Armchair Part 3

Saturday afternoon gave me a chance to do a little more work on the armchair. This involved more tack pulling. I did however get the burlap partially removed. This week has been super busy so I have not had time to post much. The regular job is out of control right now.  Plus, I work there this weekend so there wont be too many post for a while. I will be hustlin but it will be academic hustlin not antique hustlin.

I finally got the arms exposed and started work on the burlap underneath. Seems that someone made it from old sacks. 

Getting the burlap off. Exposing the strapping

Here is the chair with just the burlap attached. 

Arm Chair Part 2

Tuesday after work I went to the Hancock Fabrics because they were the only local source for a tack puller.  After struggling to get the tacks off the project the first time I looked up how professional upholsters did it and watched some videos on how to use one. It turns out to be one of the best four dollars I have spent in a while. Once I got the hang of it last night the fabric removal moved right along. After dinner last night I went out to the shop and spent three hours before bed pulling tacks. I got all the fabric off and later this week will pull the burlap bedding. 

This is the chair with the side panel removed. 

The Chair with the front fabric pulled away. I tried to be careful here so I could make a study of how the arms were covered. I don't think I will do the button tufting when I recover it. 

This is the tack puller. Its narrow head and gentle angle allow the tool to slide under the tack and pop it out with little or no damage to the wood. Sometimes a gentle tap from the rubber mallet helps this process. If the tack was really dead sometimes it had to be gently pried with a screwdriver. 

The back of the chair. Where the back panel and front panel met, they were sewed together. 

The three primary tools that I had to use for this project. 

The exposed back and side

The front. Notice how the strapping and burlap on the bottom has failed. 

The back showing the batting and thread from the button tufting. 

I also spent some time Tuesday trying to figure out the style of chair. If you remember the chair has a sweeping back. It does not have wings so that eliminated it as a wing back chair. It is close to the shape of a Victorian slipper chair but does not quite match that style. I have decided that based on what Ic an find that I am going to call this an armed nursing chair. Nursing chairs leaned back to make nursing easier on mothers.  Most examples I have seen do not have arms, but some do. This accounts for the sweeping back. It also like a slipper chair accounts for its short height. 

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. 

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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.