten up the components fully or remove the screw without damage.


Wanting to restore my confidence that I could achieve something (anything) I then cut the next group of components.


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What you see here are the blocks for the lower chair rail, which also support the drop-in seat, and the back and side stretcher rails. The dowels are props which will sit vertically between the stretcher rails and the top seat rail. This is to stop the webbing and fabric, which will be under substantial tension, pulling the stretcher rails upwards. They shouldnt really be necessary but as the neighbour's timber contribution didnt include much hardwood I had to cut these components from softwood. You can't strengthen the stretcher rails from below because you will want to pull the fabric through that gap.

I'll need to get this stuff glued up today so I can start on the long, swoopy back rail this weekend. It looks like its going to be a challenge.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

Here's a few more things I've learnt on the way.

Today I ordered a cording/piping foot for my wife's sewing machine DZ1141 Universal Metal Double Welting Piping Cord Foot FOR Singer Brother Janome | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DZ1141-Universal-Metal-Double-Welting-Piping-Cord-Foot-For-Singer-Brother-Janome-/131882064566?hash=item1eb4c89ab6:g:I0EAAOSwayZXjYt6). Almost all good upholstery needs piping, mainly just to disguise the messy bits where surfaces join. Its usual to make your own piping from the same fabric as the chair covering and a bit of twine or whatever. Last time I used a zipper foot on the machine, which was OK but cant really get in as close as I would have liked and thus there was some puckered-up piping. The cording/piping foot actually has two grooves in the foot, one on either side of a tiny needle cut-out. As the sewing progresses, the twine is guided through one of the grooves and the needle punches through the cutout right beside it. I think the second groove is for doing double piping - though not sure about that. Its worth getting one of these things apparently.

Be careful to buy a cording/piping foot, not a cording foot, which I did previously and is something quite different.

Also, dont forget to cut your piping fabric on the bias.

I also made a staple remover. Its just an old screwdriver with the end ground into two sharp points, and bent after heating with MAPP gas. If you keep the width across the points less then 9mm then you can drive either one or both prongs in below standard (T50) staples. I have found about 25 degrees being a good angle for the bend, enough leverage without feeling misaligned when you drive it in. On one Youtube video the guy said he uses it in his left hand and drives it with a pair of pliers in his right, rather then a hammer. That way he doesnt have to go searching for his pliers to pull recalcitrant staples. It works very well. Another tip from the same guy was to keep a magnet or two on the benchtop when de-stapling, sooner or later all the staples end up sticking to it, making cleanup easy. I guess when you have thousands to do every bit counts.

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I also found that this site is the best way to learn about chair/sofa woodwork - Clark Chairframes cover (http://www.clarkchairframes.com/). You can see everything here, naked of upholstery.

Chairmaking is not the sort of careful woodwork we are used to - like screws driven straight into endgrain and joints clamped up with nailguns. I was a bit taken aback at first then I decided that clearly it works so when in Rome ...



And finally, here's an interesting picture of a chair frame with the components named. About the only thing which is not intuitive to a woodworker is probably the stretcher rails. These are the components to which the upholstery is stretched down and then tacked, so they need to be robust and set in such as way that they dont interfere with the alignment of the fabric.

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cheers
Arron

[Arron]

I glued up the next batch of components yesterday. Obviously there isn't much interest in the woodwork so I'll not dwell on it.

It sure is a robust looking beastie. It wont matter, all that is hidden.

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cheers
Arron

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Of course you could always use teased horsehair instead. You can still buy it in Australia (or at least could a couple of years ago when I bought some cartons of it) from Leffler in Melbourne.

Hi Arron, I realise that you were not interested in using it, but, for completeness and for anyone else reading this, I have checked with Lefflers and, unfortunately, they no longer import the teased, curled horsehair, so that option no longer exists for new furniture.

If anyone is reupholstering a piece that has horsehair stuffing they should wash and dry the stuffing - then reuse it. That works well for me.

[Arron]

Hi Arron, I realise that you were not interested in using it, but, for completeness and for anyone else reading this, I have checked with Lefflers and, unfortunately, they no longer import the teased, curled horsehair, so that option no longer exists for new furniture.

If anyone is reupholstering a piece that has horsehair stuffing they should wash and dry the stuffing - then reuse it. That works well for me.

I appreciate that. Now I know that if I come across any in a wrecked chair I will wash it and put it away just in case.

[Arron]

Again, skipping over the woodwork because its pretty basic.

I've done the long swooping top rail in the last few days. It took several attempts to get the method right.

I started thinking I'd make a form out of mdf and laminate thin strips. I made the form and cut a stack of 2mm thick veneers on the bandsaw. It only took a few minutes of trying to bend the veneers around the form to realise that wasnt going to work. The problem is the chair has and needs a flat top rail, while trying to bend timber in 2 directions leads to a cambered curve. Even 2mm was way too thick to get the curve, and using thinner veneers would make it possible but too time consuming.

So I figured I would make a 'wall' of 20mm thick scrap timbers laminated together until I got sufficient height and then cut a 50mm deep curved rail out with a bandsaw.

