A Very Old Rocking Chair Revival

Rocking Chair After
Refinishing w New Leather

Old Broken Chair
Before Refinishing

When we get an item of furniture, it varies in degrees of just
how bad it is and how much work it requires to get it looking good again. Jim and I love a challenge. The uglier it is, the more we love restoring it, because it provides us an opportunity to make it beautiful once again, in most cases, better than new. 

This old rocking chair was exactly the type of piece that gets us both excited in anticipation of what’s inside, what we’ll find and how to best treat the piece with the care it needs. And this one needed a lot of love. The springs were literally popping through the deteriorated fabric (see photo below). The stuffing was long gone and the webbing was hanging from the underside of the seat.

The first step in this type of restoration is removing all the old materials. And this chair had a LOT of decorative (at one time) nail heads that needed to be removed. Nail heads usually get bent when they are installed because the wood is so hard, it bends the nails, so they can seldom be reused. I recommended instead of using nail heads, I’d replace them with new welting, which is also known as cording or piping. This is a cleaner, more updated look and still appropriate for this type of chair.

Caned Rocker Repair

 

Rocker After

Rocker Before

This unique rocking chair came from Nicaragua. My customer had been in the air force and brought it back with him on a plane that he flew over to the U.S. after the war. That story was as intriguing as the chair. What made this chair unique was the carvings. The caning on the back and the seat was broken and needed replacing. Other than that, the chair needed nothing.

I always begin my caning process by removing the old caning first, decide on the size for the new caning before I weave it. This one was the first time I came across plastic caning instead of the natural reed cane that use mostly used when caning chairs. This proved to be much more difficult to remove because the snippers I use to remove caning didn’t snip the plastic easily. Usually the snippers work very well, quickly cutting the old caning off so I can remove it completely. I prefer using the snips to a utility knife because you have more control over the cane removal than using a knife. If the knife slips, you can damage the wood as well as cut yourself.

Once the old seat caning was removed, I had another challenge which I had only done one other time. The back of this chair had “hidden” tie-offs, covered with a 1/4” wood channel that hid the woven cane by covering it with four wooden pieces that curved around the back of the finished cane. This means that in order to remove the caning, it was necessary to remove the 1/4” wood channel first, which required steaming through the front openings and gently pushing them through with a punch tool. 

The spline removal process involved shooting steam into several holes then tapping them with the punch tool to loosen the glue, thus pushing the wood out enough to remove it. This process took longer than it did to remove the seat caning. It’s an added step to the caning process and very labor intensive. The last time I did this was with a set of four chairs which took two months to complete. Those were curved chairs so they were definitely harder to do work on than normal caned chairs.

After the back caning was completely removed along with the wood splines, I decided to cane the seat first, which turned out great. The much harder process of doing the back involved repositioning the chair many times during the weaving process because it was so large and hard to access because the back was so long. This was a very large chair, thus making it harder to work on the the average sized chair. And, rocking chairs in general are harder to work on than a straight chair because they move. 

After the chair was complete, I was relieved and very glad to have gotten it put back together again, which is also quite a process because I had to reduce the thickness of the original back spline so that it fits into the pre-cut groove which covers the tied-in caning on the back of the chair. 

Caned Bentwood Rocking Chair

Rocker Before
Seat Broken

 

Rocker After
Seat Repaired

This is one of several rocking chairs I have worked on over the course of my furniture restoration/refinishing jobs that involved caning. This one is almost identical to the Bentwood Rocker I worked on last year, except that this one only needed the seat replaced and was not refinished. I only glued the arms as they were a bit loose, other than that I only repaired the broken seat with new cane.

This was by far my fastest caning job yet. It’s true that the more you do something, the better you get. Caning is a lost art, a true art form that takes time, patience and practice. I found the first few jobs I did I thought “this is impossible!” and didn’t think I would ever enjoy it, but with each job they process became clearer and I found myself really enjoying the caning and learning so much about the work as much as myself. I found that I really enjoy a challenge and mastering it. 

I'm by no means an expert (yet) but I do feel my skill level has increased dramatically with each job I’ve done. Seats are easier than the back as they are smaller and have less distance between the front and back, or left to right as the case may be. Although curved seats are much more challenging, they’re not too bad. The most difficult part of caning is around the arms, since it’s quite congested there and harder to pull the cane through those tight holes. 

