Bentwood Rocking Chair MakeoverRepurposed Rocking ChairWicker Chair MakeoverRocking Chair RedoOld Rocking ChairsFurniture MakeoverCurbside RockerCurbside FindShaped StitchingForwardSeems you can find these Bentwood rocking chairs unwanted everywhere. You'll want to snag one up the next time you see it since who knew this curbside find could look so good? Raindrop Bar Stool Cushions Tyson Deluxe Rocker Set Multi Purpose Recliner Cushion VIEW CART / CHECKOUT The following is a partial list of chair types, with internal or external cross-references about most of the chairs. Barrel chair, c. 1465, Raversijde, Belgium An example of Elijah's chair, used at Jewish circumcisions A reproduction Glastonbury chair in the Bishop's Palace, Wells High chair by Cosco, 1957 "Pop" (2005), A whimsical variation of a patio chair by the American industrial designer Brad AscalonThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. Step 1: Painting the RockerShow All Items
Springs run horizontally on spring-bottom chairs. Woodworkers and furniture makers build chairs that can endure years of wear — but these creations won't last forever. Pieces wear out and fasteners loosen. If you've got an antique spring-bottom chair with a sturdy frame, but it sags or droops when you sit down — or you can't use it at all — don't give up hope. New springs may be all that are needed. Anatomy Chair springs are not what you might think. Instead of the springy coil that stands up vertically, chair springs are flat with a snake-like appearance. They attach to the chair horizontally across the bottom from side to side. A stiff, coarse batting material is placed on top of the springs with dense foam on top of that. Upholstery fabric is stretched and stapled to the sides of the chair to secure the foam and batting. If the fabric and batting are still in good shape, but the chair sags uncomfortably in the middle, you can replace the springs without reupholstering the chair.
Removal Access the springs by turning the chair upside down to expose the rectangular or square frame. Metal clips secure each end of the spring on both sides of the frame. The clips are held in place with either screws, nails or staples, depending on how old the chair is. There might be springs hanging down, broken or missing. In any case, the springs have probably lost tension and need to be replaced. Use a drill/driver if the springs are held in place by screws. Use diagonal pliers to remove nails or staples. Use caution if the springs are under excessive tension -- which is unlikely because of its age -- when you remove the first clip on each end of the springs. In this case, the tension on the spring could possibly cause it to fly off the chair; hold onto the spring with a gloved hand to prevent it from moving when you remove the fasteners. Then remove all the clips and springs. Take one of the springs to an upholstery shop for replacements. The replacements may not look exactly like the originals, but that's OK.
Spring length is what's important, and the shop can cut them for you if they're not right. Purchase new clips too. Replacement Attach the new clips using screws. Start by locating the original clip screw holes in the frame. The clips have a flat plate with two holes for screws, and a round hook or eyelet on the front. Use a drill/driver and 3/4-inch screws to screw each clip in place on both sides using the original screw, nail or staple holes for reference. Hook one end of each spring through one of the hooks or eyelets on one side. Stretch the springs across the chair by hand and hook the other end onto the eyelet or hook on the other clip. If they're too stiff to stretch that far, hook the end of a clamp on one of the snake-like coils of the spring near the end. Hook the other jaw of the clamp on the side of the chair. Tighten the clamp to pull the spring across the chair frame and slip the end of it into the eyelet or hook. Release the clamp and the tension of the spring will hold it in place.
Do all of them the same way. Upholstery If the upholstery is shot, begin removing the staples around the perimeter of the chair frame. If you can't see any staples, it means that they are covered with filets, which are thin pieces of wood covered with fabric and nailed to the sides of the chair. Use a screwdriver to pry the fillets off to expose the staples. Use a staple puller to remove each staple and lift the fabric off the foam. Lift out the foam and batting. Use the old pieces of foam, batting and fabric to purchase new pieces. Black or purple foam is the most dense, dark blue is medium, and light blue is the softest. Purchase the foam at least 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches in thickness. Use two pieces for even more cushioning. Cut the batting and foam to size using scissors or a utility knife. Place the batting in first on top of the springs and then the foam. There's typically a recess in the frame that holds everything in place. Fabric & Filets Place the fabric on next. Center it over the seat and place some heavy objects on the seat to compress the foam and springs.
Staple the fabric to the sides of the chair, moving from corner to corner, inserting upholstery staples about 2 inches apart around the perimeter. Check the fabric for wrinkles, lines or creases. If you find any, pull the fabric straight with your fingers and shoot staples between the other staples to secure it. Finish by placing staples about 1/4 inch apart around the perimeter. If the chair did not previously have filets, make some if desired. Measure and cut some 1/4-inch plywood to fit over the stapled area. Cut small strips about 1-1/2 inches wide. Cut and staple matching upholstery fabric to the plywood pieces or use spray adhesive to secure the fabric to the plywood. Nail them directly over the staple lines to cover the edges. Use small brad nails and a hammer. The nail heads penetrate the fabric without leaving a hole (this is how most modern-day furniture manufacturers cover staple lines). Photo Credits Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images Suggest a CorrectionI’ll bet that whether you’re at work or home, you’re willing to linger a little longer if your seat is soft.