This is the 'wall'

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I actually had to cut it in two parts at the apex and then join them back together to get the right curve. I didnt realise this, I really am no good at visualising curves.

Once fixed to the chair it was a simple matter of cleaning up the top of the rail with plane and spokeshave, and bevelling the sides so they dont obstruct the line of the fabrics.

At this point the top rail is just structural - solid but ugly.

Then I laminated on 4 layers of 2mm thick high quality veneers onto the top surface. This is the visible bit, so they are just to tidy up the appearance. The combined veneers form a 8mm capping which overhangs the lower, structural part of the top rail by about 5mm each side. The upholstery will come right up to the bottom of this overhang, with a row of piping immediately underneath and kind of partially overlapping the capping to give a neat finish.

Unfortunately I had to use three pieces of veneer per layer (butt joined), with the two joins located over the points where the back legs meet the top rail. I will applique on a carving of some sort to hide these, I think.

Here is the chair, woodwork finished, with the top rail all shaped and ready to go.

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This was quite a lot of work. I have found that before when mimicing high quality furniture - you start out wondering how they can charge so much for their furniture and end up wondering how they can do it for the money.

Even before I finished I found this photo and realised this would have been a much quicker way to do it, silly me :

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Just start with a base of flat timber, then build up from bits of timber with the curved bits bandsawn where appropriate. It would be ugly and bulky but its all hidden anyway. The problem is I still havent adopted the right way of thinking - I still think like a solid-timber woodworker who feels required to make every bit of the item well finished because every bit may perhaps be seen.

Anyway, next is carving some appliques.

cheers
Arron

[ian]

Arron

can I thank you for sharing this journey

[Arron]

Today I mentioned the appliqued carving to my wife and she insisted the chair should have no carving. Mixing old and new styles, apparently. I guess she's right so I'll skip it.

I just carved my makers mark on the rear of the front leg, up top where it's visible but you have to search for it. On the other leg I carved "2016" just to balance it out. I have found that whether you are selling things, giving gifts to friends, or simply making for yourself, the personalisation is always a hit with people.

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Then I did the finishing.

What I was aiming for was a very dark brown finish - almost black but definitely not black. I wanted the grain to be visible and the wood to be 'streaky', but only when you looked closely. I wanted it to look like very old and mellowed Makassar ebony.

Like this but with even less contrast, in fact much less.

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I knew it wouldnt be a very natural look, but then I like faux finishes - as long as they are very good faux finishes. I like them much more then I like a mediocre timber and the visible parts of this chair are Tassie Oak and you cant get much more mediocre-looking then that.

So this was the finishing schedule:

1. sand to 240 grit
2. wipe with white spirits to reveal any unnoticed glue smears or scratches
3. wipe with water to raise the grain
4. when dry, sand with 240 grit again
5. apply several base coats of pigment in a red/brown colour using a rag. Being Tassie oak, its still not very dark at this point.
6. apply a coat of darker brown using an airbrush, making it artificially streaky (actually the airbrush does this naturally)
7. apply a very light coat of black/brown across the lot by airbrush, to bring it up to the desired darkness
8. spray on two coats of nitrocellulose sealer
9. sand with 400 - very, very lightly so as not to cut through the stain
10. blow off all the dust
11. spray on 3 coats of precatalysed lacquer
12. after it has set hard (several days), sand with 1500 grit, very lightly, just to knock off the dust nibs
13. buff with car cleaning compounds

The trick with the white spirits is something I learnt a few years ago and is well worth doing. Glue-smears especially stick out like dog's. It has to be real white spirits though, turps or any other substitute I know of do not work so well.

I dont normally do the grain-raising step because I dont normally work with stained timber and thus am able to do a very thorough sanding after applying a sealer. Given that this is stained timber, the risk of sanding through the stain is too high to sand thoroughly after staining, so its better to do the grain raising first. In this case it worked very well and I think I will do it in all cases from now on. In fact the preliminary grain raising worked so well that there really wasn't any need to sand from there on down right through to the final coat, I just sanded after the sealer out of habit.

So a few days ago I diligently got some offcuts and put them through this process till I was happy with the look.

Today I set about doing the chair.

It did not go well.

Everything was good till I finished step 7, which looked OK so I left it for a while. When I came back it was not dark brown, but black - 100% black.

Thinking about it, I had mixed up a new lot of colour and simply plunged in and sprayed it on. Had I tested it on some scrap first I would have realised the colour was all wrong. Stupid me.

Panicing, I mixed up some dark brown and sprayed that on, hoping it would tone the black down. I didnt test that either, still hadnt learnt the lesson it seems. It didnt tone the black down, it simply obliterated the grain and the streakyness.

So I ended up with what I tried so hard to avoid, plain opaque black lacquer (a la 1980).

Its actually a very nice spray job - in fact its brilliant considering it was done outside on a windy day. Its just that I've taken a wooden chair and made it look like a plastic one.

I get annoyed thinking about it but then I console myself by thinking that this chair is meant to be a learning experience, a mistake magnet, so I should be glad I'm making the mistakes now and not on something that counts.

Heres the look.

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Next I start the actual upholstery.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

Into the upholstery.

Starting with the front surface of the chair back/sides.

