restoring reproduction eames lounge/ottoman  

Gee, i've been gone awhile!
I got busy and look what I missed! My favorite subject!
My leather from Kyson always gets here within a week. They are great. I love them. Wonderful hides, wonderful service.
I've done three Plycraft chairs and ottomans in very dark brown leathers and one in black. Some of the samples I got didn't have much depth of color but some were quite rich and dark. Each one is a little different but I like them all. A very dark brown brings out the richness of the wood but is a little bit softer than black. Black IS classic, though.
I would use rubber cement when making welt just because it'll set up almost right away. White glue will take awhile. I use rubber cement when joining welt strips end to end for longer lengths.
Plan your layout carefully. I spread the hide out on the floor and lay the old pieces of leather/vinyl on it while leaving space for as long as possible welt strips. They take a lot of hide! On the last chair or two that I did, I didn't have to piece strips at all and that was way easier and looked better.
Make sure you check the hide first for flaws and draw around them with chalk if you find any. I had to redo one or two pieces because I didn't see flaws until I was done. Quite annoying!
An electric staple gun is a must for stapling to the shell. It has a lot of spring and it's hard to apply enough back pressure and hold the leather in place while stapling. I used a manual staple gun on the first chair I did and ended up sore and very frustrated.
I haven't figured out the foam thing yet. I usually get 4" thick high density foam from Joann's, which isn't as firm as some other HD foams. That's for the seat. It's kinda high when done but our chairs get a lot of use and the foam does break down over time. Probably ideal would be 2" HD foam and 2" of softer foam. But the soft foam from Joann's is really crummy quality so that's out.
I've done different things with the armrests---two platform types the usual way, one platform type with welt alround the top and bottom, and one Eames-type with welt on each edge. That one was horribly difficult but I finally got it right in the end. I will try to get some pics of those.
I've had the most trouble with buttons. They almost always pop off later but I think I've finally figured out the way to do it. It involves a commercial shell, a regular plastic button inside threaded with button twine, and then some kinda adhesive with "weld" in th name to hold the plastic button into the shell. So far, so good.
Good luck--it's so fun to do these chairs. They usually look really worn and ugly and it doesn't take a lot of money or skill to make them look great.

P.S.
DO get samples from Kyson. I've found that the actual hides rarely look anything like the photos as far as color goes. I think it's because the sheen reflects whatever light is in the room. And maybe it's the difference in monitors.
I usually request one or two that look good and then ask for whatever else they think might meet my needs; i.e., very dark brown, pebble or no pebble, low gloss, no two-tone, 50 sq ft minimum.
Another P.S. I have done a chair/ottoman with 45 square feet but prefer to get 50. That usually allows enough for a mistake if the hide is not cut too weirdly. Most aren't.

Thanks Spanky!
Hey Spanky! Thanks for all the advice! First, to bring you up to date, I spent most of the weekend doing some final experimentation and preparation, and I'm happy to say that I think I've FINALLY got the seat where it needs to be with the padding. I started with the 4" foam from Joann, but I wasn't getting that soft pillow look the 670 seems to have. So I went down to a 2" and a 1" layer of high density (green) foam, with a layer of batting on top. More comfortable, but still not soft. So I added back one of the original softer (white) foam pieces (can't remember whether it was 1" or 2"), and several layers of batting on top. Pulled the buttons as tight as I could, and it looks (and feels) great! You're right though, who knows how much and how quickly the foam will deteriorate in time and settle. Have you experienced a lot of settling with your 4" foam?
Then it was on to my mini-ottoman (I'm still perplexed at how small it is... Not overly small, but clearly smaller than the 671). Anyway, I took the beat up leather off, added some batting, and replaced it with a scrap of vinyl, just for practice. That was a piece of cake. Then I sanded off the edges of the outer shell, which had been painted black. Have you ever seen a shell with the edges painted black? Weird. So now I have the exposed plywood edges, which I actually like because I think there's a certain beauty to exposed plywood. I'm debating whether to stain it walnut just to tone in down (in preparation for the walnut veneer), or just apply the topcoat when I'm finished veneering, which should knock down the contrast as well.
I also ordered my leather! You're right, Kyson rocks. I asked a million questions and she answered all of them. Even sent me two batches of samples. Ultimately, because I wanted to make sure I had PLENTY to work with, I ended up choosing a (black) 60 sf natural grain hide. It's not QUITE as smooth and soft as I would have chosen ideally, however at that size the choices narrow dramatically. But I'm still very happy with it. It's actually very similar to the vinyl I've been experimenting with, and I've been happy with how that looks.

