Currently doing a pair of older recliners (over 25 years) and pulling the staples was time consuming. These chairs have a lot of wood that is extremely hard (hard as persimmon?).
I thought I could tear both down in a day but took a bit more, they are a wing back design and really had the staples. The wings (of course total of 4) had tacking strips, the fabric and cording of course, plus the flex stuff (curve ease) we normally use to hold the upholstery material in curves.
I used the Osborn tool, (120 1/2 I believe) and actually found it needed sharpened during the tear down. I am particular during tear down, don't like covering over a bunch of staples but wonder if there any tricks I probably don't use to reduce the tear down time? I have heard of using the drill in a twist fashion, but found one should be very careful with this technique (tough one because it doesn't get it close to clean and has frame damage potential).
My technique was just grit it up and do it. Of course if there is some magic out there, present it please. I guess some just use labor to support those jobs, that would be nice if it could be available. Not many young folks want to do what we do. There isn't a keyboard attached - wink.
Doyle
I find a rubber mallet and normal staple remover to be about the best all around tool for removing staples. I guess you probably grab the fabric or welt and jerk if off, loosening as many staples as possible or none as the case may be.
I seem to always have in the back of my mind ideas about how to take staples out more easily and quickly.
I currently use the mallet, staple puller, and cutters. I often will use the cutters as a mallet on some staple pulling. Wearing work gloves really helps when I'm using the mallet and staple puller.
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-professional-diagonal-pliers-94383.html
I read up on acids once that could dissolve the staples. My thought was I might be able to apply the acid with a Q tip, or maybe a spray bottle. I didn't get any where with this idea.
Here's my next attempt that I will try sometime in the near future. If you try it first, let us know how it works. I have a palm nailer. I am going to buy these "pry bars" and take the wooden handles off them. I will then see if I can use the palm nailer instead of the mallet and the pry bar as my staple puller. I can modify the tip of the pry bar as needed.
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-heavy-duty-pry-bar-set-1654.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/palm-air-nailer-60242.html
I also use the cutter as a mallet - I also keep a turned wooden mallet close by - since it's round you don't have to aim it.
My side cutters are sharpened to a point so they can dig. I use a second side cutter that's slightly bent on the business end so I can use a rocking motion to pull a staple as well as a twisting motion. With hardwood some times I pull and cut the fabric away and bang the staples in unless the area is tight and new staples will hit the old staples.
SA
My favorite staple puller is a collage student who needs money and has a lot of ambition. They may not be as fast or careful as me but if I can pay them $10/ an hour I come out ahead compared to if I pull them myself. Of course this only works when I have plenty of work. This lets me concentrate on the more technical and detailed stuff.
The way I look at staple pulling is its a mindless operation. Get in there and get it done, anything you can think of to get the fabric removed faster is a bonus to you. I just can't afford to spend too many hours on this part of the job. Pulling staples out of grooves sucks, just no way to do this part fast.
- Will they dent up the finished wood work or stab themselves ? Catch something in the eye ?
We should be able to figure removal time into every job without making it out to be low cost grunt work -
I hate turns - especially vinyl when the previous tradesman put a staple every mm to take the wrinkles out
SA
I'm surprised no one mentioned this method:
http://www.upholsteryresource.com/node/25
I use the Burch Fabrics chisel (pictured about 3/4 of the way down the page) for most of my stripping, but I generally am not working near finished wood.
While looking around, I came across this:
http://www.google.com/patents/US4245817
I don't know if it ever found it's way into production, I've never seen it anywhere.
Rich
Quote from: kodydog on July 03, 2016, 08:48:18 am
The way I look at staple pulling is its a mindless operation.
I agree. It requires no special skill or training. It's basically "See a staple........pull it out".
So why can't I find anyone that can competently perform a task that a trained monkey could do?
I pay $15 hr. They don't return after the first day. Which is just as well. Because I spend more time getting the staples they missed than it would've taken me to just do it myself in the first place.
I was pulling staples and tacks for my grandparents when I was 10 years old. I'm sure that I wasn't very fast, but I promise you that I was faster than any of the adults that I've hired since then.