Quality upholstery seems to require a quite a few layers and in this case the layers to be done are:

1. Webbing
2. Hessian
3. Foam
4. Calico
5. Batting
6. Upholstery fabric

I'll do a different post for each one.



And just to get a few things out of the way:

Yesterday I went to Home Upholsterer (Wholesale Upholstery Fabric & Supplies | Home Upholsterer (http://www.homeupholsterer.com.au/)) for some basics. They have web sales but if you can visit in person all the better. You are right, Shane, they are helpful people and very DIY friendly. I have previously bought from professional upholstery suppliers and they are not helpful and not even cheap when they break their stock down into DIY-level quantities.

The lacquer on the chair is iron-hard but regardless I still took the time to wrap the legs in newspaper and tape. This will stay on till the end of the project. I find with upholstery that you are flipping the chair around a lot and its easy to do damage. Likewise I put some tape and padding on the back rail and then pinned some fabric over the benchtop.

Finally, if there is an upholsterer on this forum please step in and give some guidance. Even if just confirming that I'm not off-track and not saying stupid things it would be very helpful.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

As I understand it, basically there are three ways that I could provide a firm foundation for the chair back and sides.

Plywood
Springs
Webbing

Most upholsterers dont like plywood because one stray knee can crack the plywood and leave you with a mess to fix. Webbing and springs resist damage because they part and let the appendage through.

Springs are the deluxe approach and may be good where the chair is going to be sat in a lot and comfort and longevity are an issue. In this case they arent, so they would simply be an expensive overkill.

So that leaves webbing.

The choices with webbing are:

linen webbing (or linen/flax)
jute webbing
rubber webbing (ie pirelli webbing)
elastic webbing

I dont see either linen or rubber webbing on any of our local suppliers catalogues/websites so that makes it easy, just jute and elastic webbing to choose from. I discussed this with Home Upholsterer and they confirmed that both would be work in this situation, but if there was no need for an elastic effect then jute webbing would be a safe and economical choice. Jute webbing is about $0.50 per meter and elastic webbing is $2-3, so its best to learn to work with jute webbing wherever it will suffice.

So I bought a 33 metre roll of jute webbing for $15. There is a 10lb and a downgrade 9lb version, which is apparently no good for seats but OK for backs, but the difference is only $2 per roll so go for the 10lb.

I have noticed that you can buy webbing at Spotlite and Clarke rubber. At Spotlite they seem to only have the downgrade ones.

Then you need a webbing stretcher. You can make one easily. There are several different types but I prefer this type.

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Its a bit more fiddly to work with then the other types but it doesnt involve penetrating the webbing with sharp spikes which doesnt seem smart with elastic webbing. I doubt its an issue with jute as the weave is fairly open anyway.

Here it is in action

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So I went ahead and checked that all arises were rounded and sanded smooth to minimize wear on the webbing. Then I stapled all the webbing in. Not much to say about it. Here's a picture.

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There were some lessons learnt.

1. The jute webbing frays easily so you cannot put a row of staples near the end and expect it to hold. Eventually it will pull through. You need a fairly long (say 50mm) length of webbing on the loose side of the staples, preferably with that loose end tacked down with another row of staples. If you dont have a lot of space, it seems the usual practice is to staple the webbing down, then turn it over and staple it down again with the second row of staples more or less over the first. I found all this out the hard way and needed to disassemble and redo.

2. You need good staples. I bought two packets of these from Masters. Do not use these or anything similar to them for upholstery. They are fragile and one or both legs will often break if you need to remove them. When they break you get little sharp spikes in your woodwork which you cannot remove and will surely abrade anything they come into contact with. I had some good Arrow staples before this which were much better. I use 12mm for anything 'structural', and 8mm for anything temporary or not under stress.

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3. I've been using an electric staple gun until now and its really not up to the task. Put 10,000 staples though them and they are hopeless. Tomorrow I will buy a air stapler. I think if you buy an air stapler try first to buy a long nose one. They arent essential in upholstery but they do some interesting tricks. Some people even grind the noses down further to minimum thickness.

4. Tension of the webbing is an issue with me. Basically, I tensioned till it made a drumming sound. Seems OK.

Arron

[Arron]

OK, I've done the next step, in this case hessian (burlap) foundation layer.

I really dont know how important it is to use hessian, or what the arguments for using it are. I find that typical of upholstery, plenty of instruction but no information on the reasons behind things. Maybe the preference for hessian was largely just cost saving. I guess once it was cheap, though now its actually more expensive then many basic fabrics like cotton drill, which is much sounder. Or maybe its used because it has a (small) ability to mould to the shape of what it covers. Or maybe its favoured because the open weave allows you to see how stuffing underneath lies, and poke a regulator (big needle) through and move the stuffing around. Or maybe its just tradition.

Anyway, I do know its traditionally used as a foundation fabric over springs or webbing, below the fill.

I once disassembled some dining chairs that didnt have a hessian layer and the webbing edges had started to cut into the foam.

I have read that there are different 'rub-counts' or grades and the stuff used for upholstery should be of a higher count, but I didnt think the difference would be big enough to warrant half a morning's drive so I got some from Spotlite ($20 pm at 2400mm wide).

