Coil spring chair bottom

[DDandJ]

I have a question about the springed bottom of a chair I'm working on.  Forgive me for not posting pics.  I haven't taken the time to learn the photobucket thing yet.

The chair is a vintage Kroehler, mid-century, armless chair.  Fairly simple in construction BUT old.  Not a thread of modern materials in it.  All cotton, horsehair and tacks.  The cotton and the horsehair are in remarkably good condition.  I will be reusing the cotton and horsehair.

It has a tight seat bottom.  When I took off the dust cover I noticed the burlap on top of the springs needed to be replaced.  I could see cotton poking through.  I removed the fabric then the cotton and horsehair.  I kept the cotton and horsehair together as I want to retain the shape.  Underneath was edgeroll and burlap.  I removed the edgeroll and burlap and placed new burlap on.  Now my cotton and horse hair don't quite fit down to the edgeroll.  Should I have compressed the springs with the burlap?  If so, how much?  Until the cotton and horsehair fit again?  Or do I compress it with my fabric?

As a side note:  I'm in awe of the old upholstery work done with tacks.  I can't imagine doing it and the work turning out well.  Brings a whole new meaning to the work "skill."

[kodydog]

the burlap and fabric will tighten things up a bit but if you truly need to compress the springs a retie is in order. I imagine a chair that old is ready to have the webbing replaced and springs tied. Does the webbing on the chair sage or rip when you pull on it. Are any of the twine broke or frayed. I'd be a shame to do all that work and not do the springs.

[DDandJ]

The chair actually does not have webbing.  The spring unit sets in a wood frame.  Looks like the spring unit is permanently affixed to the frame.  Trust me, these springs are not going anywhere.  Lol.  Also, the coils are wired together, not tied.   The springs and wires are in great shape as is the frame. 

Although I stated this chair is old, and it is, it still appears to be mass produced.  The seat back and back legs of the chair are one unit that bolts on to the seat bottom.  It has carriage bolts holding the seat back/leg unit on.  I can tell the chair was upholstered in pieces and then assembled, which is what I'm doing.  Appears to be an early example of "modular" furniture.

[sofadoc]

You could use a piece of scrap material to tack over the cotton, and pull it all back into place. If you are planning to add a fresh layer of cotton on top anyway, it should help fill in any areas where the old padding no longer comes out as far as it did originally.

I know exactly the chair that you're talking about. For such a simple design, those chairs can surprisingly be a little pesky.

[DDandJ]

Doc - I'll give that a shot.  Thanks for the tip.  I'll let you know how it turns out.