On to my questions...
So just regular old rubber cement for the welts? I think that's actually more or less what I used on my experimental welt (although it was packaged as "super-sticky adhesive" or something... it clearly looked like rubber cement). I was looking at a leather glue from Joann (see link), but I think you're right about the drying time. Even doing it with the rubber cement was tough enough... I had to create a weird clamping rig just to hold it in place while it dried.
As for the buttons. I tried using the Joann kit with the first vinyl I was experimenting with, but it was so thick I couldn't even come close to getting it to pop in place. Then I tried it with the second vinyl I got, and it miraculously worked! And they've held well since then. But, I'm definitely concerned that this leather is thicker than the vinyl and could trip me up. I'd love to find some pre-made buttons like LuciferSum, but I am worried that if I order them based on a pic online, they wouldn't match. I guess I'll just have to see what happens when the leather arrives.
Oh, speaking of the vinyl, I was so proud of all my hard work yesterday, I Armor-Alled the new vinyl. (I can't believe I actually Armor-Alled my chair...) I took some pictures to post online, and the vinyl was so shiny, you couldn't even make out the details! Ack... So anyway, I've save the next pics for the leather! 😉
http://joann.com/search/search_results.jhtml?CATID=3&keywords=leather+gl...

Buttons
Hi Twine,
I was a little cautious of the idea of making buttons. I've done some bookbinding work, where the leather needs to be pared down to almost paper thinness in order to fold around details. It seemed like that was the only way to get the button pieces to stick together. They're not the same texture as the leather f the seat, but you dont notice until you look very closely. It also gave me more confidence in the sturdiness of the buttons.
I'd caution against using rubber cement, as it tends to break down fairly quickly (sometimes within a year). White glue, elmers, PVA will tack dry in about 7 minutes, bone dry overnight. The leather glue you have looks good too.

twine:
We haven't had our chairs long enough to see if the HD foam from Joann's has broken down much. I've used their regular density white foam for sofa cushions before and I know it doesn't last much past a year or two. I've also seen cheap foam on commercially upholstered sofas break down in that time period.
The edges of the plywood on all my Plycraft chairs and ottos have been painted or stained black! Some of it has worn off a bit but it was definitely black to begin with.
Good point about rubber cement breaking down with time though once you get a billion staples into it, that isn't so much an issue. I sew mine anyway!
On buttons: the kits from Joann's are awful for upholstery. They're meant for garments. Even if you can get the leather thin enough (I scrape the back of it) to fit in there, what inevitably happens is the wire loop pops out. It may take awhile but it will happen.
I just use the dome cap part thing and throw the rest away. I buy the 7/8" buttons and and then get 3/4" plastic buttons to use as backs---or maybe it's 1" and 7/8", i forget. I sometimes have to chip away at the edges of the plastic buttons to get them to fit. It's a pain in the neck.
Also, cut the leather big enough to wrap around but then cut little 1/8" or 3/16" notches in the edge all the way around. This gets rid of some of the bulk when you stretch it around to the underside of the metal dome.
Use the eraser end of a pencil, or the end of a Bic pen or a chopstick or something to work the leather under the pointy prongs of the metal dome. Oh, and dampen the leather! It makes it more pliable and won't hurt the finish at all. Let dry before you glue.
Thread the plastic button backing with nylon button twine (it won't stretch). I've also used venetian blind cord, which you can get at Joann's. The button twine is harder to find and isn't crucial, just don't use anything that will break or stretch.
Fill the back of the metal dome with JB Weld adhesive, then push the plastic button in with the cord hanging out. Be careful not to get adhesive on the leather. If you do, let it harden and then scrape it off. Usually this works for me. You may want to do an extra button or two just in case.
I've done it this way with two other kinds of epoxy cements and both failed eventually. It's SO annoying to see those buttons pop off a month or two or three later. I hate taking the whole damn thing apart to fix one crummy button.
It's the metal dome part that always pops off on my chairs, btw. The plastic backer button and the cord hold just great.
Oh, on my first chair I used black glove leather on the buttons and it worked with the metal backer that came with the kit---but then the metal loop didn't hold. But glove leather IS thin enough to use on those kit buttons, fyi.

