Unstuffing the chair

I thought work would never end yesterday. It finally did around eight thirty at night and I got to spend a whopping fifteen minutes in the shop before I had to get ready for bed. So I started de-stuffing this chair.

I set it up on the bench and pulled out the tufts of material. I set up two bags. One for the horsehair/wood stuffing and one for the cotton batting. After most was out of the bottom I tried to do some fabric removal. Turns out (a lesson I have learned before and forgot) the antique tacks are really stubborn. None of my regular nail pullers worked well. I try not to have lots of specialty tools but I need a tack puller or this will take forever. Some of them are rusty and the heads pooped off so I had to grab them with pliers.

With the fabric removed it became clear that the fabric that wrapped around the stretcher did not originally do so.  More wood was exposed in the original upholstery. You can see the line where the tacks where that became exposed when I removed the fabric. 

Unlike the fabric wrapping down to be tacked as it was when I got the chair here is how the line would have looked using the original tack line. More of the beautiful wood would have been exposed, I think this will improve the lines of the chair as well. 

Here is another view. Had the original lines been used the piece would have had a lighter look than it does. plus the nice finished wood would have been exposed rather than covered up. 

Caster (castor) detail. 

Bag of Cotton Batting. It filled up about half as fast as the stuffing so they are roughly in a 2/1 ratio. 

\

On the bench ready for stuffing removal

(Free and) Easy Chair

So I am not sure what to call this type of chair exactly.  I tend to stay away from upholstered furniture unless it's in very good condition because I don't really have any experience doing upholstery. I have done a little but not too much and nothing very complicated.  I love the castors on this piece and the way the back sweeps out. But the condition is rough. The good news? The frame seems to be in good condition. That should give me a good chance to practice upholstery without also worrying about woodwork. I am going to tackle this project next so look for updates in the future.  I fear that for a free chair that it may cost me a bit to complete. I mean fabric does not grow on trees nor does horse hair for stuffing. I will try to reuse everything I can and make up for the rest. Luckily I have some webbing sitting around that I bought at auction for just such an occasion. 

Love those Legs

I mean this back goes WAY back. 

Undercarriage explosion

The back. I wish I could reuse this fabric but some cat got to it and just shredded it. Plus its pretty worn in the front.

Implosion 

A little detail on the front.