So here it is, stapled all around. You can see from the photo that its not stretched particularly tight.

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If anyone can enlighten us on the importance of using hessian and what else could substitute then please do.

cheers
Arron

[q9]

The hessian is just there to ensure the next layer doesn't fall through the webbing/springs/etc. It's primary quality is that it is fairly hard wearing and cheap. Some dudes use offcuts instead.

Was there a reason not to weave the back?

[Arron]

Was there a reason not to weave the back?

can you clarify what you are asking ?


********* edit *************

rereading it I guess you mean was there a reason I didn't weave horizontal webbing through the vertical webbing. The answer is because the back is rounded so the horizontal webbing would, if it had any tightness at all, simply shortcut between its two anchor points, thus dragging the entire back webbing forward.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

The hessian is just there to ensure the next layer doesn't fall through the webbing/springs/etc. It's primary quality is that it is fairly hard wearing and cheap. Some dudes use offcuts instead
Sounds right. I hadn't thought of it as hard-wearing but it's been used for sacks for centuries so I guess there must be a reason for that.

[q9]

Ok. From the photo it is a bit hard to tell how it lines up. I wonder if angling it wouldn't have worked? Could also be completely unnecessary ;)

[Arron]

Ok. From the photo it is a bit hard to tell how it lines up. I wonder if angling it wouldn't have worked? Could also be completely unnecessary ;)

Angling it would also have compromised my nice curve. If you look at the original design, it's all about the curves.

Anyway, I was motivated to watch some YouTube videos again and it seems vertical-only is the norm for tub chairs. Some apparently competent upholsterers, like this one https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m90eTpARot4 , even use just a single sheet of fabric instead of both webbing and hessian.

Cheers
Arron

[q9]

Yes I'm probably overcomplicating what doesn't need to be any more complicated.

Nice build sofa...

[Christos]

.....Nice build sofa...

Thought he was building a chair? :U

[Arron]

Nice build sofa...
Spare me. Even a chair is doing my head in.

Next will be a chaise lounge though.

Cheers

[Arron]

Nothing confuses me more then foam rubber. I guess the main things I'm uncertain about are how thick and how dense the foam needs to be. I also dont know to what extent I can rely on the fabric layers to round over the sharp edges of a foam cushion. And I dont know to what extent I can rely on the batting (wadding) layer to smooth out any sharp edges.

I guess the only way to learn is to go ahead and make mistakes. So today I did the foam layer.

The foam layer I need is basically a complex 3d curve. If I was making this commercially then I would probably have a moulded foam insert to drop in. I dont so I have to make it up from mulitple layers. First I glued a 10 mm thick soft foam layer over the whole surface using contact glue. Then I glued 2 layers of 25mm firm foam over the top, bought from Clark Rubber for $17. I bevelled their edges at 45 degrees in case the next three layers of fabric and batting are not sufficient to smooth them down. Here's the look:

397006

I cut the bevels on a bandsaw. I recently had a bad near-miss on the bandsaw cutting poorly-supported timber so I'm more then usually jumpy. Hence I made a fixture which kept my hands well away from the blade. Here it is:

397007

The fixture is clamped to the bandsaw table, and the foam is fixed to a piece of thin plywood by a tiny piece of double sided tape. The plywood is slid along the fixture with just the foam passing through the blade. Curves take several passes. Its safe.

cheers
Arron

[q9]

Corners need sanding off round, and it works better to put the small piece of foam behind the big one. The other way around you will see and it will annoy you no end.

[Arron]

Ok, thanks. I will make the changes.

Cheers
Arron

[q9]

When I used to do foam backed office chairs we had a custom made sanding spindle, basically just a piece of wood turned to the desired shape and some fairly coarse grit paper glued on. It will never wear out on foam ;)

Any, and I mean any, straight line will show through the fabric. The idea of using something like acrylic wool sheet I've the top has merit...

[Arron]

I was hoping to be able to just put it on my 'big boy' sander tomorrow. If that fails then perhaps I'll glue some 60 grit to a broomstick and put it in the lathe.

I'm not sure what is meant by 'acrylic wool sheet'. I have polyester batting which will go over the top. This stuff "Dacron" Bonded Polyester Fibre (PER METRE) | Home Upholsterer (http://www.homeupholsterer.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=304&search=Batting) . Same effect ???

[Arron]

I want to say thanks for your help too. This is just the kind of input and learning along the way I was hoping for.

Cheers

[q9]

Actually this made me remember...one of the lines we used to make was a high back chair. You could get the premium version which had extra lumbar support. In truth it was just a few cents worth of high density foam, about 4x1 inch glued behind the normal foam. It took maybe an extra few seconds to glue it up.

Wholesale price at the time would have been well more than all that!

[q9]

Oh yeah, that fibre sheet should do nicely.

[ian]

Hi Arron

another tool for cutting foam is a jig saw with a foam cutting blade.
Festool and Bosch both make foam cutting blades. The Festool ones are 150mm long, and the Bosch ones about 100mm (I think). Cost is around $7 per blade and they are sold in packs of 3.

