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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5019 posts in 2250 days
#1 posted 1882 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--Proud LJ since 2007
rikkor
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11296 posts in 2047 days
#2 posted 1882 days ago
This sounds like an interesting project. I’d like to see some pictures, too.
Scott Bryan
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27262 posts in 1995 days
#3 posted 1882 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.
-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine
GaryK
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10263 posts in 2161 days
#4 posted 1882 days ago
Looking forward to seeing it.
-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX
tenontim
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2129 posts in 1917 days
#5 posted 1882 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://www.tmuli.com
Karson
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34371 posts in 2573 days
#6 posted 1882 days ago
You can still build a new one.
But nice job
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
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