I've had a regular part-time helper for the last several years. His stripping ability is mediocre at best. I normally just use him for PU/Delivery and general "grunt work" around the shop. Seems like that anyone who could master threading a Weed-eater could grasp the concept of removing staples, but I guess not.
I'm sure that most of the problem is lack of motivation. While $15 is a nice salary for unskilled labor, I can't offer anyone 40 hours. Probably couldn't even offer 20 hours.
If there isn't an app for it -
SA
Quote from: Rich on July 10, 2016, 05:25:54 am
While looking around, I came across this:
http://www.google.com/patents/US4245817
I don't know if it ever found it's way into production, I've never seen it anywhere.
It was featured in Upholstery Journal magazine back in '08 as CS Osborne PN200 pneumatic staple remover.
But as far as I can tell, it never hit the market. Because of the sheer size of the tool, I'm sure it's uses would've been limited.
(https://forum.upholster.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi775.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy33%2Fsofadoc%2Fth_DSC05756.jpg&hash=e0327d83489bc61da9b2a9d5e9fcc1f1) (http://s775.photobucket.com/user/sofadoc/media/DSC05756.jpg.html)
(https://forum.upholster.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi775.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy33%2Fsofadoc%2Fth_DSC05757.jpg&hash=4549f14a8a52c1d806de9a359138c1ac) (http://s775.photobucket.com/user/sofadoc/media/DSC05757.jpg.html)
Sofa, thanks for the photo and description on that staple removal tool. It seems like it never went very far. Too bad, because an efficient and quick method for removing staples is what every one of us needs.
As far as getting help, after about a dozen years of having that problem in my shop in NYC (70's and 80's), I decided when I relocated to Maryland, I'd go about for awhile just by myself to see if I could do without employees. For a very short time and separately, I hired two women P/T, but the great majority of the past 27 years it's been me alone doing the productive work. Once in a great while, I mention to my wife (she takes care of the billing. ordering etc) that maybe I should hire a helper. She sets me straight though.
Rich
Unfortunately, haven't found the easy way to pull staples. Just finished 5 major chair jobs and to get them done just "gritted" it up and got it done. Let my hands rest when they were all stripped. This is hard work. Then, patterned and installed to get the 5 chairs out and after working hard only had about $2000 labor (slightly less than 2 wks).
So, with respect to the market, it is much more wonderful doing repairs on the cheap stuff that is broke when customer get it because less gritting/etc. and can make that much money in half the time.
Markets change, is how this relates to the work at hand.
Doyle
DB, you mentioned that people used drills--we use a drill attachment called the "Strip Bit". It cost about $70 Canadian.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hxR19VSHwro (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hxR19VSHwro)
It is not perfect but it does work very well in a limited number of situations. The fabric or vinyl can't be brittle, because the torque would just bust the fabric, etc.
I was stripping chairs that took about 20 minutes per seat and 30 minutes per back. We bought the tool out of curiosity, and what took 15 minutes with traditional tools to remove welting took 1 minute with the bit, plus a couple minutes to pluck out the staples that the process unrooted.
You can get the same effect sometimes by ripping at a stapled area with your entire bodily force, but this is a bit easier. It is also akin to grabbing on to stapled welting with pliers and rotating the pliers.
A couple notes, we had only a low torque drill, which didn't have enough power to pull the tougher staples out We upgraded to a hammer drill which had plenty of power but almost twisted my arm off. It is best to use the drag and switch to hammer mode only in tough areas, and when doing so, brace the tool against your body and drill in small spurts to avoid having your hand detatched.
Use with caution :)
There is a air chisel on the market that has been modified to pull staples .
You do have to be carful or it will gouge the wood. Its good for flat surfaces.
I believe I bought it from Burch many years ago
My attempt at using a palm nailer to remove staples did not work. I liked the idea but I could not get enough control to easily take out staples. I can do a much faster job, even though it ain't fast, taking out staples the old fashioned way with a mallet, staple puller, and nippers.
