TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
I have been contemplating building an upholstered piece of period furniture. I’ve narrowed the build to two museum pieces:





I have a couple of questions about this type of build.

Firstly, has anyone ever undertaken a build like this?

Second, I know there are some members with museum affiliation or experience. Is there any insight any members can add?
 

photostu

New User
Stuart
Very interested in your build process, I would eventually like to get to this caliber of skill level.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
I never have, but this may help:
 

Canuck

Wayne
Corporate Member
You may want to contact our member Richo B. He works pretty extensively with the Tryon Palace down in New Bern restoring furniture.

Wayne
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
I never have, but this may help:


Chris, Thanks for posting that link. I have a photo of that sofa in my build file, but had forgotten there was an article associated with it.

Additionally, the plans for the easy chair come from Norman Vandal’s outstanding book on building Queen Anne furniture. He’s also the author for that article.
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
Very interested in your build process, I would eventually like to get to this caliber of skill level.


Stu, Take some of this with a grain of salt since I haven’t actually done the build.

However, I have invested some time in researching and contemplating the builds. For a power tool woodworker, these builds would be a bit of a challenge due to some compound angles and what not. For a hand tool woodworker, the build actually appears to be relatively simple.

While I haven’t built one yet, I have a good idea of how to accomplish the build using primarily hand tools. The construction is actually basic mortise and tenon. The compound angles are handled by a bevel gauge in conjunction with fitting the pieces with hand tools.

I strongly suspect anyone capable of building a medicine cabinet that has a dovetail carcass and M&T joints in the door would already have most of the skills to accomplish this build.

How many of us would not hesitate to undertake building a simple medicine cabinet? Yes, I understand chairs are some of the most challenging builds, but these appear to be over engineered to some degree.
 

Jim M.

Woody
Corporate Member
Two beautiful pieces, both would be cool builds. Reach out to Richo B, he'd be able to steer you in the right direction. Also Winterthur Museum up in Wilmington Delaware has an amazing collection of period furniture and they have great books on there collection, it's an unbelievable place.


 
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TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
Whos going to do all that sewing?


Chris, You had to mention the giant elephant in the room!


In the big scheme, the wooden frame looks like the easy part. Building up a foundation and covering it in fabric is the killer ($$$$) part. o_O


I’m expecting somebody to Pony Up out of her shoes, hair and nails account. Not that I have an actual say in those expenditures.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most upholstery fabrics cant be sewn with home sewing machines. Depending on the weight of the fabric, you may even need to use a walking foot industrial machine. I am very familiar with all of these machines , my ex runs a drapery workroom, I had 7 industrial machines in her shop before.
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
Chris, The frame is all we’re willing to tackle in this house.

I used to have a fantastic upholstery guy back in Abilene Texas but haven’t tried to track one down up here yet.

I’m sure there’s somebody around DC that does good upholstery work, but this is such a high rent area that I may need to drive somewhere out into the country where they sell eggs a little cheaper.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
You may want to get an estimate before you spend a lot of time building a frame. Im not sure how much work you can or would be willing to do in your shop, like tying the suspension for the seats and back, but it could end up costing more than buying a new couch since Im guessing you may need someone with reasonable furniture restoration skills.
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
Chris, That’s a good suggestion. When I did this in the past, I had someone who was the best in the area and in hindsight, he was incredibly reasonable for the work.

I certainly don’t have someone lined up right now, so I think you’re right. I probably do need to nail that down first.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
I tried looking at the FWW article posted by Chris just out of curiosity and can't get beyond that page after logging in. Usually you can save the article as a PDF for viewing later.
 

redknife

Chris
Corporate Member
I tried looking at the FWW article posted by Chris just out of curiosity and can't get beyond that page after logging in. Usually you can save the article as a PDF for viewing later.
PDF Worked for me. I went to the link, logged in, and the PDF button appeared functioning as it should.

I’m interested in how this goes. I was going to build a sofa based on that same FWW article. For me, the “Philadelphia style" with leather was the plan. I got hung up on upholstery planning and expense. Besides the craft of it all, having a solid frame couch with high grade upholstery material is hard to find these days. At least at the places I shop.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
PDF Worked for me. I went to the link, logged in, and the PDF button appeared functioning as it should.

I’m interested in how this goes. I was going to build a sofa based on that same FWW article. For me, the “Philadelphia style" with leather was the plan. I got hung up on upholstery planning and expense. Besides the craft of it all, having a solid frame couch with high grade upholstery material is hard to find these days. At least at the places I shop.
Go to the furniture capital of the world! High Point! the furniture market off Bus 85 (with the GIANT Highboy out front) has all the high end couches one can imagine. If you cant find it there, no one makes it!. Its truly mind numbing.
 

TENdriver

New User
TENdriver
So, several years ago I purchased some high quality bare hardwood frames from a company in NC or SW VA. A few years ago I checked and that company was still in business.

In any case, we had the frames built up and upholstered by a guy who did fantastic work. The price for the upholstery work at that time was about the cost of a nice chair. The frame and the fabric were additional so this wasn’t a money saver, but it met our needs.

For anyone else considering this, properly building up the under bits seems to take some skills.

Chris probably has some additional insights.


184104
 

Richo B

New User
Richo
I see my name listed twice on this thread. Yes I am familiar with 18th century upholstery techniques using tacks and brass nails. No staples. You might want to try Leroy Grave's 2016 book on early seating furniture. I own a copy that he gave me but everything inside is what he taught me and I did some of the photography and drawings when I worked there so I'm coming from a slight bias. It's funny that I know all the techniques but haven't actually performed them more than once or twice. I wouldn't say I was proficient. Still if I can be of any help don't hesitate to contact me via PM.

 

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