A Recent Project....

[Half-Fast]

An old "Eames" chair.....more precisely, a Taiwaneese knock-off.....that my ex bought me 16 years ago.  It has endured toddlers, (#$@^&!*) cats, and life in general.  Being made in Asia, the veneer was Luan, which is fine for underlayment, marginal for doors, and absolute crap as a furniture veneer.  The luan met the business end of my belt sander  ;D  I then applied a very nice red oak veneer, and put a 13 step finish on it using a cherry stain.

I found a huge warehouse in St.Louis that had most every kind/color of leather you might imagine (including big rattlesnakes and caimen).  The project is chronicled here....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewart_upholstery_and_restorations/page1/

Someday soon, I plan to start building my own versions of this chair, including an office/desk model.  Enjoy!!!!?!

Jeff

[Mojo]

Wow. That came out awesome. Love the colors.

Great job dude. :)

BTW, who is the old man with the gray hair at the machine ?   ;D

Chris

P.S. 12 step finish process ? Dang Jeff you have some patience. :)

[Half-Fast]

Thanks Chris!!

The "old man with the gray hair" is the guy who puts his 15 and 17 year old slaves....uh, I mean sons....in a choke hold whenever they suggest that I should get some Grecian Formula, or call me "old man"  ;D  At the same time I remind them that I didn't have gray hair until THEY came along.....(their 33 year old brother contributed to quite a few of those silver ones as well).

I've always been AR when it comes to a nice wood finishing job...especially when it's my own stuff being done.  We'll see what happens to that attitude when I start manufacturing these things.

Jeff

[Mojo]

My son used to pull that crap with me all the time. I used to take him to the floor and pin him and make him say uncle. One day he got above his raising with me and was telling me he could take me because I was an old man. So I told my wife to go get the video camera. She did and I proceeded to take him down and pin him to the floor and say Uncle into the camera.............lol

He later hit a growth spurt and became a 6' 4" 290 lb giant. I didn't get the chance to pin him after that because he was an adult and grew out of his " take on Dad " routine. Thank God for that.........:)

Chris

[bobbin]

Fabulous!  How did you secure the buttons on the back? they don't come through the Luan, so is there an inside layer or did you use a flat disc to hold them in place?

Lol about making your son say, "Uncle", Chris.  Whenever we wrestle with the dog we always tell him to say, "uncle", too.  He never does, though.  ;)

[Half-Fast]

Thanks Bobbin!   Each cushion is built onto a formed 5mm plywood insert and the button cording is passed through and stapled.  The inserts themselves are held onto the shell pieces by a couple of steel brackets.

Jeff

[bobbin]

I really appreciate the time everyone here makes to answer my questions.  I don't do upholstery work and sometimes I just don't immediately see how something is done.  And the time all of you take to clarify things means a lot to me. 

I do, however, completely understand the desire to take the time to do something "right".  I like to make floorcloths and people think I'm nuts to lay on 3-4 coats of primer (let alone sand the final prime coat) but the final result of any project really depends on the time spent on the beginning steps when you really think about it.  Doesn't matter what you're doing.  It's that simple (and that hard!). 

It's nice to be a member on a site that appreciates attention to detail.  Thanks!

[gene]

Great work. I love that chair.

I think that's exactly the kind of unique furniture that would have a market at the high end of the price spectrum.

Thanks again for sharing the pictures.

gene

[Half-Fast]

Thanks Gene!

The "genuine" Eames chair designed in the mid 50's by the Eames brothers is currently being made by Hermann-Miller, and are selling from anywhere from $3500 to $5200.  A knock-off of the design can be had for around $900-1600 depending on it's quality (and the quality of the reproductions varies widely). 

In my house, it has become known as "the energy sucking chair".  It can put almost anybody to sleep within 10 minutes!

Jeff

[kodydog]

Nice job Jeff. Your a true craftsmen.
I thought I had a nice shop till I saw your wood floors. Gives me something to shoot for.
Kody.

[Half-Fast]

Thanks Kody!

But, please believe me when I say that I will NEVER be in the running for the "Nicest Shop on this Forum" prize!  My little hole in the back of my mom's 75 year old garage is a mere 10'x17'.  It was my dad's shop until he passed away 3 1/2 years ago.  I sold my small trucking company, took a few months to "deflate", and then proceeded to gut and remodel the shop.

That "wood floor" is an economy grade laminate that Lowes had on sale for $.68 per square foot.  I nailed up a bunch of pegboard to hang tools, sample books, whatever else that could be hung on one side that is my "work area".  A 57x96 cork topped cutting board/crap collector dominates the other side.

I may get around to posting pictures of my shop one of these days.  It ain't much, but it keeps me close to "home" where I can keep an eye on my mom.....and still feel dad's presence as I try to "carry on the tradition".

Jeff