Thinking of purchasing a set of 50's production Eames DCM's, but there is a fair bit of corrosion to the plated legs, as well a some water spots on the plywood (mostly underneath). Will it clean up with a little steel wool, a light sanding, and a little oil? Are there any other issues I should be aware of? Shocks seem to be intact, and they don't seem to have ever been repaired.
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I cleaned up some DCMs with 000 steel wool and a lot of elbow grease. I discovered a couple of welds under the corrosion so be careful of that.
Im wondering what kind of effect on value refinishing the wood would have. Sanding down and putting a new coat of shellac Anyone have a professional opinion? .
redoing chairs
always great to redo chairs don't let anyone tell you you loose value that is not true only if the chair is going to MOMA for a show,
These chairs lounge chairs, wires, aluminum, are all hitting 50 years old and most look
very tired and worn out. If you can put either elbo grease or a little money to look pristeen again you should do it ,
I have cleaned those chairs up with steel wool and oil for the wood and they look brand new, and no one ever said you just dimished the value of the chair.
I doubt that any one would want an shabby piece of crap with a Panton, Eames, Nelson, Jacobsen name on it if it was old flaky and smelly . The is not cool that is borderline Junk (sad but true)
Any other opinions?
I'm not afraid to mess with a chair if I know the value isnt that great. The two chairs Im thinking about refinishing are both Evans production DCM's. They're not falling apart, but they're certainly not mint. I'd rate them a 7-8 out of 10. Is it logical to assume a collector will want the original patina? Or would they want something a little spiffier?
The link below has a picture.. but the photo makes them look a little nicer than they actually are
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38178174@N00/396913741/
I would always be very...
I would always be very careful with re-finishing a chair that is that early in production. I think most people who are aware of what the Evans logo means, would want to have the priginal patina.
You can almost never add to the value by re-finishing a rare piece.
Hmmm
The chairs look great. I'm not sure how old mine are. They were purchased from an estate sale, original owner, who claims to have purchased them in the mid 50's. they have screw in glides with the foil sticker. Dunbar maybe? not sure. Not too conmcerned about the ply, but the rust has to go
Capital n - o
LuciferSam, This isn't a 'professional opinion,' but it's my opinion as a collector -- don't touch the seats. Refinishing really is a last resort and I rarely consider purchasing pieces that've been refinished. If I wanted the chair to look brand new, I'd buy a re-issue. But if I want an Evans, well, I think I'd be able to accept and maybe appreciate the "character" marks. And refinishing definitely diminishes value -- look at prices on ebay if you'd like to confirm this.
brbeard
so what would you suggest in terms of "cleaning up the chair". as stated earlier i'm not overly concerned about re-finishing the plywood back and seat. a little oil was all i was thinking. my concern was more in regards to the corrosion which i was hoping to clean with a little steel wool. what are your thoughts and what would you do?
I agree with Alexander here....
I agree with Alexander here. Using really fine steel wool and just being careful about it. You should probably test it out in an inconspicuous spot first (i.e., under the seat) to see just how careful you need to be -- will it dull the finish on the good chrome? I don't know, so you'll need to test. And I think that knocking off rust, is kind of in a different category than refinishing -- I think it's a good move . If you were re-chroming, it might be a different issue. Putting oil on the chair to keep the wood from drying out seems fine to me as well. Good luck!
I'm guessing, but I think...
I'm guessing, but I think it'll end up looking pock-marked. The chrome finish is worn off in the areas where it's rusting, so when that's knocked off, you'll just have the steel underneath in those areas (right?). I don't know what I'm talking about though.
Chrome Refinishing
I have already polished up the legs with steel wool - I used 000 grade and started out lightly. In most areas the difference was AMAZING - even with fairly heavy corrosion the steel wool brought it back to a gleaming polished surface. There was only one area where the steel underneath had started to rust, and the steel wool started flaking off the chrome. I immediately stopped messing with that area. But the rest of the chrome cleaned up gorgeously.
And thanks to the rest of the comments about refinishing. My first instinct was to leave them as is, and I'm glad I had that reinforced 😀 Now I just need the right collector.
Nev R Dull
Nev R Dull is the way to go, and readily available at most autoparts stores. Elbow grease and patience is the key.
Steel wool is maybe suitable for anything a notch above a completely lost cause. I would never use steel wool on chrome!
If you were going to keep them, you could always send them out to be rechromed. Not expensive, and would make a quantum improvement.
Frankly, though, I think a little age on the chrome is nice, too. These pieces were designed to age well, so let them.
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