Folks -
Do any of you out there building furniture that needs upholstery do the work
yourselves, or do you farm it out? Upholstery and Blacksmithing have always
seemed like one of those "black arts" to me, but smithys might feel the same
about building a set of chairs.... Who knows???
I have several chairs that, ahem, need attention, and was wondering if
anyone here had taken the plunge. I'm not talking about doing a whole sofa
(for now) but more just redoing seats, seat backs, cushions and simple
contours such as chair arms and the like.
A year or so ago, I repaired an old chair for a friend - the dowelled joints
had worked loose and it needed to be disassembled and reglued. I think I
charged her $100 or so as it only took a couple or hours or so of actual
work. I didn't re-cover the seat and she went elsewhere for that work and
it was over $200. So I did some thinking....
Thanks in advance for your remarks....
John Moorhead
Lakeport CA
On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 05:35:54 GMT, "john moorhead"
<[email protected]> brought forth from the murky depths:
>Folks -
>
>Do any of you out there building furniture that needs upholstery do the work
>yourselves, or do you farm it out? Upholstery and Blacksmithing have always
>seemed like one of those "black arts" to me, but smithys might feel the same
>about building a set of chairs.... Who knows???
>
>I have several chairs that, ahem, need attention, and was wondering if
>anyone here had taken the plunge. I'm not talking about doing a whole sofa
>(for now) but more just redoing seats, seat backs, cushions and simple
>contours such as chair arms and the like.
I've reupholstered several ottomans (1 with 4" fur which had been my
teenage bedspread). For all the info in an easy-to-follow book, get:
Upholstery Techniques Illustrated
W. Lloyd Gheen
Tab Books
ISBN 0830604022
>A year or so ago, I repaired an old chair for a friend - the dowelled joints
>had worked loose and it needed to be disassembled and reglued. I think I
>charged her $100 or so as it only took a couple or hours or so of actual
>work. I didn't re-cover the seat and she went elsewhere for that work and
>it was over $200. So I did some thinking....
Also talk to BentCajunGirl (Perry, are you still posting here?)
She's a real upholstery guru making real money at it.
--
Remember: Every silver lining has a cloud.
----
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development
john moorhead wrote:
> A year or so ago, I repaired an old chair for a friend - the dowelled
> joints
> had worked loose and it needed to be disassembled and reglued. I think I
> charged her $100 or so as it only took a couple or hours or so of actual
> work. I didn't re-cover the seat and she went elsewhere for that work and
> it was over $200. So I did some thinking....
My neighbor is into that. His shop is MUCH bigger than mine, much nicer,
heat, A/C, fridge, windows, roll-up door... It's very boring to me, since
*all* he does is upholstery work, and there's nothing of interest out
there.
He has a huge ass industrial sewing machine and a honking big compressor
with a variety of air tools. That's about *all* he has out there, though I
haven't really seen it since the day I helped him carry that giant sewing
machine in there.
I honestly have no idea how much he makes at that, or whether he makes
anything at all, but he never seems to be without work. He's always
dragging raggedy looking couches and whatnot in there, then bringing them
out a couple days later completely transformed.
He makes a lot less noise than I do. That's really about all I can tell
you, but I can talk to him about it over the fence if you want.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/