Cheap furniture

[DDandJ]

I know this topic has been discussed hundreds of times but I just have to rant about a chair I'm working on.

I'm an extreme hobbyist who likes to make a little money from time to time.  I actually have a paying upholstery gig!  I plan on using the payment from this gig to purchase my servo motor.  Ha ha.

The chair is a run of the mill wing back chair.  I knew by looking at it that is was not an expensive chair when new.  It's about 20 years old.  The manufacturer's sticker was still on the deck.

What a mess.  Not only is the chair cheaply made, the upholstery job is terrible!  I'm far from the expertise of you guys but even I can see how bad it is.  Cardboard on the inside and outside arms instead of webbing.  The inside and outside wing are sewn as one piece with welting which is joined in the middle of the outside back.  I swear they used interfacing as stretcher fabric.

The leg brackets on the front legs are plastic and had been stapled in place with huge staples.  The brackets were stapled on after the chair was upholstered, so I had to take them off.  What a pain that was.

I'm going to do my best to get the junk out of the chair, like the cardboard, and replace it with webbing and burlap.  I think it will make the chair feel like a nicer quiality.  I would feel bad about recovering it and leaving the cardboard and other junk in it.

Wish  me luck.  I'd like to ship the cardboard and the cheap interfcing back to the manufacturer ;)

[sofadoc]

Cardboard on the arms is actually quite common, even on some of the mid-priced furniture.

If the chair came in with the inside/outside wing panels sewn together, I prefer to send it out that way. The less staples you put into those cheap frames.........the better.

I commend you for wanting to "get the junk out" of the chair. But unless you're getting a GOOD labor price, I wouldn't try too hard to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".

It's a cheap chair. And it's likely that the customer doesn't want to break the bank on it. If you start replacing everything in an attempt to turn a cheap chair into something that it isn't, it may be a while before you have enough money for that servo. ;)   

But hey, if the customer is willing to pay for making it better than it was when it was new........go for it! But I usually find that I have to stay at least somewhere within the realm of the chair's original value.

[byhammerandhand]

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

"There is hardly anything in this world that some man cannot make a little worse
and sell a little cheaper, and those people who consider price only, are this man's lawful prey. It is unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money - that is all.   When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.    The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot; it cannot be done.   If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better"

John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

[bobbin]

Je suis en d'accord!

[MinUph]

Cardboard on the arms is actually quite common, even on some of the mid-priced furniture.

If the chair came in with the inside/outside wing panels sewn together, I prefer to send it out that way. The less staples you put into those cheap frames.........the better.

I commend you for wanting to "get the junk out" of the chair. But unless you're getting a GOOD labor price, I wouldn't try too hard to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".

It's a cheap chair. And it's likely that the customer doesn't want to break the bank on it. If you start replacing everything in an attempt to turn a cheap chair into something that it isn't, it may be a while before you have enough money for that servo. ;)  

But hey, if the customer is willing to pay for making it better than it was when it was new........go for it! But I usually find that I have to stay at least somewhere within the realm of the chair's original value.

DITO

[DDandJ]

Ok Dennis, Paul, point taken :)

The wings and piping really look crappy.  I don't want my attempt at a one unit wing with attached piping to look crappy.  That is the real reason I was contemplating changing it.  Can you give me some guidance?  I've got the original pieces to make a pattern.

Also, this chair had NO dacon in it.  Just fabric over the foam.  Should I go with dacron over it or no?

The last chair I did was an older, well made piece and this chair is not.  I guess I'm having trouble switching gears.  LOL.

Jeremy

[sofadoc]

Sure you can do a separate tack-on outside wing if that's easier for you. You'll probably have to remove some foam from the outside edge of the wing in order to staple fabric/welt.

I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't add enough padding to make the chair more comfortable (I'm guessing that the top arms are currently rock-hard?). 

[DDandJ]

You and Paul are rockstars in my book.  I listen to everything you guys say.

I would prefer to do the wings as two pieces simply because it's all I know.  And, IMO, it looks better.  I was thinking that if I removed some of the foam on the outside wing, or at least cut it down, then I could tack the outside wing seperately.

Suprisingly, the arms are nicely padded.  I know those rock hard arms to which you're referring.  I may leave the cardboard in the inside arms as you suggested because all in all the inside arms are in good shape.

[MinUph]

99% of the time a layer of either dacron or cotton is the preferable method. It not only fills out nicely, and adds a small amount of softness but it also keeps the dirt from migrating through the fabric and will help keep air off foam making it last longer. There are few times when adding this is not a good idea. But remember you are adding thickness so your cushion should be fitted when the insides are in.

[baileyuph]

I can relate to the original method the wings were covered by and your reasons for sticking to your old methods.  This would be a good time to take some risk and do them the factory way.  It is actually easier to accomplish.  Take some scrap materials and after analyzing he factory work, just make one and try slipping it on the wing, it sure will eliminate work, save time, and could look better.  

Anyway, if you stick with the old method, single piece at a time, I would not staple through any foam, or any other padding of significance (best none).  

But, you would advance your skills, confidence, to do test pieces until you know the pattern is good, it might only one shot at it, so what if it is two!  Small pieces, not a lot of wast good place to learn.  Simpler than doing a corded boxing cushion cover with a zipper.

In making the slip over cover, be sure not to get it too tight.  A little loose can be the way to go and add thin dacron padding, then it will look good.

Doyle

[DDandJ]

Good idea, Doyle.  I have plenty of scrap fabric with which I can make a test run of the wing pieces.

This topic is exactly why I need you guys and why this forum is so great!

Jeremy