[Arron]

This morning I separated the foams and reglued them as advised. I shaped them on the 'big boy' sander, which is very aggressive but usable. I put the small piece behind the large piece too. There is a bit of residual glue but its minimal and I'm pretty sure it wont affect the finished job.

397034

One thing I'm wondering about is the gap between the top of the foam and the top rail. There was meant to be a gap here but not as large or as deep as it is. I'm concerned it will feel hollow once the fabric is on. I have lots of loose dacron fibre that I could use here to minimize it. Would it be a wise precaution, or should I wait till the layer of calico and wadding are on and see what remains ?

cheers
Arron

[q9]

I was going to answer this earlier...so my short answer is it would be better no gap. Well sanded, the top most section will compress down nicely. You could try adding extra to the top like you were saying, but I'd guess it won't be satisfactory. I should have picked it before. Gomen!

Joining a new piece on top or underneath might be ok, but it will need to be a near perfect join.

[NCArcher]

Could you add in a strip a couple of inches down from the top. The top is already shaped and a join on the flat section would be easier to get flush/even.
An electric bread/carving knife is excellent for cutting foam.

[Arron]

Thinking about it, the top of the foam does need to stop some distance down from the top rail because I intend to have both ply-grips (shark trim) and piping. Ply grips are these things Coverfix / Shark Trim / Curl Grip (http://www.premiergroup.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=276) . I'm counting on them giving me a neat finish in the fabric across the curved top. Obviously I don't want them sitting on top of foam. I don't have the knowledge to understand how piping, foam, ply-grips and wadding will all sit together. I guess it's just one of those things where I will have to be prepared to do it a few times to get it right. Purpose of the exercise.

[q9]

If you have a trim piece going in on top then that might do it. I suspect you may try a few different things before you might the right idea. If you are prepared for that then no worries :)

[Arron]

The pre-upholstery is the layer of fabric on top of the foam but underneath the wadding and final furniture fabric. Its role, as I understand it, is to reduce stress and rubbing on the final layer of furniture fabric and to stop natural fibre fillings from poking through. The main advantage for me however is that it gives me a preview of what the finished job will look like before its too late to do anything about it.

I decided to ignore the problems mentioned in the previous few posts and go ahead - maybe it wont be an issue.

Pre-upholstery is traditionally done with calico. I dug out some calico and gave it a go but it didnt work well and I ended up pulling it all off. The calico was too fragile to get a decent tension. Maybe it was too thinner grade or maybe it wasnt real calico, though I bought it as calico from Spotlite and it was the only grade they had. I have been reluctant to use offcuts of any other material on this job because I really dont know much about fabric and am not sure how they would perform, but I gave up on the calico and used some old curtain fabric. Here's the result.

397094

I'm pretty happy with it except that I think I used too heavier-density foam. Buying foam from Clark Rubber you get a verbal description of density but not an industry-standard metric so its a bit hit and miss. I think this is really seat foam, not back foam.

I put a board in the seat and sat in the chair to make sure there werent any excessive tensions in the fabric when I leaned back. It seems to be a bit of a balancing act to tighten enough to get the wrinkles out but not so much that the fabric shortcuts the curve and sits forward of the foam (which would cause stress on the fabric when you lean back).

One other thing. I bought an air-powered stapler yesterday. Its only a Ryobi ($80), but its brilliant compared to the electric. Puts the staples in with a positive 'thunk' every time, without needing to press hard against the substrate. The staples which come with it are brilliant too - never break when you remove them.

A cool feature is that you can do temporary staples by using the gun at a 45 degree angle. Only one leg goes in properly so you can just flick them out with ease.

Next is the piping. A bit of a break now while I wait for the cording foot to be delivered.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

I did the piping today. I still havent received the piping/cording foot (for the sewing machine) I ordered, so decided to go ahead using a zipper foot.

Most quality upholstery has piping. Its usually sewn up by the upholsterer as needed, so he/she can use the same fabric as is used for the upholstery. Its a simple matter of cutting a thin strip of fabric, say 60mm wide, folding it over the cord and sewing along the length. The fabric should be cut on the bias (diagonally) so that it is less likely to runch up when the piping is stapled around corners, or so I read. You want to be able to sew in real close to the cord, so you dont get puckering when stapled in place.

397691

Various cords are available which are made for the job. Usually they are hollow and made of soft material, which I presume is so they dont feel uncomfortably hard when you lean on them. I dont need that here because the piping will be tucked in below the top rail, so just went ahead with some rather stiff nylon cord to save myself a shopping trip.

It can be one of those jobs where a long-nose stapler is better.

There is a trick involved in getting the end of each run of piping neat. Make sure you have some overhang, mark where the end should be, pull back the fabric covering and snip the cord at this point, then pull the fabric forward again. The bulky cord will now stop at the end of the run, so it will sit neatly, but gives you a fabric tab to stretch and staple in place out of sight.

Ultimately, the job was not bad but should have been better. Its a bit runched. I will wait for the piping/cording foot before I do any more. I'm hoping that when I do the shark trim edging it will close up the gap which appears between the piping and top rail in some places.

397690


By the way, I went into Masters and bought a Bosch jigsaw blade for soft materials. This is it.