It is vital that each and every pre-drilled hole is completely free of the old cane, as this can affect the process of pulling the new cane through them. The best way to do this right is to prepare each chair well and you’ll be in good shape. I personally do not like staining or painting caning as I feel it can damage the natural fibers over time and break them down much faster than letting them age naturally. This chair required a 2.75mm cane, which is considered medium, and a bit thicker and stronger than the 2.0mm I used most recently. It is easier to work on the binding as it pushes through all the previously caned holes with ease. My small needle-nose pliers work well to assist with this and the small awl is a necessary tool to pull the cane through from bottom to top. I’m satisfied with the results and more importantly, so was my customer.

Check out the previous similar Bentwood rocking I caned last year by clicking on this link:

http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2019/09/maple-rocking-chair-refinished-with-new.html

Rocking Chair Goes From Rubbish to Royalty

Rocker Before

Rocker After

Everyone’s heard the phrase, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. ”Indeed, this seems to be the case for many old pieces of furniture as well as a ton of other interesting finds at flea markets, garage sales and estate sales. The fun is the hunt, the pursuit of finding that special “gem” that everybody else overlooked or simply didn’t want.

Other times people find something in grandpa’s attic that they really don’t want to deal with, so they toss it out. Sometimes it goes to a land fill, other times it gets another chance and life when someone sees the beauty hidden beneath layers of grime, old fabric (or in this case, missing fabric in the back), and broken springs that once held up the seat.

Rocker Back Before

Rocker Back After

This very old rocking chair was one of the lucky ones which got rescued and brought to us. It was indeed quite the challenge because it didn’t have anything but a big hole in the back rest where the fabric once was, with little to go by on how it was constructed. But first things first. Strip, sand and stain before anything else. But in addition to the standard stripping and staining, this chair needed new rocker rungs, because the original ones were broken and barely held together with rusty screws. There was no saving them.

It’s hard to know how old this rocking chair was, but when hay or horsehair is used, it’s a sign to be pretty old. My guess would be this chair dates to the mid to late 1800’s based on its overall construction. Rusty tacks held in what we believe to be leather, which was wrapped around the top of the chair and held in place at the top, bottom and sides with those tacks. The seat looked like it had been reupholstered back in the 1920’s and not updated since then. It was really, really old and pretty hideous. The bones of the chair was good, solid oak and quite heavy. It had springs that had long ago sprung loose of their rope that held them beneath the seat cushion which was also almost gone. Needless to say, we had our work cut out for us.

Side View Before

Side View After

Jim did a fine job stripping the chair, then making the new rocker rungs before it could be stained and finished with polyurethane. Making the rungs was extremely difficult because he had to make a template to trace the old ones onto then cut the new ones with a special router bit that was much deeper than the standard size to accommodate the thicker oak he was using. After lots of sweat and a few choice words, we got it done! Finally he could attach them to the bottom of the chair and finish the process of staining and protecting with poly. Once it was all done and dry enough, then it was my turn.

The seat came first. I measured and cut the 2” thick high density foam and made it fit the new seat which was made of durable wood instead of springs. Once the foam was in place, I added two layers of quilt batting to the top of the foam for extra softness. A very dark gray vinyl was chosen for the seat cover, so I made a template then cut the vinyl to fit snugly into the chair’s arm rest in the front and uppers in the back. Going around the wood in the corners is the toughest part because you want to eliminate the bulk without cutting away too much fabric, therefore a template is essential to get it right. Once I had it taut, I started with each side, adding a tack to hold it in place then worked my ay around the entire seat, cutting carefully and trimming the extra so it would fit well. I added tacks along the entire bottom edge on all four sides. It looked great! Then came the real tough part....the back.

First I had to attach 4” jute chair webbing horizontally and vertically on the opening of the back, to securely hold the foam and fabric in place. Once this was done, I placed a 54” x 22” continuous piece of 1/2” foam and wrapped it around the top of the chair, attaching it to the front and back bottom edges with temporary tacks. I had two layers on the front and an additional thicker foam on the back to fill in the large gap created by the open area of the chair. Once I was satisfied with the placement of the foam, I kept the edges from moving around by using my trusty glue gun. Then I prepared the fabric. I needed a 21.5" x 50” section of fabric. After I cut the size, allowing for folded edges and a generous seam allowance on the bottom, I attached the fabric to the front and back bottom edges first, then added temporary tacks about 6” apart along the sides to keep the fabric taut. Next and final step, carefully nailing in the decorative nickel tacks, I started on the backside, then carefully worked my way up and over to the front side, finished with the bottom front. Adding fabric to a chair that you have no reference as to how it was done prior is quite challenging, but can be achieved by applying techniques you acquire along the way. This chair made a complete 180 from how it started, from rubbish to royalty, fit for a king. Now it can live another 150 years.

Below are the photos that my customer had sent to me asking if this chair can be refinished. I knew it would be a real challenge, but a challenge both of us were up to.