I too tough it out. I like to listen to lectures or books on audio when pulling staples. It's the only time I don't need to think about what I'm doing.
gene
The first few jobs I did stripping down the old fabric I could have used a transfusion when I was done. I prefer the round mallet - nippers and 2-3 staple removers handy. I probably overdue it removing staples - but I hate hitting old staples when putting back the new fabric. The last two jobs I stripped down - no injuries - getting better at not mauling myself -
SA
I took a construction class at vo-tech a few years back. The instructor warned never put your hand closer to the staple gun than the length of the staple. I'm talking about a carpenters staple gun, and that's good advice. And every time I'm working in a tight space and pulling on a sliver of fabric while trying to shoot a staple I pray I don't hit an old staple underneath and I think of that guy and his advice.
This is how I remove most staples nowadays. EDITED WITH NEW LINK
(https://forum.upholster.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi775.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy33%2Fsofadoc%2Fth_MOV05785.mp4&hash=7ae3e16fff4edee0c05250eccdb4179b) (http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy33/sofadoc/MOV05785.mp4)
OK. I clicked on the link. I logged in to google drive as requested. It then said I needed permission. So I clicked the button asking for permission. Then nothing happened. When do I get permission? What do I do if permission is denied? Is there anyone out there???
gene
Same here - goggle went looking for sofa doc - asked me to be patient - well at least I'm sitting -
SA
I got an email saying that people were asking for permission. So I clicked on the link they provided for giving permission. My screen went blank. Nothing happened.
I would've just linked it on Photobucket, but I'm suddenly having trouble uploading videos there too.
I think I need to use my wife's laptop at home. It has a port for SD cards. My desktop at work doesn't have an SD port, so I have to hook up my camera directly to the USB port. It loads on my computer's hard drive just fine, but won't upload from there to Photobucket.
This was all necessary because I used my digital camera instead of my I-phone to make the video. I used the camera because I could mount it on a tripod (I don't have any friends to hold the I-phone).
Stay tuned.
I tried the link on both the computer and my phone. The phone worked - I got an email back saying doc gives you permission to view the video and it opened and played before I could say thanks.
Doc that looks like a Bosch oscillating saw. I have one and consider it a specialty tool for precision work. Not to say you can't use it for the purpose of removing staples and if it's a Bosch it's hard to kill. The tools I abuse are a saws all - 4 x24 belt sander - corded porta cable drill w/3/8th chuck and my 15 amp skill saw. When I watched you use that tool to cut through the staples I thought to myself if it was me I'd need two of them - one for the rough work that you're doing with upholstery staple removal and one for fine work.
It's a good idea and if it lasts a few years and not too many blade replacements you've made life easier at a modest cost -
SA
There was someone out there! And thanks for the video. I bought one from harbor freight. I will let you know how it works.
The only issue I see is that it will take off, undo, unstaple?, and webbing that is stapled to the wood frame in addition to the fabric. I wonder if this will be a big deal or not?
And with my Work Sharp I can keep a sharp edge on the chisel. Or maybe blunt force trauma takes out staples better than a sharp edge?
Thanks again for the video,
gene
Quote from: gene on June 30, 2017, 05:06:43 am
There was someone out there! And thanks for the video. I bought one from harbor freight. I will let you know how it works.
The only issue I see is that it will take off, undo, unstaple?, and webbing that is stapled to the wood frame in addition to the fabric. I wonder if this will be a big deal or not?
And with my Work Sharp I can keep a sharp edge on the chisel. Or maybe blunt force trauma takes out staples better than a sharp edge?
I buy Dremel brand MM 485 carbide blades for staple removal. A 3 pack is $24 from Amazon(Prime). One blade will last more than a month of heavy use. They will fit on the Harbor Freight tool, or any other brand that has universal mounting (a hex bolt). Many brands have a proprietary mounting system in order to force you to buy only their blades.
I think I got my upload snafu fixed. I used my keen intelligence, my vast knowledge, and my 12 year old grandson to rectify the problem. Here's another video demo:
(https://forum.upholster.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi775.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy33%2Fsofadoc%2Fth_MOV05769.mp4&hash=a3f3010f3f7801f8356350b5cc1343f9) (http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy33/sofadoc/MOV05769.mp4)
The metal cutting blades have a serrated edge. I can't imagine any way to sharpen them.
