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

orangeArmchair.jpg

or this

whiteChaise.jpg

or even this

blueDaybed.jpg

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...tube&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

savoy1.jpg


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.

IMG_0296.JPG

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/UC8Y...glSY4fzluW3PAw

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/UC8Y...glSY4fzluW3PAw

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.

stripedChair.jpg

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

[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

rubber.JPG

and Elasticated (sic) webbing, which is this

elastic.JPG

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.

basicsglued.JPG

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.


stretchers.JPG

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