There’s no telling what you found while stripping your piece of furniture. How about some horse hair, pig hair, hay, even old t-shirts to pad your seat? I kid you not . . . I’ve found them all! This month on Upholstery Basics, we’ll add a little cush to the coils we tied in Part I with some cotton, foam and Dacron. Whether your chair has coil springs, zigzag springs or no springs, you can use these steps to rebuild your tight seat, sans t-shirts. *Click here for part 3! Read the full how-to after the jump! If you’re starting with no springs, refer to steps 2–9 from Part I, but staple the webbing on top of the frame instead of the bottom. If you have zigzag (sinuous) springs, which look the same way they sound, start here. And don’t forget your goggles! 1. Cut a piece of burlap a few inches bigger than the seat on all sides and center it on top of the frame. Staple the middle of the back side. Avoid stapling on top of tacks, and do your best to keep the staples in the center of the frame where it’s strongest.
2. Pull the excess to the front and staple. 3. Now that we have the burlap secured in place, we’ll need to make some cuts to release the burlap around the back leg posts. Release cuts can be tricky, so before you start cutting, smooth the burlap from the middle of the seat to a post that’s in the way, and fold the excess burlap back. If the corner of the post is the first thing you touch, draw a line from the middle of the seat to the post on the back side of the burlap you just folded over. 4. If the flat side of the post is the first thing you touch rather than the corner of the post, draw a y-cut as shown in the diagram below on the back side of the excess burlap. A perfect y-cut is shown on the left, where the ends of the y perfectly meet the sides of the post. If the cut needs to be deeper (burlap puckers in front of the post), always extend the ends of the y straight back to the edges of the post as shown on the right. You don’t want to make the y wider than the width of the post.
Otherwise, you’ll see frayed or cut edges. 5. Now cut on the lines you’ve drawn, but be careful not to cut too far. As you get close to the post, make baby cuts until it’s to the right depth. Then place a few staples on either side of the post to hold it in place. 6. Repeat steps 3–5 for the other leg posts and any wooden arm posts, if you have them. 7. Once you have all of the release cuts secured, continue pulling tightly and stapling the burlap all the way around the frame. 8. Fold over the excess burlap and staple again. The point of edge roll is to provide extra padding on the edges that get the most wear and tear. On this chair, we’ll put edge roll on the front and two sides and skip the back side, since it doesn’t get much action. If your chair has wooden arms, put edge roll on the part of the frame that’s in front of the arms. 9. With a small seat like this, I use a 1/2” diameter edge roll. Place the end of the edge roll 1/2” from the back leg post with the tail in toward the center of the seat.
Staple through the tail into the frame, being careful to line up the outside edge of the edge roll with the edge of the frame. 10. As you approach the corner, draw a line with a permanent marker that is even with the next side. 11. Draw two lines in the shape of a “v” out from the line that’s even with the next side. 12. Cut out the “v” with the knife or razor blade without cutting all the way through the edge roll. Bend the edge roll to turn the corner, and continue stapling. Repeat steps 10–12 for the other corner. 13. When you reach the other leg post, cut off the excess 1/2” from the post and staple it down. 14. Once the edge roll is stapled all the way around, reinforce it with another round of staples by pinching off a small chunk of the edge roll and stapling it to the outside edge of the frame. 15. I’m using a 2” thick, medium-density foam for this seat, but feel free to experiment with different thicknesses to get the look you like best.
Using the edge roll as a guide, trace the shape of the seat onto the underside of the foam. Squish the foam down around the posts and make marks around them. 16. Cut 1/2” beyond the mark with a carving knife, to ensure the foam is able to reach the edge of the frame. I’ve left the back of the seat unmarked until I cut out the notches for the posts. Then I’ll put the foam back on the seat, mark the back side and cut off the excess. 17. Attach strips of burlap to the edge of the foam with spray adhesive. The burlap shapes the foam and attaches to the frame, so leave an extra 10” beyond the edge of the foam, so there’s plenty to hold as you staple. I like to cut out the excess burlap where the leg posts go before I put the foam on the seat. 18. To allow the spray adhesive time to dry, go back to the chair and fill in behind the edge roll with several layers of cotton, so there’s not a dip around the edge of the seat. 19. Close your eyes and use your hands to find low and high spots on the surface of the seat.
Then place the cotton in and around these areas to make the surface even. Finish off the cotton batting with a full layer that comes to the edge of the seat. If you like a higher crown, repeat step 5 from Dining Chair Do-Over like I’ve done here. 20. Once the adhesive is dry, center the foam on top of the frame, and with the palm of your hand, push down the front middle of the foam and staple the burlap to the front side of the frame. The foam should be rounded, not boxy, when you staple. 21. Pull the foam tightly to the back and staple from the center out across the entire back side of the frame. Be sure that the foam is extending slightly beyond the edge of the frame or edge roll before you staple. 22. Now that the back side is secured all the way across, move to the front and staple the remainder of that side. 23. Repeat steps 20–22 for the right and left sides. Then cut off the excess burlap down to the staples. 24. Next, we’ll cover the seat with Dacron.
Determine where your fabric staples to the frame. The Dacron will stop just before your staple line. Lay a piece of Dacron, with a few inches of excess, on top of the foam. Starting with the middle front, split the Dacron layers in half and staple ONLY the bottom layer to the frame. 25. Smooth the Dacron to the back and put in the same release cuts as before to get around the leg posts. 26. Staple down the back edge. Then move on to the right and left sides. Continue splitting the layers as you staple. 27. Cut out excess Dacron in the front corners, around the legs and even with the bottom edge. 1. Always secure the release cut you’re working on with staples before moving onto the next one. 2. Humidity will affect the drying time for spray adhesive, so allow a few extra minutes if it’s raining or you live in a sticky climate. 3. Always use spray adhesive in a well-ventilated area, and do not use spray adhesive if you are pregnant. Get a friend to help!