Is upholstery a multi discipline craft?

[scottymc]

Hey "Hog Ring", are you SURE that you want our opinions? See how fast we steer off course? ;D What would WE know about discipline? We can't even stay on topic. :D

Seriously though, I've never minded one board promoting itself on another board. Many of us post on multiple boards. Variety is the spice of life. It's not like he's pelting us with leather "specials" (I use the term "special" loosely).

Yep you won't get me talking about upholstery, I hate it.

[Mojo]

I do not have anything to do with automotive work so rarely click through to his site. I take no offense to his posts here because he is not trying to sell anything.

Some of his posts have been interesting and others not so much. It is no biggie to me and I see no issues with his posts.

Chris

[DCAutoUpholstery]

I could see how furniture and marine upholsterers may not be interested in a site strictly about auto upholstery but some of the info on the Hogring does translate, especially the small business tips. 
Truth is, auto upholstery shops really do need a place to come together and share advice and support one another.  Especially now more that ever since the Upholstery Journal and ATRN are no longer publishing their magazines.  As a contributing writer to the site and a trim shop owner myself, everyday customers tell me upholstery is a dying trade and sites like the Hogring help breathe life into it.

[alge]

keep it coming "hog ring"

I don't do auto stuff but some of the info translates to my occasional foray's into contract work, I have naff all to do with marine but these guys have some awesome tips to do with set ups, equipment and marking out that makes for very interesting reading to a small town antique's restorer and bespoke upholsterer such as my self.

Anyhow i thought you americans were all for shameless self promotion, meak is weak, humble is (hard to rhyme with) be loud and proud.

Oh and by the way i have a bankers draft for $10,000000 but i need an american bank account holder to clear it for me, anyone interested would be welcome to 10% as an administration fee. Please respond asap to claim your 10% fee.............. now that's some spam

Do you guys get spam in tins?

;D

[Peppy]

I personally detest car upholstery. I dread anytime car parts come in the door. But still I read every Hogring post. The more you know the better off you'll be. I wish Marine Fabricator made 1/2 as many-1/2 as interesting posts as Hogring does. I think he should start a blog 'Yacht Basin' or 'Boat Hole' how about it dude? 

[scottymc]

I personally detest car upholstery. I dread anytime car parts come in the door. But still I read every Hogring post. The more you know the better off you'll be. I wish Marine Fabricator made 1/2 as many-1/2 as interesting posts as Hogring does. I think he should start a blog 'Yacht Basin' or 'Boat Hole' how about it dude? 

"Boat hole" is that where you throw your money into. ;)

[kodydog]

keep it coming "hog ring"



Oh and by the way i have a bankers draft for $10,000000 but i need an american bank account holder to clear it for me, anyone interested would be welcome to 10% as an administration fee. Please respond asap to claim your 10% fee..............
Do you guys get spam in tins?

;D

I'd love to take you up on your wonderful offer but I'm already dealing with a Barrister from your great country.
Its all hush, hush so I can't tell you all the details but soon I will be very rich.

Spam in tins? What?

[JuneC]

Yes, we have Spam in tins...  (Kody, it's the mystery meat you find packaged on the food aisle with canned tuna, corned-beef hash and other canned meats). 

As for the original topic of this thread, ABSOLUTELY!  How many of us just "upholster"???  I'd say very few.  Lots of woodworking (building/repairing), refinishing, as well as sewing and upholstering.  Probably the same for cars.  I expect the car guys get into fixing 12V systems (like broken seat heaters), welding springs (I know Russ did a lot of welding.... BTW, where's Russell???) and as outlined in the other posts this morning, sewing machine maintenance and repair. 

June

[TheHogRing]

Mojo, DCUpholstery, Alge, JuneC - thank you all for the kind words and support.

I'd have to agree with you JuneC and DCUpholstery - these days it's impossible to operate with a narrow focus.

If you upholster furniture - you've got to be proficient in wood work, welding, etc.

And if you upholster cars, you've got to know the ins and outs of seat/top frames, electrical components, etc.

All this in addition to actual measuring, cutting, sewing and installing of fabric.

In fact, there's so much to the trade nowadays that I feel the terms "trimmer" and "upholsterer" no longer do it any justice. (Haha - maybe we're comfort connoisseurs?)

I learned as an apprentice, so I sort of rolled with the punches and picked up all these extra skills along the way. I'm curious whether schools that teach upholstery have expanded their curriculum to include these new elements of the trade...

[kodydog]

I learned as an apprentice, so I sort of rolled with the punches and picked up all these extra skills along the way. I'm curious whether schools that teach upholstery have expanded their curriculum to include these new elements of the trade...

I'm pretty sure most trade or tech schools are teaching the student how to recover there own pieces or to work for someone else. I don't think someone taking a 6 month course is going to be ready to open their own business unless they already have some of the other skills that are needed.

A furniture collage, with two and four year degrees, offer courses in all the different aspects of running a furniture business. But even then, most likely you will be working for someone else once you graduate.

Like you I learned as an "apprentice". With me in factory work. But I had many other skills under my belt. My father taught me woodworking and finishing, I worked 4 years as a draftsman which transferred easily to pattern making, and with my wife's background in Business Management we just kind of fell into the business we have run for 25 years.

When I first opened my business my customers would question my experience. I would say it's not so much the experience as much as how you were trained and who you were trained by. I can now see, although this statement is true, over the years you do pick up a lot of useful pieces if information that helps to build your business.

The thing is you can never stop learning because times change and the way I ran my business 25 years ago is different than how I run it now.

[Mike8560]

There ok post by me   Actually slot of marine seat are like auto now.  I installed some covers today on a pontoon that the helm seat  was builtike a cars and had to have hogrings. 
Scotty I have a hole like that. 

[TheHogRing]

When I first opened my business my customers would question my experience. I would say it's not so much the experience as much as how you were trained and who you were trained by. I can now see, although this statement is true, over the years you do pick up a lot of useful pieces if information that helps to build your business.

The thing is you can never stop learning because times change and the way I ran my business 25 years ago is different than how I run it now.

I couldn't agree with you more. No matter how 'expert' one is in the trade, it keeps on changing - and so must our skills.

My father, who is also an auto trimmer, always said that to be a good auto trimmer, you need to have the mind of an engineer. The same goes with furniture upholsterers and car mechanics, etc. Because a lot of the time what you're doing is reverse-engineering something just to figure out how it works and how you can repair it.

Not everyone can do that.

[scottymc]

There ok post by me   Actually slot of marine seat are like auto now.  I installed some covers today on a pontoon that the helm seat  was builtike a cars and had to have hogrings. 
Scotty I have a hole like that. 

Alan Bond, backer of the winged keel that stole the america cup from you in the 80's described yahting as standing under a shower tearing up $100 bills.

[Peppy]

Alan Bond, backer of the winged keel that stole the america cup from you in the 80's described yahting as standing under a shower tearing up $100 bills.

I've heard in big boat land $100 is to small a currency to use and so the Boat Buck was created. 1 Boat Buck = $100. That way it doesn't seem as bad after you shell out 9 or 10 Boat Bucks to fill your boat with gas.