i've done a pile of research on regluing the rubber shockmounts on an eames dax [fiberglas shell]--including calling our herman miller friends themselves--and i've yet to find a definitive answer on the adhesive of choice.
does anyone have the REAL answer [assuming there actually IS a real answer]?
btw, i don't want to send my shell anywhere; i just want to get the glue and let the sticky happen.
thanks.
alfi Hume sent me to Ace ...
alfi Hume sent me to Ace Hardware to buy a epoxy that is sold only there and i am sorry i do not have the name cause it is a the shop,
I know from past experience of bonding by 670 that you have to scrape the old residue off completely and try to have only the original wood showing, Then you have to let it bond for at least 5 days so it will set up and for g-d sakes do not sit in it till at least a week,
Here is an answer from a...
Here is an answer from a known eames guru... from modern50, a well known vintage Eames dealer in the USA.
"Remounting it, once you get another early large mount, is very easy. PV7 from HomeDepot works really well, but it is not the prettiest stuff, dries grey and grainy. Use a bit sparingly once mixed, much will squirt out the sides once a bit of pressure (light pressure for 10 minutes, then medium pressure for the duration of the curing time is fine) is put on the mount, for setting and curing. I am still looking for the black glossy glue HM used."
Another person suggested:
"I have had good success with an adhesive called E6000. It is extremely strong yet does not become brittle like super glues & some epoxies. I have only used the clear formula, but the cool thing is that it also comes in grey and black which makes a great match to original HM adhesives."
I have never performed this brain surgery myself. Just parroting some questions I had about a chair I sold long ago.
Fiberglass or Wood?
Donsof, -are we talking about the DAX (fiberglass) chair again? LRF missed what chair kdc actually asking about and now I'm confused about what chair your answer refers to?
Let's stick to the fiberglass chair in this thread. It gets confusing enough with all the different glue suggestions.
thanks for all who have...
thanks for all who have responded to date.
i did a quick google for the e6000 adhesive, and it seems pretty easy to find. i've put just one url in the web link here.
i wonder what our herman miller chums think of the e6k goo?
http://www.creative-wholesale.com/E6000.htm
most of the people i know ...
most of the people i know do not want the black mounts on there chairs any more, Miller did away with them in the mid 60's and went to the female inverted screw holders mounted inside the fiberglass
8 out of 10 people ask me to put the screw holders in the fiberglass, takes longer but will last forever and it becomes part of the chair, and you never have to fool with that ugly black goob does not dimish the value of the chair at all, UNLESS it is A Zenith rope edge and go only with original
This is on the fiberglass shells and side shells , not any of the other Miller chairs, just a helpful hit take it for it is worth ......
LRF, -if I'm not mistaken HM...
LRF, -if I'm not mistaken HM kept the black mounts on the fiberglass chairs all the way until the end of production in the early eighties? I think it was only the upholstered ones that didn't use them after mid 60's?
Anyway, I wouldn't change an original design as long as replacement parts are available. You are right the Zenith's are the ones really worth preserving, but I have a really nice HM armshell covered in a Girard Harlequin textile. It is not Zenith, but I wouldn't change a thing on it... I also have a rocker in the color 'Light Greige' from the early 60's, also wouldn't change a thing on that... If it is a nice chair, keep it original if you can...
Zenith Plastics manufactured...
Zenith Plastics manufactured the Eames armshell fiberglass chairs for the first few years, 1949-52 or 1950-53 depending on who you ask. Herman Miller distributed the chair from the beginning and took over production after this initial period.
The Zenith chairs have a larger diameter shockmounts. On the first production run you will also find a rope embedded at the edge of the seat if you look to the underside. The chairs which have the large rubber shockmounts, but no rope edge are refered to as 'transitional'.
my take as well
'xander - i was pretty much thinking the same way ... namely, significant alterations to any classic design are to be avoided, even if by today's standard they might be considered "improvements". [that way, tomorrow's collectors won't have as much reason to curse us.]
my school of thought? keep it original, unless in matters of necessary measures to ensure safe, long-term preservation, such as what the pennsylvania conservancy did with frank's falling water to shore up the cantilevers. [better that than have a small hoard of tourists fall in the drink with large hunks of concrete; just my opinion.]
yes, better keep it...
yes, better keep it original...
But I can agree with LRF when it comes to renovating a piece of furniture, which is not a collectors item, into something that will suit your own purposes better.
For example I have a nice 50's bookshelf with a small cupboard with sliding doors at the bottom. I don't need the bookshelf, but I want to use the small cupboard as storage for my DVD-player, amplifier etc... I decided to take the top off and change the legs as well. It is not a piece by a known designer, but I have seen it for sale for $300-400. Still, I got it for $30 and have no use for it as it is configured now... I would probably not get much for it either since it is not in top shape. So yes, I decided to rebuild it into something I can use...
I guess I'm talking against myself, but sometimes you have to be the judge of what is needed for your own purposes...
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