Hi! I'm new to the forum, so I apologize if this has been asked before. I recently rescued a Herman Miller fiberglass shell office chair from being thrown out at work. It is in good condition, except for some of the metal base is rusting, and instead of just the fiberglass shell, it has a blue vinyl covering that is showing wear.
I'd love to restore this chair. Is there a website to buy replacement parts for the metal base that any of you recommend? And, anyone know if the cover can be taken off and kept as just fiberglass, or will it need to be recovered since it was originally covered? Also, any recommendations for good restoration in the Los Angeles area for this type of chair? I'd love to do it myself, but I may need some help. Thanks so much!
base
H-bases can be found on ebay or craigslist- usually for about ten bucks. Office bases might run you 120. Or you can try some 000 steel wool - or simply spray paint the rusting parts of the base black. I wouldnt spray paint the aluminum.
If the base is bolted directly into the shell with just 4 thin rubber washers you will have 4 bolt holes if you take the fabric off.
However, if the base connects to 4 hockey puck sized rubber washers you should be able to pull, scrape, and soak off the fabric & foam and you'll have a pristine chair. Just be cautioned - some of the chairs have upholstery glued to foam glued to the fibreglas - which can be a pain in the ass to get off.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for the information. It does look like the bolts go directly into the shell, so taking the fabric off without replacing it doesn't seem to be an option. Upon further inspection, it also appears other holes were drilled in for some reason.
I gues I'll have to figure out how to recover it, as the vinyl is pulling away from the base and looks puffy.
One more thing...any ways that you know of to get scratches out of the shell? This came from a school, and I can see where students tried to carve into it. It's not bad, but I'd love to get it out.
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