Acquired Four Moller 78's
Read this thread at least three times. Twice prior to purchasing the chairs. As you can see, they have been upholstered with orange cloth. I believe that these were originally only paper cord or black leather. Only after reading this thread and a few other sources did I feel as if I can take on the task of restoring the chairs. The wife is thinking she would like black paper cord. I have questions for the group:
1) I am pretty sure that these are teak rather than rosewood. Does anyone know what the original finish was on these chairs? (Praying for oil, praying for oil!)
2) Inputs as to black or natural paper cord - let me know what you think. The decor of our kitchen has no bearing.
3) How many danish nails should I purchase?
Purchased Berry's staple tool. Awaiting your input before purchasing the paper cord.
Currently, as the support for the fabric is lacking, the cats love the chairs because they are "hammock-y."
Thanks all.
Nice looking cat
Moller chairs are always an oil finish, which is generally self-evident as there is no coating of varnish on them.
Black cord is quite difficult to come by in the U.S., and expensive. The only supplier I know of, in the UK, told me they no longer ship it to the U.S.
You are saying there is no support under the chair fabric at all? Literally nothing? Are there any pre-existing nail or staple holes from the original upholstery or cord?
Four chairs take a...
Four chairs take a surprising number of L-Nails. Also, if this is your first time using them, you'll probably mangle a few; I'd recommend ~100 per chair. You don't want to feel like you have to re-use bent nails because you're running low.
I got mine from Country Seat, and followed *Spanky*'s advice and bought a 2.2lb box (~105 dozen) because I'll be doing more chairs down the road. I had to email them for pricing as it's not listed on their site.
I buy my cord from Frank's Cane and Rush, as their prices are the best I've found. They only sell natural though.
Remember to pre-drill the holes (if they're not already present) and stagger them. Read through the original thread for good info on spacing and whatnot.
Moller chairs have always had...
Moller chairs have always had either 17 nails in the front and back, or 19 (it has to be an odd number). I do not know that it is critical, but I believe that the inexpensive, thinner diameter cord I have bought from Frank's looks better when you use 19 nails, and the slightly thicker "Danish imported" cord that some of the other suppliers carry looks better with 17.
Cat is 17 year old, 7 pound, "Plato"
Thought it was oil. Glad that it is. Easier to maintain. Easier to restore. Phew.
Thank you tchp for the confirmation. There was a sight with black cord, but it is UK. I will inquire but am expecting your information to be true.
It appears that the chair has a burlap webbing straps spanning side to side and front to back. Between it and the orange seat is some batting and then between it and the black linen underside, there is more batting.
I don't intend to do more chairs, but if I can do it and do it well, then it may turn into an "on occasion hobby." 105 dozen may be a bit much though!
If I cannot acquire black cord, Frank's is probably where I will go based on all the other sources named in this thread, etc.
Natural cord with a gray cat - certainly better contrast!
Thanks all. Ready to hear other opinions, thoughts.
Dying danish cord black?
Frank's supply mentions the possibility of dying Kraft paper fiber rush with water soluble dyes (which they sell). Danish cord is simply three ply Kraft paper as well. So then it would seem that it might be possible to dye it black....?
Anyone ever tried this? Since it is maybe impossible to get in the US, maybe this is an option.
Upholstered?
I am clearly no expert. I did not know that these came upholstered originally. I DO NOT have such skills or appropriate equipment.
Input from the group?
1) Get them upholstered (not orange)?
2) Cord them myself?
Thanks. I will have to measure out and place nails (hope I am capable - I am a high school math teacher!).
Thanks everyone. Yes, little Plato is out tiny little one.
It will cost less if you
convert them to woven seats and do the work yourself. But some purists might advise you to get them upholstered. I think it's ok to convert to woven. They are really nice chairs but they were very mass produced and the same chair can have either woven or upholstered seat. I think there is a little corner detail at each leg post, but it's so minor that I don't think it makes a noticeable difference.
I have done a lot of dyeing, though not of papercord. I do know that the dye will likely not penetrate the entire cord. What this means in the long term, I'm not sure. Maybe nothing. The other thing is you'd have to test the cord first to see if it swells when the dye soaks in. Water causes it to swell and in my experiments it does not shrink completely back to its original diameter when dry. This isn't a big deal when the seat is already woven (which would be the case when cleaning a woven seat with soapy water). But I would not particularly like to dye a woven seat on a chair because I'd worry about dye seeping under whatever I used to mask off the wood. And dyeing the spool of cord wouldn't work if the dye causes the cord to permanently swell!
On the other hand, if the dye is non-water based, maybe you can dye the unwoven cord. I dunno. I love black cord seats and have put a lot of thought into how to get black cord (including dyeing) but in the end I decided it was too much work and/or expense. I like the natural cord nearly as well.
On the side rails the nails will be much closer together and it's important to stagger them as someone else said--just want to make it clear that they should be the same distance apart, but at different heights. I just redid a Moller chair where the original nails were in a straight line and they had split the rail! Maybe a new guy worked on that one? I was very surprised to see it.
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