I really haven't had much trouble shaving off just the top fabric without also shaving the webbing too. I can completely strip the average wing chair in less than 30 minutes without ever picking up a staple lifter. The vibration is actually like a soothing massage to my arthritic hands.
The Harbor Freight oscillating tools are cheap enough to experiment with. The first one lasted me more than a year. The next two only lasted about a month. I also had a $125 Dremel that didn't last through the initial warranty period. I returned it for a refund. I'm currently using a Wen ($25 on Amazon).
But even if I was spending over $100 a month on oscillating tools and blades, it's still worth it to me because of the wear and tear it saves my hands.
Speaking of pulling staples; this week I had a tough time (actually more chairs to do) pulling staples. These chairs have beautiful show wood and it has to be handled with care.
Dennis method of 1/2 hour sounds like the way to go if there is no wood (finished) to damage.
I would like to get a little closer to your tool, 30 minutes would almost make the job fun.
I have a hard time getting paid for a lot of staple pulling ---- you folks are the first to
understand what the consumer is willing to pay for!
Yes, pulling staples out of strong wood is a different experience!! Especially when there are just layers after layers of materials (fabric, tacking strips which collectively add up to a lot of staples). On just one of the chairs I stripped this week, the amount of staples
removed would almost fill a coffee cup. The bulk adds up when the staples are the longer ones.
Doyle
Today I took the fabric off a 2 seat cushion, love seat. 1 hour and 32 minutes.
Today I also took the fabric off a 3 seat cushion, sofa. 1 hour and 44 minutes.
I used my Harbor Freight oscillating tool only. No staple puller. No nippers. No mallet. And no sore hands when finished. My hands had a dull tingling sensation and they felt thick, but no soreness like before.
I did get stung 3 times on my arms by pieces of hot staples.
And I have a sense that there is a learning curve and I will get better at it with practice.
Thank you again Dennis. New things in the upholstery world do not come along very often.
gene
Quote from: gene on July 06, 2017, 04:28:45 pm
And I have a sense that there is a learning curve and I will get better at it with practice.
Yes, you will.
What blades are you using? The Harbor Freight blades work OK, but they wear out fast. The Dremel MM 485B carbide blades are my favorite. They will fit on the HF tool.
Couple of questions to gain more insight:
The speed of oscillation, can that be given? Also, the torque of the oscillation (in essence
blade) - can that be described? Does the torque break a lot of staples? Is the torque strong enough that it would alter the position being worked on? For example a dining room
chair seat or in the case of the whole frame when the upholstery covers such?
Oh!, another question about the oscillation? What is the approximation of the oscillation
range? Perhaps a 1/4 inch? The vision about this is the range and torque could play out
into the damage to a frame (show wood in a concern) damage and staple removal or breakage?
I just stripped to formal occasional chairs with considerable show wood and it took considerable time and am trying to grasp the effectiveness of the technique on something like that type of item. On a job with no show wood and a strong frame, it does remove some of the concerns stated.
What was the application that brought the tool and blade to the market? Staple pulling?
Doyle
The oscillating tool has many different blade types for different uses. Such as cutting a hole in sheet rock to install an electrical outlet, or scraping old tile or linoleum. With a metal cutting blade, you can cut off a protruding nail, or cut through pipe.
About a year ago, I began experimenting with using it for shaving staples. Now, I use it well over 80% of the time.
True, you risk damage if you try to use it next to show wood. It can be difficult to control in delicate areas.
There are many different brands and price ranges. The RPM's range from 2000-4000. Some models have variable speed controls.
The Harbor Freight model is only $20, which makes it a good "starter" model to try out.
Be sure to wear eye protection. You will occasionally get hit by flying hot shards. And since the tool is very loud, it wouldn't hurt to wear ear protection as well.
sOfaD: I used a Harbor Freight wood/metal blade. It's the only one they had. They were out of all the other blades. I ordered the Dremel you mentioned from Amazon. I'll use them on my next furniture.
I wore eye protection, hearing protection, and my respirator mask because it seemed to be throwing a lot of fabric/poly batting/cotton dust in the air. I may wear a long sleeve shirt in the future.
