When we recently moved we found that an oak upholstered chair had gotten mold on the upholstery from being in the garage. I had it sitting out in the garage and the other day I decided I would “fix” it. It had a southwestern themed upholstery on it and it had a back brace that had a southwestern style cut in it. I took off the upholstery and got it down to the frame. At this point I thought about disassembling the chair and using it as a guide to build one from scratch (I should have went with that thought). I decided that I would cut the back brace out and replace it with 5 braces going up the back (mission style). I put a seat on it with old flooring scraps which worked wonderfully. Then comes the hairy part. I thought I could use some finish nails to attach the back braces. They didn’t seem strong enough and I was unsatisfied with how they held up. So I went to attaching them with screws which means plugs and not the type of joinery I enjoy. All in all I think it would have been better to just go through and build a new chair for the reasons of joinery being nicer and satisfaction of building one from scratch. Steve
-- "Nature provides us with the most beautiful things in this world"
6 comments so far
Napaman
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1400 posts in 483 days
posted 115 days ago
wow…intensive process! now with this learning experpience—-sounds like a MATCHING CHAIR would be perfect to give you the experience of building from scratch!! cant wait to see some picts!
-- Matt, Napa, CA...SING WITH ME: "Sum...sum...sum...summ...summ...summ...summertime..."
rikkor
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6689 posts in 280 days
posted 115 days ago
This sounds like an interesting project. I’d like to see some pictures, too.
-- Maplewood, MN
Scott Bryan
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8031 posts in 228 days
posted 115 days ago
I would like to see pictures as well. Written descriptions are nice but I tend to better able to follow the project through a construction series post. It probably is a little late now but on the next one snap some pictures showing the progress as you go and post it as a blog.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
GaryK
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8274 posts in 394 days
posted 115 days ago
Looking forward to seeing it.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
tenontim
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675 posts in 150 days
posted 115 days ago
My Dad used to restore antique furniture. I learned from working on the old stuff, what makes a good piece of furniture and what makes one that will fall apart. Many times I’ve found that you’re better off making it new and better, than trying to repair the old. Many times old furniture is repaired more for sentimental reasons, that for the fact that it’s worth much. Now you know what a piece of mass produced furniture looks like and you also know how to make it better. We’ll be waiting for the “improved” version.
-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com
Karson
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12002 posts in 806 days
posted 115 days ago
You can still build a new one.
But nice job
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com