397692

I was expecting to use this to cut foam. Maybe I got it wrong, but its hopeless, I could chew through faster. Dont buy one.

[ian]

By the way, I went into Masters and bought a Bosch jigsaw blade for soft materials. This is it.

397692

I was expecting to use this to cut foam. Maybe I got it wrong, but its hopeless, I could chew through faster. Dont buy one.which blade (number if possible) did you buy. I have a Festool foam cutting blade (150mm long) which is the bee's knees for cutting foam. From memory you have to turn the oscillation off, so the blade just goes up and down.

[Arron]

which blade (number if possible) did you buy. I have a Festool foam cutting blade (150mm long) which is the bee's knees for cutting foam. From memory you have to turn the oscillation off, so the blade just goes up and down.

Bosch T313AW HCS
My AEG doesn't oscillate.

Cheers
Arron

[Arron]

The next step is to make provision for fabric edge holding, in preparation for fitting the final upholstery fabric.

The bottom edge of the fabric will be pulled around the stretcher rail and stapled out of sight, but the top edge will be fully exposed where it terminates immediately below the top rail. From my reading, I can see that there are a few solutions to make it pretty:

1. Use a row of close fitted tacks with decorative heads.

2. Use gimp (decorative fabric strips) or double welt (double piping). These are either sewn or glued in place.

3. Route a deep, narrow groove and staple the loose end of the fabric in the groove, then staple the loose edge of the piping in the groove, so the piping conceals the groove.

4. Use cardboard strips, with the fabric wrapped around and stapled in place. I've done this and on a curved surface I found it very difficult.

5. Use shark trim (or ply grips or many other names).

My preference I think would be option 3, but I dont have a long nosed stapler, so I had to opt for what I thought would be next easiest invisible option, the shark trim.

This is the stuff.

398056

As always, it turned out to be a much bigger learning curve then expected.

Here's some lessons learnt.

Its difficult to shoot every staple in such that one leg goes in the hole. Even the series 80 staples bend if you get it wrong, they dont penetrate the metal. I suggest you mark on the nose of the stapler the exact point where each leg of the staple will emerge.

Its also difficult to fit the shark trim so precisely that when you bend it flat it drives the fabric right up against the piping. A gap of 1 or 2mm will spoil a perfect look. If its critical, maybe a spacer of some sort should be used.

Its best to use one piece of shark trim right across. Joins are inclined to lay badly.

Where you need to cut, cut the tab that you staple, not the tab with the hooks. If you cut the tab with hooks, the sharp point that result will snag the fabric.

I also learnt that its best to push the tabs closed to an angle of about 20 degrees before fitting the fabric. I thought it would be possible to simply hang the fabric on the little hooks and then, once its all sitting right, press them all closed. They dont work like that though, or at least not with my fabric. The hooks have very little if any holding power till they are pressed closed. I found it best to double over the fabric and push it in with a plastic ruler.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

Next up is the wadding (batting), just to enhance the smoothness and plump out the hollow bits.

Again it turned out to be one of those things where you dont know how much you dont know till you start doing it.

What I do know is that wadding these days is mostly polyester. There is still cotton batting available, but its price pretty much precludes it use for DIY work. The polyester version is available in 200gsm, 150 gsm and a hard to find 100gsm. Buy at Spotlite, Clark Rubber or upholstery supplier.

The thing I wasnt sure about is whether it needs to be glued down or not. I have seen upholsters going underneath it with their trusty spray glue gun, but I"m not sure if thats just to hold it still while they are working with it, or for long term effect, or whether they just like to use their glue guns. In the end I just stapled it in a few spots immediately below the shark trim. I then trimmed the top leaving enough free edge so that it covered up to the tip of the toothed flange of the shark trim. This means that as the shark trim is pressed down there will be wadding between the shark trim and the final fabric, hiding the knoblyness of the shark trim.

The other thing I couldnt figure out is whether to trim the wadding at the lower edge of the seat back, or leave it a bit long and bend it around the lower rail. I chose the former, but I think the latter would have been smarter.

Seemed to work anyway.

This is what it looks like :

398166

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

Final fabric done, finishing the IB (inside back).

Again, difficult. Required three attempts to get it right. Cut, sew, staple, rip off, remove staples, repeat. The main issue is that fabric is flat, but the IB is a complex curve. A long radius at the bottom, then a short radius in the middle where the foam reaches its peak, then a long radius at the top where the foam is thinner. And to make it more difficult, you have to allow for the fact that when someone sits in it the whole thing changes and the fabric in effect moves backward causing new stresses to develop at the anchor points.

The only way I know of to contour fabric is to use darts, where a triangular section is cut out and the edges resewn. You can see where the darts are in the photo, plus there are 'reverse darts' (sorry, dont know the real name - where the fabric is split and an additional section sewn in) below the seat itself where the fabric is bent around the stretcher rail, otherwise there wouldnt be enough fabric to get a nice even hold and tension across the width.

Its a difficult balancing act getting the shape just right. I guess thats why upholsterers do apprenticeships.

I ended up with a few wrinkles, but I'm satisfied because I didnt expect to get it prefect.

