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Shaping Saarinen tulip chair cushions?  

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Fungus Mungus (USA)
(@fungus-mungus-usa)
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28/06/2007 10:42 pm  

I got two new cushion covers made, but the foam really needs to be replaced. The guy roughed out some foam, but the shape isn't smooth at all and the cushions look really cheap, though they've been done in a nice glove leather.

The question is, how do you shape foam rubber so it has the smooth contours that the original Saarinen cushions have? Thanks in advance.

fm


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Robert Leach
(@robertleach1960yahoo-co-uk)
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28/06/2007 11:30 pm  

Isn't it usually
Isn't it usually wrapped in stockinette to smooth all the edges off ?


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Fungus Mungus (USA)
(@fungus-mungus-usa)
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29/06/2007 1:10 am  

The cushions in question are ...
The cushions in question are actually from Burke chairs, which are not wrapped. They appear to be molded in the correct shape. I am not sure what a real Knoll chair cushion looks like, so I can't comment.


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peter osullivan
(@petewosullivanaol-com)
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29/06/2007 2:18 am  

I've seen a number of car uph...
I've seen a number of car upholsterers use an electric meat carver to shape foam into some really smooth contours if your feeling bold might be worth a go, just watch your fingers!
I guess the higher density the foam the easier this would be


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James Collins
(@james-collins)
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29/06/2007 6:03 am  

Knoll
I recently replaced my crumbling cushions with new ones from Knoll and they are formed to the correct shape and then wrapped in a batting 'sock'. I have also been told moms old electric turkey carver is great at scuplting the foam but you might try wrapping the cushion in batting as well.


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HP
 HP
(@hp)
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29/06/2007 6:58 am  

when I worked for an office...
when I worked for an office furniture manufacturer (groan boo hiss hate) we'd cut out the foam from the block and spray the cut edge with contact adhesive, let it tack off and then pinch the edge closed to make a radius edge, a thin layer of dacron over this should smooth it out.
Its hard to find a tradesman who respects the job as much as you do.


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HP
 HP
(@hp)
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29/06/2007 7:01 am  

If your'e not a purist you...
If your'e not a purist you might try stuffing the new covers with feathers, or get some dacron and pull it apart and fluff it all out in to little bits and stuff it with that.


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LRF
 LRF
(@lrf)
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29/06/2007 8:42 am  

i got a big kick out of...
i got a big kick out of reading all
of your answers on redoing and cutting foam.... guess what you are all right....
we do this every day. we try to make the knoll cushions just like the old ones and the Herman miller just like the old ones.
we use the spray glue and that works great but you have to work really fast with that one , that is why we have gotten the Eames Buckets down to 2 hour job.
and the electric knifes although these come from a upholstery supply house and look a little different .
With these you can cut really thick foam, We try to use poly wrap but if we can save the original down that is first priority , as that and foam have doubled in price in the last year.


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Robert Leach
(@robertleach1960yahoo-co-uk)
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29/06/2007 1:49 pm  

I think
I think James's 'batting' sock, and my 'stockinette' might be the same things..but on different continents 😉


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Fungus Mungus (USA)
(@fungus-mungus-usa)
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30/06/2007 1:30 am  

Thanks for all of your...
Thanks for all of your suggestions. I knew there had to be a way to do this, and it's certainly reassuring to hear from people that do this every day. I will give the meat knife and the spray glue technique a try.
One more question though...do you just glue the dacron over the tapered edges that you've glued down? Do I still need to put the cushion in some sort of stockinette to smooth it out? I've never done this before, so I'm not even sure how this would be done.
fm


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James Collins
(@james-collins)
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30/06/2007 2:14 am  

Batting socks
probably a term found only within a 25 foot (8 meter) radius of my home address...


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HP
 HP
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30/06/2007 3:09 am  

yup just spray the the...
yup just spray the the dacron and foam lightly and bring together like a sandwich. But do it outside, contact adhesive is nasty stuff. Some contact in a can is really useless and is best used for housewives and christmas cards, get good stuff.


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LRF
 LRF
(@lrf)
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30/06/2007 10:27 am  

if you really want to have some fun
If you really want to have some fun try to reupholster a sarrine womb chair or a Jacobsen Egg chair 2 of the hardest chairs to recover cause yo u have to hand sew them up .
all of them need new foam and you have to shape it then spray it with the glue, and then try to make the slip cover for hand sewing . This chair is one tough chair to do you also have to get the chair pad right or it will sit wrong. cannot be to thick or to small very critical ,


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NULL NULL
(@klm3comcast-net)
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01/07/2007 5:00 am  

another suggestion
I've done lots of foam shaping, just not for tulip chair cushions. What I do is cut the underside of the foam to shape and then smooth the edge of the topside down to the finished edge.
That would be tricky to do with a Saarinen cushion because of its finished shape. I have two of them to redo and was thinking of ways to get that nice shape.
Latex foam is authentic, I believe. Polyfoam isn't. You can order latex foam from foamorder.com.
PS-- 3M spray adhesive is a reliable brand. I've gone through many cans of it. Other brands generally suck. Spray both of the things you want to stick together, let it get tacky (5 mins or so) and stick together.


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Fungus Mungus (USA)
(@fungus-mungus-usa)
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03/07/2007 1:41 am  

Heh, having just opened up...
Heh, having just opened up another project (a knoll Saarinen vanity stool), I can see that latex is authentic. It has literally turned to powder, just like I would expect latex to do after 40 years. Now I know what my latex foam mattress is going to look like in 20 years. 🙂 I think I'm going to go with urethane foam for the cushions.
Again, thanks for all your help. I'll make sure to get some 3M spray adhesive.
fm


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