Help with coil springs

[Mara]

Hello!

I am reupholstering an old overstuffed chair (had horsehair for stuffing), and my question has to do with the coil springs.

I have tied coil springs maybe a dozen times so far (I do chairs for myself and for friends/acquaintances), I feel okay but not completely confident about the general procedure. On this particular chair, the springs are 10" high uncompressed, and to tie them down to where they were originally would compress them to 6" or less. I wasn't sure whether this was okay, because I've read that springs should only be compressed by 2 to 3 inches (on this forum and in other places).

Anyway, I was very fortunate to find an upholsterer near by who was willing to look at the chair, and go over the spring tying process with me. He was okay with the amount of compression needed. But, when we were finished tying the
springs, the edge wire ended up maybe 1 1/2 inches behind the front rail, not flush with it.

So - are the springs too tall? If they're not, does the whole job still need to be redone so the edgewire ends up directly above the front rail? Will this cause any problems down the road? Or can I just use extra padding there?

Here are a couple of pics that might help show what I'm talking about:
http://s1042.photobucket.com/albums/b430/mdyczewski/

Thanks for you help, I'd like to know the best way to tie springs.

Mary

[sofadoc]

On that particular kind of spring unit, I don't think I'd go over the top of the edge wire with the spring twine. Tie it down lower, and pull hard towards the front rail, then anchor the twine (this will force the edge wire out even with the frame).
Is that as clear as muddy water? Maybe someone else can phrase it more clearly.

[MinUph]

When there is an edge wire like you it should be even or just in front of the front rail. When you put the edge roll on it will not be over the front edge. Also the front edge wire should be taller than the center section of the seat. The pictures show a crowned seat that would net have a cushion. If this in fact has a loose cushion it will look terrible when paced on the crowned seat. I would re spring it so it is FLAT and the edge wire is about an inch higher that the rest of the springs.
  If your not a springer you will have trouble getting these down like they are suppose to be. It will take some strength and knowledge of where the twines need to be tied in order to end up with a flat seat and the edge wire forward.
  sofadoc the twine tied to the edge wire is to adjust the height of the edge wire. The picture shows the correct way of doing this. If you adjusted using a coil the twine can slide down the spring and the edge wire would then change height.

[sofadoc]

Paul: Yeah, I see what you're saying. I couldn't get the zoom to work. It looked like she just came over the top when I first looked at it.

[Mara]

Much thanks to sofadoc and MinUph for the suggestions! I can see now what would go wrong if I left it the way it is. I will be taking it apart and reposting a pic before I move on.

Any comment on whether the 10" springs are the right size? Perhaps 8" springs would not be so difficult to tie and would have more spring (!) after they were tied? I believe the front edge wire height is about 6".

I figure the tops of the coils need to be just below the arm and back stretcher rails, so the front edge wire should be 1" above those? I do have the original height marked (black marker on the picture), but it would be good to know how to figure it out myself.

[Joys Shop]

Does the chair have a loose cushion?

or

is the seat just padded and covered?

[MinUph]

Mara,
 I didn't notice the black marks but yes they are about where the main seat should be. It looks like the side springs are close if not correct. Hard to tell in a picture. So when you retie you want that all flat. Even or just above the side rail. The 10" springs are OK as long as the frame is strong. No reason for you to absorb the cost for new springs. When you tie them you can grab a coil down, or even 2 or 3 especially on the center spring, from the top include this with the top coil in the knot. Make sure the knot is tight and lock it with a second knot. This will bring the springs down. The end product will be fine. Basically your just compressing a 10" to an 8" by doing this.
 The 1" height for the front is good. Make sure you pull the front springs forward. Over compensate this as when you tie back to the second row you can adjust to where you want it. Remember on a spring edge the finished front should over hand the front rail a bit and should be higher than the base seat. So when you put the cushion in you don't have a space and the cushion sits nicely on the front edge. You can place a yard stick on the seat and see if it is sloped up toward the front. If it is sloped down or level it is not right. I'd guess a 1-2 degree slope is good.
 Hope this makes sense.
 Ask away if puzzled.

[Mara]

The seat does have a loose cushion, so I can see how the way it is tied now won't look good, it will have a gap between the cushion and the front edge. I probably do have more questions, but for now I will take the seat apart and give it another try.

[Nunyo]

edge wire pieced in front isn't a good thing

[MinUph]

edge wire pieced in front isn't a good thing

  I missed this in the pic. Very good point. Also you should to bend the ends so they don't slide apart.

[Mara]

wow you guys are sharp, I never thought about the pieced together edge wire. Not good, meaning I should make a new one in one piece? Or I should bend the exposed ends of the edge wire in toward the center of the chair, is that what you're saying? Sorry to be dense, not sure how to bend edge wire once it's attached to the springs - don't I need to use a vise to bend edge wire? I am a wee lass of 115 lb, but I can always call for reinforcements...

[sofadoc]

Do you have any of those edgewire clips? If you do, you could crimp some over the exposed ends. Another method is a "Border tube". It's a hollow metal tube that slips over the two ends, and then you crimp it. But to use this method, the two wires have to meet (no over-lap).
But ideally, none of this would be up front.

[MinUph]

But ideally, none of this would be up front.

  Correct