Doyle: I don't know the specs other then mine is the cheap one from Harbor Freight and it's not a variable speed. I'd think you could find specs on line for any specific tool.
On both of the two pieces of furniture I did yesterday, the front arms had 6 pleats coming down the front and stapled under the rolled arms. I put the tool under the fabric and pushed. I could feel it come to a staple, break free, come to another staple, break free etc. The entire wad of pleated fabric lifted up off the wood frame.
There may be places where I'll need to pull a cut staple out with nippers but not very many.
And by the way, this love seat and sofa were, obviously, previously re upholstered by a master upholsterer. A very accomplished upholsterer. An upholsterer who has achieved greatness in the world of furniture upholstery. No, just kidding. It was re upholsterer by me 6 years ago. The home owners do not change colors, they just like new upholstery every 6 or 7 years.
gene
The tool is also great for shaving off compressed fiber pads so you can re-use them.
(https://forum.upholster.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi775.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy33%2Fsofadoc%2Fth_16781812_698977756928307_20434870278815744_n.mp4&hash=62ce943e1b56e4ff1241799b04cb2f3e) (http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy33/sofadoc/16781812_698977756928307_20434870278815744_n.mp4)
Yesterday I removed the fabric from 8 dining room chair slip seats and 5 bar stool seats.
I used my oscillating multi-function power tool from Harbor Freight, with the carbide blade. It was like getting a hand massage. If I wanted heat with the massage I held the tool where the motor is. If I did not want heat I held the tool toward the back away from the motor.
The bar stools had 3 layers of fabric. They came off slowly but oh so much easier than pulling staples one at a time.
I went slow, took my time, and enjoyed the hand massage.
The cut staple pieces can be hot. There was red fabric on the bar stools. I had a staple piece land on my arm and I jumped and screamed with a scream that would have really embarrassed me if anyone had heard it. A piece of red fuzz from the fabric was stuck on the end of the staple part and it made the staple part look like the end was red hot. LOL
And yes, be sure to wear eye protection.
gene
I got a one hour hand massage yesterday. I used my oscillating multi-function power tool from Harbor Freight, with the carbide blade from Amazon, on an antique wing back chair. I only used my staple puller to pry off a few pieces of metal tack strip.
Who would have thought that getting a hand massage would require eye protection, hearing protection, and a respirator?
I'm getting better at removing all the staple pieces sticking out of the wood without digging into the wood. I'm able to get the wood smooth with no metal staple parts sticking out. There is a learning curve and I think I will get better at this.
The only concern I have is the many metal pieces of staples that gather on the cotton and all over the place. Not a big deal, just the only issue I can think of.
Happy hands,
gene
Quote from: gene on August 30, 2017, 05:24:05 am
There is a learning curve and I think I will get better at this.
Yes there is. Unfortunately, most people don't give the "learning curve" enough time, and just go back to their old ways.
I credit the oscillating tool and the electric rotary fabric cutter for extending my career. Without them, I'm pretty sure that I would've had to give it up by now. The mere thought of gripping a staple lifter makes me wince with pain.
Whatc wouldbe neat is an electromagnetic staple puller. Could be square or circular. Place tool over stapled area. Depress button. Electromagnets turn on and attach to magnet. Depress button. Staples fall off. Rinse & repeat.
Quote from: 65Buick on September 08, 2017, 03:56:43 pm
Whatc wouldbe neat is an electromagnetic staple puller. Could be square or circular. Place tool over stapled area. Depress button. Electromagnets turn on and attach to magnet. Depress button. Staples fall off. Rinse & repeat.
Now that's what I'm talking about. A magnet would need to be strong enough to lift a car.
My skull would hit the magnet every time I turned it on.
gene
Removed staples in a large ottoman today and saw that when it was reupholstered
before - the fabric was cut along the staple line. None removed, merely cut the fabric
to remove leaving the old staples there.
Sure gets messy having to remove them like I did.
Doyle
Doyle I see this too. And if you're in a huge hurry then it does save time.
But to me it just seems wrong. Maybe I'm nuts.
Gene don't you worry or have problems with the staple remnants?