398169

I'm also not sure about the use of shark trim. It seems to me its better used in places where the tension is minimal, like the outside back of a chair. In this situation, where you need a lot of tension to smooth out the bumps and bring the fabric into shape then its not ideal because it has a sawtooth effect. You can see where the fabric pulls into the gaps between the flanges. I think I should have used the cardboard strips.

I also see that it suffers somewhat because of the stiff, knobbly piping. Too late now but I mark it down as a must for the next job to get some proper hollow piping and a piping/cording foot.

cheers
Arron

[NCArcher]

Looks pretty good to me Arron. Thanks for taking the time to do the WIP.
I'm not quite clear on the shark trim. Do you lay the fabric on the teeth, close them up and then pull the fabric tight around the bottom rail?

[Arron]

Looks pretty good to me Arron. Thanks for taking the time to do the WIP.
I'm not quite clear on the shark trim. Do you lay the fabric on the teeth, close them up and then pull the fabric tight around the bottom rail?

Yep. That's it.

This video shows it pretty clearly : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9EyaBF1FYz8

Cheers
Arron

[Arron]

Time to do the outside back.

Started off easy - I thought it should be after what I've learnt so far.

The steps were webbing, hessian layer, piping across top and sides, sharktrim across top and sides, 150gsm wadding, then final fabric.

I still hadnt received the piping/cording foot or bought some proper hollow piping cord so went ahead with the zipper foot and the stiff nylon twine. That's what Sydney traffic does to you - decide to go to the upholstery supply place on a workday and your whole morning is gone - so I just avoid the trip and substitute.

For the wadding, I researched that a bit and found out its usually just stapled in place, minimal staples, around the edge. I stapled it right underneath the sharktrim, leaving a bit free so it will cover the sharktrim as its all pressed down.

Again getting the final fabric right was difficult - and again 3 tries, ripping off and starting afresh each time. The sharktrim gets mangled so it has to come off too.

Two darts were required to contour the fabric. Maybe these wouldn't be necessary on a more stretchable fabric.

Then piping was attached along the bottom, stapling it in place on the bottom rail and snipping off the loose fabric where it passes over the leg and fixing it with hot-melt glue (use the high-tack yellow stuff as available from upholstery suppliers).

So here it is:

398264

Not bad but not perfect. The biggest shortcoming is the top edge of the fabric. If you look at the image you can see that its not quite right. There are gaps and the top edge of the fabric is a bit mangled. I'm going to leave it like this because three times is enough, but I at last understand what is happening and why its not coming out perfect.

The problem is the interaction between the piping and the sharktrim. The best way to do it is as follows.

1. Make good quality, hollow piping. Do it so the piping is contained tightly in its fabric sleeve.
2. Attach the piping with staples, set the staples about 10mm down from the edge of the piping. If the piping is tight in its sleeve, this is doable, but if the piping is loose (like mine) you need to staple right up against the cord of the piping to take up the slack. Ultimately the sharktrim will remove the slack from the piping.
3. Attach the sharktrim so the top edge of the fabric when pressed down, lies just underneath the edge of the piping. To do this you need flexible piping, and its needs to be attached such that you can move it around a bit, holding it aside while you press the sharktrim down. The effect of this is to hide any shortcomings with the piping.

The way I do it the top edge of the fabric is below the piping, with a gap sometimes, and the shortcomings fully exposed.

I hope this makes sense. In effect, its just saying that do one bit badly and each subsequent step will be not right.

So shortly after finishing this the post arrived and in it the piping/cording foot. I gave it a go and its brilliant. Here is some piping done with the new foot. See how close the row of stitches are to the cord.

398266


And I've been working on designing my next major project. This chaise lounge.

398265

I dont think I have got my skills quite up to the required level but I have a few dining chairs that need recovering so have the opportunity to practise a bit further. Anyway, I dont think its going to be as difficult as it looks, probably easier then doing this little chair's back.

Next is the seat. Then its done.

cheers
Arron

[Arron]

Today was seat day.

I had previously made a basic seat frame from 2 layers of 19mm plywood laminated together which I thought would be pretty rigid but when I stretched the webbing on it bent, so I took no chances and used 28mm thick downgrade jarrah, corners dowelled.

Then I used jute webbing. Using inflexible old jute webbing might seem a strange choice, but I used it just because I wanted to see how it would turn out - this chair is to be a learning experience after all. Then hessian. Then a narrow strip of high-density 10mm foam was attached along the front edge, just so you won't feel the timber edge when you lean forward on the seat, which is something I hate and immediately screams 'cheap'. Then foam bought from Clark Rubber (too expensive), trimmed evenly with the edges of the seat frame, as the seat will be enclosed on three sides (usually a 2cm overhang is preferred). This was followed by 150 gsm wadding just to smooth things out and give a bit of a luxuriant look:

398332

Finally the upholstery fabric. It was fixed down all around except at the front, where I wanted it to wrap right down and around the lower front rail of the chair all in one smooth piece.

Piping was put on the inside edge of the front legs, and then short lengths of sharktrim. The seat was mounted in and the front edge stapled down and trimmed. Getting the front edge nice and smooth took some time and several repeats. I don't think anyone finds this bit easy so I wasn't too surprised.

