Dining Chair - Part 12 - Completion

Monday was a good day.  After not getting much done last week, it was great getting back to the shop.  I started off using steel wool to knock down the shellac finish on the second of the three chairs in progress and then waxed and polished it.

Love that shine

The steel wool creates so much steel dust, but I do like the feel of the chair better than after using sandpaper.

Next it was on to the seats.  I cut up the plywood and got it to fit in the space with about 1/16" clearance all around.

A nice fit

I used a crosscut handsaw to cut the plywood and that left ugly break-out on the back side.  But I knew I was going to round over the back edges to about 1/4" lines, so I didn't worry about it.

Starting the round-over

 The top edges were also rounded slightly.  I did  a test fit with the fabric in the seat space to make sure it would fit after upholstering, and that was a nice snug fit.  Then I bored the holes for air relief.

Holes bored for air escape

I love using the brace and bits.  These are 3/4" holes and the bit goes through the plywood like a hot knife through butter (OK, maybe refrigerated butter, but still ...).

Next up was the foam material.  I cut that to shape using the plywood as a guide.

Two inch thick foam

On the upper surface, I created a chamfer about 1".  Marked it out using a sharpie ...

Chamfer marked out

... and cut it using our kitchen knife (I got a "look" from the wife), which I had sharpened up on the diamond plates and oiled with the oil-soaked-rag-in-a-can.

It really helped to oil the knife blade

And here's how they look with the foam in place.  Things are really starting to take shape.

Chairs with foam

With these things taken care of , it was time for the upholstery.  When Karene got home, we laid out the fabric and marked out the seats with masking tape.

Three of four marked out

I had made the original chair last fall and used vinyl for the upholstery.  We decided to go with a different look, so that chair will get reupholstered.

I learned a little about sewing terminology and technique recently.  I was concerned about the fabric fraying after I cut it.  The lady at the fabric store said to use "pinking shears" to minimize fraying and fortunately my wife has a pair.

Pinking shears

My mother always had these (she used to make lots of her own clothes) and I thought they were just decorative.  Little did I know.  These worked great and the cutting began.

Zig-zag cutting pattern

Didn't get much done Tuesday, but Wednesday I got all the upholstering done.  I used the "Sellers" compression jig to press the plywood over the foam and fabric.  The jig is as long as my bench is deep, so I can clamp directly to the underside of the benchtop.

Compression jig in action

This really works great.  I clamped the jig until the 2" foam was compressed to about 7/8".  This will give nice tight upholstery when all is done.

Compressed foam

Stapling the fabric to the plywood is fairly straight forward until you get to the corners.  Sellers shows how to cut away some of the fabric and fold it to get a nice tight corner.

Corner #1 half done

It can be challenging to get the corners right, but with just a small amount of practice, it gets better.

Corner #4 complete and upholstery done

I'm using some staples that came with my old house - really - found them there.  These things are at lest 20 years old and probably a lot older.

I'm mumbling: "It's a Swingline.  It's my stapler."  (reference to Milton in "Office Space")

This box just barely lasted through this project, but just in case I got some more.  The new ones look a little different (cheaper), but fortunately the old ones lasted with just a few to spare.  Curious to see if the new ones were bogus, I tried out them out and they fit my stapler just fine and seemed to work good, too.

Bought this ~15 years ago for reupholstering chairs of an old dining table

Well, this project has finally come to an end.  I brought the chairs in and fit them at the table.

Out with the old ...

... and in with the new

Another view

And another

This project has taken over three months!  Damn I'm slow!  But getting faster and more confident with each project.  Thanks for reading.