I know that my electro-magnetic idea would work. But the real issue is that no engineer is going to waste time designing that for what- the 10 re-upholsterers there are in the country?
65Buick, I once had the idea of using acid on the staples. Just put a drop on each staple and watch the metal dissolve. I read a little bit about acids and that's as far as I got.
Regarding cutting staples, I run a floor magnet over everything. When I reuse the cotton or poly batting I go over it to take out any metal pieces. I have gotten a few in my shoes that I found out about later in the day.
Once you see an ant trail of staples running across and down the back of a sofa, and you take that hand massager and gently let it "pop, pop, pop" as it cuts the staples, that's a nice feeling.
If your electric magnet is strong enough to pull out staples wouldn't it also be strong enough to attract the springs and metal ply grip and 2" staples, etc. Wouldn't you have to strap down the chair or sofa, and make sure there were no other metal tools around, and make sure you or anyone who comes in your shop doesn't have a pace maker? And what about when the little doggie, with metal on it's collar, ventures by while the magnet is on?
Just some thoughts to consider.
gene
I am investigating this as time allows. I have found that welders commonly used EM to hold metal objects from moving as they do their work. It is possible that something already on the market could be used for our purposes.
My $19 Harbor Freight oscillating electric cutter burned up this week. It was very anti climatic. It slowed down and started smelling bad. I had bought a back up from an auction site so no time was lost. I'll buy a new one from Harbor Freight this weekend.
FYI: The carbide tipped blades make a big difference.
gene
Something I will pass along regarding - "pulling staples made easier".
Gene made me think about it when he described a recent work load - I had several in
one day to do and they were the tough type. Then -- thinking of a better way, I found
one of my old jute webbing stretchers which was shaped like a number "7".
I got the top of the 7 (where the sharp spikes are) into the cloth being removed and
using the long end of the 7 like a crank handle went across a side of the chair cushions,
one at a time and did it make the job easier! As you can see I was pulling the cloth
loose in a roll up fashion and of course the staples came with it!!!
I won't forget that old tool next time.
Some of that hardwood with staples, like you guys are saying are almost impossible!
Doyle
I use an awl to pop em up and wire cutters to pull em out. I also made my own removing tool from a Gasket scraper. Cut v grooves in the blade and it works quite well
Gene: you haven't had any trouble leaving the staple legs in? I figure when you're shooting new staples the surface area of hitting an old would be like 90% less.
Cuz I am really over hand removing staples. It's not like anyone is looking there.
65 Buick: I've never even thought about the staple legs left in the wood before, so obviously they have not been a problem. I do find some legs still sticking out of the wood where they were not cut off flush with the wood and I just pull those out with my nippers or tap them in with a hammer.
gene
Cool. I'm ready to try your approach. I find I can get a refurbed dremel brand for the same price as a HF tool.
I took the old fabric off a recliner this morning. I used my Sofa Dream Machine. (I'm sure we all name our tools.) I named my oscillating cutting tool after Sofa Doc, who shared this idea on the forum. My Quickbooks acounting software and my Sofa Dream Machine are the two biggest time savers I have.
By the way, the biggest time waster I have is me getting another drink of coffee or switchel.
90% of the fabric was cut away without removing the staples. I ran the cutter under the fabric and it just pealed off the fabric. No remnants of fabric were left under the staples. I did this with the poly batting that was stapled.
I don't know if the combination of fabric, staples, and hard wood made this so easy, but it was great not to have wood dust, where I pushed too hard, and great not to have a lot of staple pieces to vacuum up. And I did have some because places where multiple staples were used and where the fabric was bunched up and stapled, the cutter needed to go through the staples.
gene
Quote from: gene on May 09, 2018, 05:34:34 pm
I took the old fabric off a recliner this morning. I used my Sofa Dream Machine. (I'm sure we all name our tools.) I named my oscillating cutting tool after Sofa Doc, who shared this idea on the forum.
I'm not sure how I feel about a vibrating appliance that gives you such pleasure being named after me.
I got my sofa dream machine today. How long do the carbide blades last? They are $20 each.
