Furniture upholstery for schools

by Emil Aldren Johnson

FIG. 18

Now place the stuffing, tow, picking it and working it into shape. Over this secure muslin and then lay a sheet or two of blue-sheet wadding over all. Place the leather substitute, and the gimp and nails. The gimp is nailed against the rabbet edge, Fig. [15]. These processes have been described and need no repetition here. The finished seat frame is shown on a dining chair in Fig. [16]. The back of the chair is also upholstered, practically in a manner identical to the seat. On the rear of this back a piece of leather substitute of same color and finish as the front is tacked and the edges covered with gimp. It is a good practice to tack a piece of cambric under the seat frame for sanitary reasons indicated in a previous chapter.

FIG. 19

A SET-IN SEAT.—This form of seat is very convenient for any chair or stool where a set-in seat is desired. Cleats on which the seat rests may be screwed or nailed to the rails, or the rails may be rabbetted to receive them. Corner blocks may also be utilized for the purpose. In addition the seat may be fastened to these rests with screws. This usually prevents the chair from squeaking, due to a loose seat.

In constructing the wood frame for this kind of seat allow at least ³/₁₆ inch for the thickness of materials. More allowance should be made for thick material and genuine leather.

Attach webbing and burlap in the usual manner; then form the hard edge as described previously. The hard edge is shown in Fig. [17] together with tow, wadding, and muslin, and Fig. [18] shows the seat ready for the covering after the trimming of the raw edges. The finished seat placed in a rocker is illustrated in Fig. [19].

CHAPTER V
Upholstering a Framed Structure

FOOTSTOOL.—A stool which makes a very interesting problem for simple upholstery is shown in Fig. [20]. This is typical of that class of structures on which the coverings completely hide the rails, leaving only the legs exposed. The rails should be placed ⅜ inch below the rounded part of the legs, and be at least ⅞ inch thick. Inside arrises of the rails should be rounded with a rasp to prevent the webbing from eventually being cut thru. The framework of such a structure is shown in Fig. [21]. Attach the corner blocks as shown in Fig. [22]; then properly stretch the webbing and tack it in place. The webbing is the ground work of upholstering, and the durability of the work depends to a considerable degree upon its quality and proper application. Use the original roll of webbing. This enables the worker to use the webbing stretcher without waste. Both ends should be used. This permits the utilization of the two free ends, and allows freer work. Fig. [23] illustrates the method of using the webbing stretcher.