Emil J. Paidar Barber Chair

[kodydog]

From what I've learned by watching the videos these guys buy barber chairs from all over the United States. They restore them and will ship them almost anywhere. I think mostly to barbers and hair salons.

I do know this, When someone (often a stranger) calls me asking information about how to repair furniture I try my best to be patient. But sometimes the call gets long and I have to cut them off. I'm working and time is money.


You all know me. I like sharing my knowledge. But sometimes its hard to put procedures into words. A friend of Rose e-mailed me asking how to 8-way tie this Eastlake chair. The reply was long and detailed. As I was writing it I knew she would never be able to preform the task with much success. I finally talked her into letting me recover the whole chair.


This is how it looked when she brought it to me.



On top of that the base needed work.




Finished.



If someone called me and asked how to take a Lay-Z-Boy apart I might give the same type answer. You should probably take it to an upholsterer.

Point is I can see why this guy was short with Rose. He probably gets calls like this all the time.

[65Buick]

Gooseneck right? Can't say I've ever seen a rocking chair with coil springs.
At least in this part of the country rocking chairs are not really popular. Maybe because we lack porches, etc?
Nice work. I could sit in that chair and read for hours.

[kodydog]

My mistake, I do not know why I said Eastlake. Goose Neck is right.

[SteveA]

My Wife rocked our 4 children in a platform rocker like that.  Never wears out the carpet or catches the dogs tail - I hope to pass it along one day.
Beautiful recover job - the seat has plenty of goods under the fabric.   
They watch and read DIY and you can't blame them for wanting to try and put their stamp on the piece.  Better to start with something easier than that rocker-
SA

[kodydog]

I questioned the original construction of this chair. The base was taller than most I've worked with. And if you look at the first picture the springs, in my opinion, are to tall for the cavity.

I could have attached the webbing a little looser to bring the crown down a little but then you would see the webbing under the seat because the base is so tall. I don't know how the original was done. The seat was already half way stripped when it was brought to me. I imagine it was done with horse hair which would have given it a flatter look.

I could have used shorter springs but the customer didn't want me to change a thing. She gave me strict rules to leave all the scratches and dings in place.  I pulled the center springs as tight as I could and built up the sides of the seat with cotton. I wanted to use 3" foam but that was crazy looking so I settled for 2".

[byhammerandhand]

Swan neck?  Call it that instead of Gooseneck and you can get 35% more.   Sort of like "Luxury" apartment.

[kodydog]

Today Rose emailed the barber chair customer and told them after spending many hours of research we could not find information on how to disassemble it. She addressed our concern about prying it apart to force the components out and how that may cause damage to the porcelain or brackets that hold it together. She also showed concern that using a thicker material (leather) may make it difficult to put it back together. She also explained barber chairs are not part of our normal expertise. She told them if they could figure out how to get the components apart and if they wanted to be responsible for the liability and fitting it back together we would be glad to upholster it. 


She then gave an estimate for some other normal pieces of furniture. Will somewhat normal. Anybody ever do a Castro Convertible? Ugg. I didn't know they were still in business.

https://www.castroconvertibles.com/

[MinUph]

I've done many Castro convertible sofa beds in my time. I did repair work for them also for many years in Syracuse. I think the store is gone there now. One thing I like when I see them now is they can be locked down with these shipping spring hook things easily. I have a couple.

[65Buick]

I hadn't even heard of CC. I had to go to the website and look. They must be heavy.

[kodydog]

It looks like they do not build love seats or sofas anymore.

I've rebuilt a few of their ottomans from the 50's and they weren't too bad. Their sofas and love seats weighed a ton. Their mechanisms were solid steel with lots of components and an unusual configuration. That alone was heavy but their frames were built like a tank. They lasted forever and that is why you still see them once in a while. They are based in Ocala FL and I guess that is why we see so many in the south.

Bernadette Castro, is the CEO. She was also a Washington politician for a while and would stop to chat on our local talk radio station in Gainesville. That must have been about 15 years ago. I was surprised when one day she said she was the daughter of Bernard Castro, the founder of Castro Convertibles.