Thanks guys. That's all...
Thanks guys. That's all awesome advice. Shame that the hardest part is the smallest details, but I guess that's usually the case. I can't wait to start experimenting with different button-making techniques. Sounds like that's what it's going to take. So, basically, it sounds like from everything I've read and heard, I don't need the fancy "leather glue"... White glue (and a million staples) will work just fine.
My newest quandry comes from the shape of the arms. For some reason, the inner shell varies slightly from the shape of the outer shell. In some areas, it's virtually flush, while in others, there's a good 1/4" difference. I might think it's a mistake, except that both arms are identical. It's not a big deal, since you can't really see it, except that in two areas, it causes the arm to rub against the seat and the back. Where the arm meets the seat toward the back rubs against the seat, but toward the front is 1/4" clear of the seat. Same with the arm and the back. Again, not a huge deal, but given the loud noise it makes every time you move, I was thinking about simply trimming off those little extra pieces with a router. If I'm not mistaken, from pictures I've seen, the arm cushions on the 670 do not come into contact with the seat, do they? (I've never seen a pic that shows how they meet the back.) This is totally not a big deal, but I just figured if I'm going to address something like this, now's the time to do it. (In case I hadn't mentioned, my goal is to have them done in the 670 style, thicker pads, welting etc, to the extent that I can with this chair. So I'd like to get the shape of the shell as close as I can before I pass it off to the upholsterer.)
Oh, my leather will be here tomorrow! Yahoo!!! 60 sf of (hopefully) beautiful black natural grain leather.... I know what I'll be doing all weekend!
Thanks again for all the great suggestions...

the arms
I think I had the same thing with the curved arms of one of my Plycrafts. Three had the platform types and one had curved, which I converted to the Eames style with welt.
I didn't trim the wood at all. I think they did kinda squish against the back and seat cucshions but they don't make a loud noise when the chair is sat in. Maybe good leather makes a difference??
Converting these arms to Eames style is not for the faint of heart. I nearly gave up several times and I have done a lot of upholstery over the years---like 10 sofas, 20+ chairs. I did give up trying to piece a bottom onto the sides and top and then fitting it over the base like a slipcover. What I ended up doing was sewing the top, welt, sides and more welt---then put this onto the base.
THEN I cut the bottom piece very, very carefully, pressing it into place, marking and cutting the tiniest bits off at a time until it fit neatly right up under the roll of the welt. No edges turned under, just the cut edge. It is hidden both under the welt and under the arm itself. You might figure it out if you lay under the chair with a bright light on the underside of the arm, but so far no one has done that.
I glued it down with contact cement and was QUITE glad to be done with it. I would do it again but only because now I know how to do it!
and PS? The arms look GREAT. If i do say so myself. I'm so glad I attempted it. It makes a huge difference in the look of the chair.

Success!
Whew... Spent all weekend working on the upholstery, and I'm ECSTATIC with how it turned out. The leather is totally gorgeous. I thought I was settling for something stiffer and less "buttery" than I wanted, but when I got it, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. And it looks and feels even better on the chair.
Everyone's advice was priceless... From leaving plenty of hide for the welts (I cannot believe how much leather four simple welts took) to the white glue (worked like a charm), I felt totally confident knowing I wasn't the first one who'd ever done this. Spanky, you couldn't be more right about an electric staple gun. After spending the previous three weekends screwing around with one cushion with my manual staple gun with no problem, I thought I could handle it. Jeez, was I wrong. Two days and several hundred staples (if not more) later, my hand was covered with blisters, and my hand and arm were so sore it hurt to pick up a cup. But I managed to get through it because of how well it was going. Also, I discovered that the vinyl I was using to experiment was a dead match for the color and texture (but definitely NOT the feel) of the leather, so I ended up making the buttons out of that. So far, so good. If they start popping off, I'll go to plan b, but for now they're working out perfectly.
LuciferSum, I'm running into a problem you mentioned... The abundance of leather (because of the welting) is causing the bottom of the headrest cushion to stick out a bit. I'm debating whether to just Sharpee the staples like you did, or possibly add two more screws to the bottom of the headrest to suck it in. (There are already three screws, but they're all along the top, which is what's pushing the bottom out.) Speaking of the screws, for now I bought some black appliance spray paint for all the hardware. It dried to a super-durable finish and actually doesn't look half bad. I keep trying to think of ways to get around exposing the hardware, but I can't think of anything that wouldn't compromise the structure. So for now I think I'll live with them. I actually don't mind showing off how the piece is put together. (Although I would certainly take the hidden look of the 670 if everything was equal.)
Now all that's left is the arms, which I'll hopefully tackle (have tackled, I should say) soon. I've padded all of the cushions so much that the arms don't even fit anymore. But as I mentioned before, I think a little trimming with the router will get them where they need to be. Anyway, I posted a new pic of my semi-finished chair... Thanks again guys!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7370173@N02/?saved=1