Original Photo from Customer

Original Photo from Customer

Back top original photo

Updated Cricket Maple Rocking Chair

New Silk Fabric Replaced Original Corduroy

This is what is called a “cricket” rocker. The rocking mechanism is actually hidden underneath the seat and skirting of this cute little chair, allowing it to rock without moving the legs, as in a traditional rocking chair. I have done a chair similar to this one many years ago. It had the same rocking mechanism, but was a Windsor style chair with more exposed wood and no arm rest covers. You can see that chair here:
http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-ugly-rocking-chair.html

While similar to the other rocking chair, this one had many more components, thus required more work. But, since I had done a similar chair, I knew what to do on this one and in what order to work on each segment. As with the other checkered gingham chair, I began with the seat cushion. Like the gingham chair, it too had cording running along the top and bottom edges that curved around the shape of the foam. Luckily I was able to use the same foam for this chair. The fabric, a high-quality woven silk, required each raw edge to be serged so that they would not fray over time, causing the seams to split apart long before their time. This was an additional but necessary step.

fter I finished the seat cushion, I chose to work on the skirting and bottom part of the chair. I replaced the old, pushed in webbing with new upholstery webbing which is 3 inches wide and much stronger than the old rubbery plastic that was used. I attached the webbing with upholstery tacks (preferable to staples) and protected each raw edge with string tape. Once the webbing was done, I replaced the original webbing cover with another piece of the new fabric, with finished edges that were cut at angles in the corners to match the original.

I measured the two skirting sections, front and back, and cut two very long, continuous strips of fabric for each one. I measured each pleat to be 3 inches between pleats and it worked out to be the perfect amount to fit evenly from beginning to end for the front and again for the back. Remembering the difficulty I had attached the pleats in the other chair I had done, this time I stitched the pleats on the sewing machine, then carefully measured them against the chair before attaching them permanently.

After the skirting was complete, I made the arm rests, copying them from the original pattern as I did with the rest of the pieces and attaching them to the arms with two sets of Velcro straps so they don’t slide off. They were tricky because I cut the fabric to flow with the curve of each arm’s end. It looked much better having these arm covers fit the exact shape of the wood beneath.

The back cushion had its own challenges. The original cushion had four snaps that held it in place from the back of the chair. Anticipating the outcome, I made the new snap straps long enough to be adjusted when the time came to attach them. Prior to sewing the cushion front to back, I placed the straps where I thought they would go, pinned them in place, then sewed them to the back side of the cushion with long basting stitches. Once the cushion was done, I realized the straps didn’t quite reach the snaps, but no worries. I opened up the seams and pulled the straps further out to reach the snaps. Boy, was I glad I left additional fabric to reach the snaps once the cushion filled the fabric sides. (Experience really is the best teacher). Because the other chair also had snaps, I knew longer fabric would be necessary to make the new straps reach. (The other chair had three snaps on the top edge only, while this chair had two snaps on the top and two on the bottom).

Each cushion received a zipper in the back and bottom for easy removal if they require washing or dry cleaning. Making these type of seat cushions isn’t my favorite thing to do, but it is a great feeling to know that it is a skill I have developed with experience and a LOT of patience.

Old Rocker Makeover

Chair Before

Chair After

This rocker had a great structure, but the fabric was shot and needed to be replaced. It had also been used as a scratching post for a couple of cats, so the fabric on the backside was pretty torn up. My customer had asked for the chair to be refinished in addition to replacing the old, worn and torn fabric with fabric she had left over from a previous reupholstering job I had done for her dining room chairs. (See link below).
http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2018/06/french-dining-chairs-reupholstered.html

After removing the old fabric, as I had suspected, the chair had been stuffed with horsehair on the

Tiny Rocking Chair

Rocking Chair Before

Chairs are the most commonly restored and refinished items that we receive. Chairs come in many styles, sizes, shapes and are made of too many types of wood to list, but they have one thing in common; they are not easy to refinish due to the many surfaces they tend to have. This tiny rocking chair once belonged to a little girl who has since grown up and wanted to preserve the many memories she likely had while enjoying the time she spent in this rocking chair.

Rocking Chair After

She may have sat by a window and enjoyed a Nancy Drew mystery novel as she rocked in time to the suspenseful mystery unfolding before her. Perhaps she stacked her stuffed animals on this chair to "keep it company" while she was at school. No matter how she used this little gem, likely she enjoyed it as a child and now as an adult, would like to see her own children make their own memories. This was a generational rocking chair meant to be passed down. As it where, the rocking chair had a couple of broken spindles in the center of the back. In fact, the entire chair came apart upon closer inspection, so repairing and gluing the broken spindles in place was the first thing that had to be done.