Btw, my tool was $20 at HF. So it's no biggie if it poops out. But I did notice that they give you a new set of brushes. Maybe that's all it needs?
A 3-pack of blades is $23 from Amazon. Shipping is free with Prime.
The blades typically last 1-3 months, depending on usage.
The HF oscillating tool usually burns up within a month or two. It's always the motor that burns up before the brushes wear out.
Bummer. It definitely is faster. But it does make a mess, including wood dust which I really try to keep out of the workspace. I guess I could turn on a vac nearby.
What brand of osc. Tool is recommended then? Dremel?
Quote from: 65Buick on July 02, 2018, 08:49:39 pm
What brand of osc. Tool is recommended then? Dremel?
I buy these 2 at a time. One of them typically lasts 3-5 months (of heavy use). I tried the Dremel brand. It's more expensive, and doesn't really last any longer than the cheap ones. The motor does fine, but the little "tits" that hold the blade in place wear smooth.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UKGKYK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
65 Buick, I used my Sofa Dream Machine on two love seats today. No saw dust at all. It's a learning curve. You'll learn to feel and hear and smell the wood when the cutting blade starts to dig into wood. I even had a few staples turn red hot and then black because I was able to hold the cutting blade on the staple and not dig into the wood.
I tried to hold a vacuum at the beginning because of the saw dust, but as I got better I don't use the vacuum until I'm done.
The skirts pulled off with my hands and left a few staples sticking out. I ran over them with my Sofa Dream Machine to remove them with no problem.
gene
I used my electric multi function oscillating tool to remove staples from 3 straight back chairs this week. I cut deep gouges into the finished wood for the first time. One of the legs looks like it's been in a knife fight. I turned to blame the damage on someone else but I was the only person in the shop. Ouch. Filler stick and a light clear lacquer finish will hopefully fix my mistake.
Also, I used a new Dremel cutting blade and it broke 5 minutes into using it. I was surprised. Cheap crap from China?
gene
I think Doc posted the video the first time I saw the tool used for staples. If I remember it was the underside of a sofa.
I haven't looked for an easier way to remove staples. A tack puller and a side cutter isn't quick but it's a time when I can work without thinking - not a bad place to be while working and unwinding at the same time.
Gene I hope this new short cut tool hasn't put you into the retouching business -
SA
Now you will become a classic wood repair/refinisher Gene.
My level of confidence might not be strong enough to risk damage to a nice antique. The tool looks
very effective on some of the other jobs.
Doyle
This is the first time I damaged finished wood with the tool. I was tired and working around the top of the legs down below my eye level and I should have either sat down or raised up the chair.
The only woodwork I do is what I call "refurbishing". I touch up furniture legs to make them look gently cared for. Keith, by-hammer-and-hand, taught me how to use lacquer toners and filler sticks.
gene
Seems many use the oscillating tool, I definitely would if furniture was about the only thing I did. The cutting tool does present its value, especially for the sofa job Sofa Doc demonstrated on. I believe to
implement the tool in my small shop, I would use it selectively until Sofa's skill level was attained, that way
maybe I wouldn't damage some of the nicer frames that come in. On those type, I make sure I use a sharp staple puller.
Another experience has been noted, the newer built furniture (often referred to as China built) is easier to
pull staples out. The cheaper wood makes the difference.
Being diversified as my business is, for example - few staples are encountered, sometimes few if any in
the newer autos. To add, there are fewer hog rings also. More velcro, glue, and other techniques uses to attach things.
That is the way it is today - but some customers talk about the mistake they made by getting rid of
their older, better built furniture. They are not satisfied with the newer built stuff. Easy for me to
understand as I usually have plenty of that coming in for repairs (with a very new status). Recliners
built in do present problems - not always the fault of the new recliner to be honest. Heavy people
will sit in them and the ones that require manual closure (where user is required to close the system by
their feet) - that feature doesn't seem to work because the user will get out of the recliner without
total closure and does that lead to problems - they bend the metal!! Oh boy, and the dummies
will hardly admit they caused the problem. Perhaps they don't know?
Always something to work on for some reason(s).
Hope every one has an enjoyable season!!
Doyle