Oh, one more thing. I'm not...
Oh, one more thing. I'm not crazy about how the seat and back shells come together at such sharp points where they connect (see first pic on Flickr). What's so great about these chairs are the fluid curves, so I'm thinking about rounding them off. I'll still need to keep the four screw holes contained in the shell, but I think just simply rounding off the two sharp points will make a huge difference (or at least it did in Photoshop). Then I'll paint all of that hardware black to match, and hopefully it'll disappear a bit into the black leather and dark walnut veneer (to come). LuciferSum, how hard was it to cut the rounded corners on yours when you cut it down?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7370173@N02/?saved=1

Eek
So when I tried to cut the rounded corners on my chair I was using a hand coping saw. it was effective, but there are a couple spots where the saw went the wrong way. The bandsaw was broken and I couldn't find a fine enough blade for the jigsaw. 🙁 Im fine with the nicks as they are.
I dont know if I'd add more screws to the back. Thats the one thing that I do disklike about the chair I have. I' love to see it with no screws or bolts.

No screws
Turns out, upon closer inspection, I don't think extra screws would help anyway. It seems that in my haste to quickly reassemble it the other night, I didn't have all the leather flattened out when I put the headrest into the shell. So I'm hoping that if I take it off and be careful not to let the leather bunch up when I put it back together, it should fit nicely. If not, I'm busting out the permanent marker.
As for the curves, I think I'd turn once again to my trusty router. Of course, I'd still need to make a template of the curve out of some MDF, but I'd rather experiment on that than the actual shell. Again, props to you for having the guts to take a coping saw to your backrest. It definitely looks good in the pics, but I know what you mean about the little things only an owner would notice.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7370173@N02/?saved=1

Wow!
It looks gorgeous!
Re: the cushions not fitting back into the shells with the new leather on them---I think this is also due in part to the inner shells relaxing a bit when they are out of the outer shells. That plus the bulk of the new leather and you've got a very tight fit. I've had this problem on all of the chairs that I've redone.
You can cut away some of the excess leather with an Xacto or some sharp scissors once the stapling is done. You can cut pretty close to the staples since leather doesn't fray.
I've also toyed with the idea of putting a strap of some thin material around the inner shell and pulling it tight to curve the inner shell as much as possible, then wedging it into place, then sliding the strap out. I'll do it on the next one that gives me fits.
I think covering the buttons with matching vinyl is fine. It will be nearly impossible to detect.
I finally took pics of my chair (labeled Selig but I guess made by Plycraft---I forget the consensus of that whole discussion).
I once got some photos to appear in the body of the message here but most of the time it doesn't work so you'll have to copy and paste---sorry!

http://home.comcast.net/~klm3/selig1b.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~klm3/selig5.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~klm3/selig7.jpg

snagged another one
Bumping for that new person who wanted to know about reupholstering these, and to say that I got another one last night at an auction. It was reupholstered at some point in a plum-colored fabric that I think is supposed to be suede-ish. It was very nicely done even if the fabric is wildly inappropriate! I've already requested leather samples from kysonleathers on Ebay.
Here are the photos that I linked in my previous message (i hope this works):

swivel bracket
Great forum topic...much to be learned here. I have a Plycraft chair that I'm currently bringing back to life. I've seen the replacement Plycraft Tilter swivel seen here: http://www.swivel-chair-parts.com/402%26502Tilter.html
...but wondering if there is a swivel bracket available that is more like the fixed bracket on the Eames chair?
thanks!
http://www.swivel-chair-parts.com/402%26502Tilter.html