Today I started restoring the two chairs pictured above. I glued up one frame, and started a Tom-Johnson-style repair (below) of the other.
The sad circumstances under which I acquired these are given in Post #1697.
I’ll be writing up the progress, a bit at a time. The idea is both to make notes, and to present an un-edited version of how this restoration actually played out. Cuts and all.
Edit: I may have goofed, big-time. I picked these off the curb years ago, as described in Post #1697. Last time I looked into it, I could not figure out who made them. I assumed they were run-of-the-mill furniture, likely Sears Best or similar. But now, the internet shows me that these are identical to Adrian Pearsall Craft Associates 932-C Sling Lounge Chairs. Like these, on Ebay. If so, these are (or were) valuable antiques. Unless I can show that these are knockoffs, there will be no followup to this post on repairs.
Getting reacquainted with hand tools, or Today I Learned That Wood Chisels are Sharp!
Today I sliced the side of my thumb with a wood chisel.
‘Tsall good.
I’m now more mindful of where the sharp edge of the chisel may go if it slips. And I take pains to hold the work and tool accordingly.
Let’s do Q and A about this incident.
Q: Was I being a dumbass? A: Yes
Q: Did it hurt like hell? A: Yes, eventually.
Q: Deep cut? Did I bleed on stuff? A: Yes and yes.
Q: Gonna try not to do that again? A: You got it.
Summary of today’s progress.
There are two walnut frames, and two cloth-covered rigid foam seats, that must be restored.
One of the walnut frames is now glued back together. That frame needs to have a corner block made and glued into place. At that point, it will be complete except for cleaning, and having a finished seat installed.
This part was mostly boring and/or complicated by my lack of tools. In particular, the nylon-rope-as-clamp was a bit of a clown show. It took a couple of tries, but I think I got it adequately tight.
Above, left, is the wooden internal support for the rigid-foam seat. When done, that will fit within the frame, with most of the occupant’s weight resting on two curved cleats screwed to the frame, as shown below. Just four non-weight-bearing wood screws (two in the top bar, two in the bottom bar) hold the seat to the frame.
I don’t even know what to call this thing. TV chair? Lounger? Even though it’s seems 1970s vintage (owing to the burnt orange fabric), the frame just says mid-century modern to me. Whatever it is.
On the other frame, I have started a repair patterned after those of Tom Johnson, of Gorham, Maine. He’s a fine furniture restorer on YouTube. In a situation like the one I’m facing, where the end of one leg is broken, he typically cuts the wood back to what’s sound.
Then he glues in an oversized block of matching wood. Then he carves it to shape by hand. That last part makes this fairly risky, for an amateur. But after looking at my options, this seemed at least potentially feasible for me.
I think I can get that into shape. For a no-talent like me, some combination of rasps and sandpaper (and lots of time) should allow me to get close. We’ll see tomorrow.
For the walnut piece that I glued in, I went to my local thrift shop and bought an ugly little piece of walnut bric-a-brac, from which I cut the block of walnut I used. It was cheaper than buying a walnut board, and I could see how the wood would look when finished.
At this point, the only difficult task was drilling out the broken dowels. FWIW, I drill a little pilot hole, hoping that it’s centered and square. The drill a hole just smaller than the diameter of the dowel, hoping the drill bit stays entirely within the dowel, and doesn’t drill out into the walnut. Then I scrape out any remaining wood that I can reach. Then I clean out the hole using a drill bit that’s the full diameter of the dowel.
The whole game plan is to avoid wallowing out the hole, while cleaning out all the wood and glue in the hole. I came close. Mostly.
Dealing with loose but intact joints. I’ll probably spend time in Purgatory for doing this, but I did not knock all the loose joints apart and re-glue them. Two joints in the side frames were loose, but I feared taking the sides of the chairs apart entirely. So instead of knocking the sides apart, I used clamps to spread those joints, exposing the loose (un-glued) dowels. I liberally applied glue to those dowels before clamping the joints back together.
Arguably, the other sin I committed was gluing the dowled joints using Titebond (yellow aliphatic) glue. I think the experts say to use hide glue on the joints, so that the furniture can be knocked apart as needed at a later date. But having saved these from the trash once, I think that if I can get them back together at all, even once, that’s good enough. So regular Titebond it is. Plus, I already own it and know how to use it.
Next post will outline the overall plan.
