Saturday, July 27, 2024

Browse current and past upholstery projects.

17-11 Austin's Rocking Chair

Austin, who works at a local thrift store helped us obtain this fine specimen of a rocking chair at an attractive price point. At his request, the finished product is to be donated to Habitat for Humanity.

Who's Chair is This?

Details: Published: Saturday, 23 December 2017 03:34

Anyone recognize this chair?

I'm delighted to say this project has been completed! Lots of learning opportunities and it provided good reasons to buy new toys. ;-)

All that's left is to make arrangements with Habitat for Humanity to deliver this beautiful piece of furniture but there are two little problems... you see, I made the mistake of moving if from the basement into the living room near the Christmas tree. The following morning the three females I live with were all giddy, well, I guess I really shouldn't speak for the dog, but the wife and daughter we pretty excited about it and its transformation and the dog seemed to be just as happy.

We've decided to hold onto the chair for a few more days as we have out of town family coming and we could use the extra furniture but after Christmas really need to move this chair along as promised.

It's Looking a Lot Like a Chair!

Details: Published: Friday, 08 December 2017 03:05

OK sure, the jingle is "It's looking a lot like Christmas..." and while it's nearly that time of year, but hey, it's a chair I'm talking about here. A chair that's been stripped of it's covers and redone from the sticks up. No longer is it that awful pink rug with a spring poking out, now it's a delightful burnt orange with a pattern (speaking of patterns, there's a story here about measuring once and cutting twice - let it suffice I knew the lesson beforehand but failed to pay attention to that nagging feeling in the back of my mind as I cut a piece a mere inches too short the first time!)

Coming Back to Life!

Details: Published: Monday, 04 December 2017 04:41

Before I get started on this article I should say Alan and I have been friends for something in the neighborhood of 25 years and during that time I've always been amazed at just how talented he is with so many things including woodworking. Alan and his father-in-law have a double-car garage turned woodshop and between them they must have over a hundred years of woodworking experience. They're both members of a local woodworking club and Alan is an Iowa State Fair blue ribbon recipient. It should come as no surprise, although it always does, the repair and finish he's applied to Austin's rocking chair! Pictured here is the rocker's frame after he disassembled, repaired, glued, and screwed it back together. The frame is just beautifully restored and looks fabulous after cleaning and polishing - and she's solid as a rock!

Austin part 2

Details: Published: Monday, 20 November 2017 23:06

It is amazing on how much time it takes to work on these projects. There seems to be three types of time tracking going on. First there is actual time, this is the time spent actually working on the item, tear down, fixing, and then finishing or rebuilding depending on what you are working on. Then there is real time, this is the time that passes by while you are not actually working on the project. Real time minus actual time equals lost time. I do not think I need to explain lost time, most people have a grasp on this.

Anyway back to actual time, the project, Austin's chair. I have been fixing a few loose joints and a small crack and it is ready to move into the rebuild time slot. It really did not take a lot of actual time but the real time was rather long. Here it is on the handy table saw workbench. Just need to take back to the shop so Russ can do his magic.

Austin Tear Down

Details: Published: Saturday, 18 November 2017 04:00

Photo documentary of tearing Austin's chair down. The teardown process was relatively painless, except for getting poked by those pesky little sharp tacks and the thing that put a gash in Russ's thumb. He was bleeding all over the place but managed to keep it off the chair!