Thread: Chairs upholstery

Originally Posted by JackG

Well this is not exactly woodworking but it is somehow related so I'll post.

I need to do the upholstery on some chairs I am making and I have no experience at all in that domain so perhaps if some of you are more experienced I could use a few tips.

First I should describe the seat, the seat of the chairs is sitting on top of the chair covering completely the frame so there is no side or front rail around the upholstery. The chairs are fairly slim and the fabric will completely warp around the seat which will be a piece of particle board or MDF. To keep the design balanced I am looking at a fairly thin seat about 50-60 mm thick including the MDF.

- Is there different qualities of foams ? should I look for a particular model/type ?

- I am not sure if I should use a square pad of foam or rounded on the edges or bowed top or a combination ?

- Should I make holes under the seat to let the air evacuate when we sit ?

- Any other tips or tricks ?

Thanks

Hi Jack, I am no expert at upholstery but have done it a few times. see here - http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=16177

For the foam, if you have 'Clark Rubber' stores in Sydney, go there and get some 50mm foam which they will have suitable for upholstery. Get them to cut it to your required size, unless you have a Bandsaw. You can shape, or round over the edges of the foam if you like, however it should conform when you pull the material over it tight, fixing it with a wide staple gun underneath. Mostly you will learn how it all behaves from trial and error. Glue down the foam to your MDF first with some general Contact adhesive. Do drill 2-3 10mm holes for evacuation of air. Hope this helps some. Any more specific question's, just put em up for perusal

Some years back I had a rocker my father made re-covered
I like you had no " experience at all in that domain "
so I used a pro and it cost heaps. Now I would do it my self.
The one thing he insisted on however was to use high density foam for the seat
Much more costly but ten years down the track it's still as comfortable as new


Still don't know about upholstery but all I have talked to agree on the high density foam for the seat

Rgds
Russell



The trouble with life is there's no background music.

TAFE run upholstery courses, might be worth checking them out.

For online instructions http://www.upholster.com/howto/slipseat.html

There are different grades of foam, some graded by colour I think. Clarke Rubber or Dunlop should be able to help you out.

At the edges of the seat, you can cut a mitre on the underside of the foam, rather than rounding the top. When the fabric is pulled tight around it and stapled underneath (I assume that's how you're doing it) you get a nice smooth curve to the seat.

Last year I did an upholstery course at night school - mainly to be able to do simple jobs like you are talking about. It was well worth while.

I'm afraid I never learnt much about grades of foam (was away that week). I did notice that the instructor never rounded off the foam pads - just put them in with square corners. This gave the seat a crisp line - although generally fabrics were pulled so tight that there was little difference.

I am also rather concerned about your intention to use MDF or similar as the seat base. Dont do it - it will give you a very second-rate result that will never feel right. Do it the right way - make a simple timber frame, buy some webbing from an upholstery supplier, stretch it over VERY tight in a woven or crosswise manner, and staple on. Then build your foam base on top of that. Pull your fabric over - but learn to get the corners right on waste material first. Finally, stretch some calico across the bottom to hide the detail.

Your butt is very sensitive - it can tell when it is sitting on a flat board regardless of how much foam you put on top of it.

Arron

Thanks for the tips, just what I was looking for.

I'll check out Clark rubber Saturday.

Cheers

Jack,

The grade of foam to use would be 29-200 and I would recommend 50mm.
The first number in the grade is the density being kg per m2, the second number is the hardness ranging from about 40 to 400. 400 being harder.
If your getting it from Clark Rubber take in the piece of mdf you are using to use as a template to cut it. Dont worry about curves on the edges as this will pull down when you upholster it.
Have a look in the yellow pages for foam suppliers or upholstery supppliers as there are other places that will be cheaper than clarks.
If you dont want to do the job yourself you could try a small lounge manufacturer as there is always someone willing to do a foreigner.
Also go to a retailer and tip a couple of chairs upside down and see how they are finished.


Regards,

Darren

I would suggest that you get some wadding Not thick and put as a layer between foam and material. This is to help prevent the foam wearing through the material and also to round the edge of the foam.

The foam issue has been covered but when stapling the material on, work from the centre of each side towards the corners and and do alternative sides putting one staple in one side and then one opposite it working your way around the seat base. When you get to the corners put bed like hospital corners and lap the material over itself.

Try this link

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00147.asp

Originally Posted by gatiep

Try this link

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00147.asp

I was quite impressed in this concept when published in FWW.

The 1/4 slotted ply is in effect a suspension system that will conform to the load on it thus improving the comfort far beyond that of foam on a solid base.

It would be interesting to do comparitive comfort tests it may well approach the comfort of traditional sprung upholstery.