If he just wants something to sit on perhaps he should sell his antique chairs to an antique dealer or someone else who cares about them as antiques and is willing and able to pay the cost of proper preservation and use the proceeds to buy some new chairs from Ikea or wherever (Ikea has perfectly serviceable chairs for 15 bucks--they're not fancy but they'll keep your butt off the floor).
"use the proceeds to buy some new chairs?" Judging my the set of photos. IMHO - would doubt he may even get "15 bucks" for his "antique" chairs from the antiques trade
...... I'd say Ikea could be the better bet.
-- Posted from rec.antiques Long Time Antique Dealer (now retired)
Right. He can buy the leather, learn leather working/tooling/carving, and do it himself. Much, much cheaper. May take awhile, though.
-- Not merely an absence of noise, Real Silence begins when a reasonable being withdraws from the noise in order to find peace and order in his inner sanctuary. -- Peter Minard
What, you don't like Bondo, Sonny? Or duct tape?
-- Not merely an absence of noise, Real Silence begins when a reasonable being withdraws from the noise in order to find peace and order in his inner sanctuary. -- Peter Minard
The chairs are not really all that old or rare, you can pick up comparable sets of four for under $500.00 at auction.
The chairs are not really all that old or rare, you can pick up comparable sets of four- six in excellent for under $500.00 at auction.
The chairs are not really all that old or rare, you can pick up comparable sets of four- six in excellent shape for under $500.00 at auction.
LOL. Didn't think of bondo and it's hard to get a decent basket weave with duct tape.
Sonny
hot glue isn't going to work on leather
Which glue would you recommend? Have you tried "Vinyl & Leather Mender"? Is there a contact cement you'd recommend - a leather cement?
If you're wanting to continue using these chairs, nothing will work to strengthen leather much. The leather has lost its resiliency and cracked, ruining its strength forever. You might get by with a thick muslin or cordura backing, upholstered under the leather. It could keep the leather from taking the weight.
Saddle soap and mink oil will help with the leather's flexibility and life, but it's already dead. RIP. Glue it before cleaning and oiling, though.
-- "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." --Edward Abbey
Thanks! By "upholstered under the leather..." do you mean gluing both sides of the crack to the muslin backing?
The Glue of choice for leather is, and has been for over 100 years, "Barge" cement. Used by Shoe repair and Shoe makers the world over. Also used to glue together leather belts used to drive machinery. It was formulated for that trade. It comes in 2 oz tubes, quarts and gallons. Every shoe repair shop has it. I buy it in the 2 oz tubes but if you have a shoe repair shop near you, perhaps they would just give you some.
Jack
wrote
How old are they, if they are not 100yrs old, like he said?
On 9/16/2010 2:28 PM godsword spake thus:
Agree--Barge Cement is the stuff to use for leather goods.
Like I said earlier, "Chairs like these tend to be 1880 to Edwardian period pieces, but I've seen Spanish revival examples date into the
1930's" . Being 100 years old doesn't mean something is rare or valuable, only old.
No, just removing the leather, trying to glue it together, upholstering the leather area of the chair with cordura, then reinstalling the leather over that. It would give the cracked leather shell a structural strength it will never reattain.
But I suggest you look into carving a new seat yourself. Leather tooling is fun once you learn how easily the proper moisture content is for shaping!
-- "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." --Edward Abbey
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