Then piping was fitted along the lower edge. You can see how much better the new piping is on the front then the stuff on the sides. This is partly because the piping is better made, but also because I didn't radius off the lower front edge as much as elsewhere. The piping will line up much more evenly along a sharp edge.

Lesson learnt was to make the seat a bit smaller, not woodworking tightness but upholstery looseness. I made it about 10mm narrower then the inside width of the front legs but piping, fabric and wadding all go towards closing the gap . It only just fitted in with some hammering and I'm very lucky I didn't damage fabric or piping. Make it small and pad out if need be.

Then it was flipped over and a dust cover was fitted underneath. I had no idea how to do this, so just used the same fabric as the chair itself stapled down all round.


398334


Then its finished. Nothing more to do. Its been a long journey and if I was doing this for a living I reckon I'd make about $5 per hour, no exaggeration. Still it was meant to be a learning experience and it has been that.


398333


I hope some people at least get inspired by this.
Thank you to those who did participate as well.
Cheers
Arron

[q9]

Dust cover underneath is usually cheap semi perforated material, a bit like eco shopping bags are made out of. Black the usual choice, sometimes white. Black I would think wouldn't reflect light or add any new colouring to the décor.

Anyhow, congratulations on a good job. Learning is what it is all about, I don't doubt if you made a set the last one would take you a quarter of the time to cover.

[NCArcher]

I am mightily impressed

[Lappa]

Excellent result and excellent WIP. Thanks for the journey

[Arron]

Dust cover underneath is usually cheap semi perforated material, a bit like eco shopping bags are made out of. Black the usual choice, sometimes white. Black I would think wouldn't reflect light or add any new colouring to the décor.


Ok, perforated so it breathes and doesn't get mouldy inside I guess??? I never thought of that.
We had some leather couches that got a bit mouldy once and the smell never left them.

The black idea is good too.

Cheers
Arron

[q9]

Maybe perforated so air can escape when sat on? Not sure the logic behind choice of material, just an observation...oh and it is cheap too...

[RobjG]

Nice job...... re cutting foam, my dad used an electric carving knife.... mum was p***** but dad had the need. Worked a treat, he was in the game 50 years started when he was 15 and did nothing else until he retired at 65. He was good, very very good.
Also using air compressor powered stable gun is the only way you can stable upholstery properly, you just don't get the penetration from an electric stabler.
Hope you attempt more upholstery projects. It can be more challenging as it requires more diverse skills than woodwork... the tricky stuff like combining furniture quality woodwork with upholstery is a beautiful thing if done correctly...... all the best

[Arron]

Always the way isnt it, once you've finished you realise all the things you should have done. I thought I'd update this with some useful stuff that I've found out since finishing.

1. Curves under shark trim
The major shortcoming in this project is that there is a little runching on the outside back, at the top, where the curve is most severe. I couldnt quite get this out no matter how hard I tried. Actually, its more just looseness then runching. Looking at some videos it seems the cure for this is to cut vertical slits in the fabric, about 40mm apart, to relieve the tension. These should run from the edge to the point where it tucks in under the shark trim. You need to be careful how far you cut - cut just to the point where you can be confident the sharktrim will hide it.


2. Cardboard to shape piping
The other shortcoming is the wavy line created by the piping around the bottom of the chair. A partial solution to this, it seems is to staple on some 12mm cardboard strip on the tail of the piping, pressed right up against the rolled edge. This makes the piping sit flatter.


3. Source of cheap calico
Doing a bit of reading, it seems that in the US painter's dropcloths are to diy upholstery as pallets are to diy timber furniture building. I'm not sure I'd like to see heavy grade calico as a surface fabric, but they are a wonderful source of cheap fabric for linings and preupholstery layers. I bought a Wagner dropcloth from Bunnings which is heavy grade 11oz calico, which worked out to $3.60 per square meter.

I also bought from Masters a pack of 3 dropcloths on sale at $25 which worked out to 83cents per meter, though they are a lighter grade.

I still dont get why Spotlite charges $15 or more per linear meter for the real lightweight stuff.


4. Some other things I bought from a 2dollar shop which should be useful next time.
Poultry stuffing pins, like monster sewing pins. I sharpened them up on a grindstone till real sharp, then tied some hi-vis ribbon on the end. They will be useful for holding batting etc in place and wont get forgotten about and end up left in the chair.
Tailor's chalk. Like flat blades of chalk. The chalk is not waxy so it is easy to get off, in fact it just kind of vanishes before the job is finished.
A magnetic parts dish. Good for tossing staples into but the best thing is turn it upside down and sweep the workbench with it and all staples adhere. Keeping your workbench clean of staples is important if you have exposed timber which is highly finished.

cheers
Arron

[Christos]

I sort of missed this for a little while but I sure am glad that I was able to read up on what you have done. Really nice looking chair.

[Cleokitty]

Great information, Arron, thank you for sharing all those 'Do's and Dont's'. They should save a lot of people a lot of false starts and redo's.

I know this is an old thread but that information is unlikely to date. I know I'll be back to refer to it.https://www.woodworkforums.com/images/icons/icon14.png