Eames Soft Pad - tear in leather  

Hmmm. Does no responses mean nobody has tried remove and swap the leather on two Softpads? Perhaps it's not possible. I think I could make a jig to stretch the frame for the bar on the bottom. How do I remove the top bar behind the seat back? It's not grubs screws holding it in place, so I'm not sure how to do that bit.

Okay, I have another question.
Is the frame for the Softpad identical in dimensions to the non Softpad version of that chair?

Hi ScottB,
In my experience a soft pad lounge chair has the mounting holes for the base in different spots than the desk chairs. Between desk chairs, there is also a difference between herman miller and ICF versions.
If the frames look to be the same otherwise, you can probably swap the upholstery. I briefly considered doing this, but it became clear that without the right tools, or doing it before, it was going to be really time consuming, so rather than destroy a decent chair, I moved onto something else and gave up. (and normally I'd tackle projects like this)
These links may provide some insight:
http://www.designaddict.com/forum/General-discussion/Eames-soft-padalumi...
http://www.designaddict.com/forum/Repair/Eames-Aluminium-Group-EA124
Could you post some pictures of the blue soft pad with the plum frame? I've never seen that one. It would almost be easier to strip the frame rather than try to swap upholstery.
I believe the upper bar is held in place by four roll pins that need to be punched out.
Good luck.

Many thanks for the detailed reply, racecar.
I have spoken to a Herman Miller dealer down here and they said the Softpad leather kit would cost about 75% of the value of the chair. And Herman Miller US reckon they are the only ones who have the tooling to stretch the frame to refit the bottom bar. I reckon I can sort out the stretching, but I'm not paying $2,000 AUD for leather. That chair might have to stay with a torn seat.
I have an old, damaged desk chair at home, so I will check the mounting holes and measure all other frame dimensions in case the blue leather softpad leather will fit it.
I have a niggling fear that the leather is held in by teeth or something and extricating it will be tricky. I can't get confirmation on that.
The chairs are not ICF. My wife worked for Herman Miller down here for about 15 years and we accumulated a bunch of stuff - several Eames tables and a Noguchi, some of the low slung Aluminium Group lounge chairs, 8 bright yellow fibreglass chairs, some plywood chairs, an Eames Lounge (the last of the rosewood ones), and a few Softpads - including the one with the awful plum frame which I will photograph and post. Stripping that frame and then polishing it might be impossible.
Scott

Racecar, here is the Softpad with the ugly dark plum base. I think they may have called it aubergine/eggplant. It would have been a late 80s aberration, I suspect. Somebody sitting around the design yard in Zeeland with 80s hair and possibly wearing those silly parachute pants would have said, 'Hey, I've got a great idea everyone. Instead of that boring polished finish on these chairs, how about we paint them.' They would have then looked down at their pants and said, 'And instead of that boring smooth leather look on the back, let's put a coloured ruffled fabric there.'

Hello Scott.
How bad is the split on the leather? I've had splits on the leather seats in a couple of my classic cars that were repaired by a product called Leatherique, and the results were acceptable.
yup,
Aunt Mark
http://www.leatherique.com/

The tear is right in the middle of the seat, Mark, and it's about 10 inches long. The leather is well worn. Given the insane cost of a new leather kit from HM, I might see if a local upholsterer can get some similar leather and replace just the seat bit. That will be possible if the leather can be found. And if I can pull the chair apart successfully. Getting it all back together again, too, would be good.

This is an easy chair to dissect, but a bitch to get back together (due to the antler underneath). Good luck, and post pictures.
Best,
Aunt Mark

So is it just the antler (great name for it) that causes problems? I'm sure I can make a jig to stretch it when it comes time to put it back together.
I'm hoping the leather is easy to get out of the side frames.
Racecar mentions 'roll pins' holding the back bar in place. I've never heard of a roll pin and I'm guessing they are impossible to obtain.

Roll pins are a standard piece of hardware, I'm not sure what you call them in Australia. They're basically cylinders with a slit cut in them, punched in for a tight fit. That's what it looks like the top bar is held in place with.
If you search the site McMaster (dot com) for "roll pin" you'll see a few pictures of 'slotted spring pins' that would probably work putting everything back together. You might have to cut them to length. Mine measure 3/16" by about 9/16" in length.
They might not be reusable after you bang them out unless you spread them. The frames on the chairs I have all have indentations around what I'm calling the roll pins, so they were probably installed with something like a pneumatic rivet gun at the factory (just a guess).
I've seen a few sets of aubergine framed chairs for sale, but they weren't leather. I thought they must have been a custom thing. The ruffled back is blowing my mind though.
Does the chair with the split in the leather have a tilt base or is it the antler type? It will be 100x more comfortable with a tilt/height adjustable base if you can get one.
I have a spare aluminum group seat that's just taking up space. Looking at it now I can feel at least 5 pins per side holding the fabric in place. Looks like these have to be drilled out as there's no way to tap them out. Seems tricky, but not impossible. I'll post a few pics if I tear into it this weekend so you can see what to expect. I've used a 2x4 cut to length to wedge the seat apart while removing/installing the base to keep it from getting scratched. This should work to get the backrest bar back in place.

Good to hear the roll pins are a standard item. Someone down here will have them.
The aubergine frame with leather may have been a special order, but there were plenty of aubergine frames hanging around. My wife remembers them passing through the Sydney HM office. I suspect the reason there are not many that pop-up second hand is that because they are awful they weren't seen as worth looking after. That blue Softpad is one I bought second hand ($285 AUD) with a view to swapping the leather with my torn chair.
The chair with the split leather has the antler base. I can't remember how we got it. Half the HM stuff we have was a result of order mistakes or clients changing their minds and didn't cost us anything. We have a big 8 seater Ally Group conference table in rosewood that came in as an order and the client changed their mind. To get the customs duty back on it, customs wanted it destroyed. We had to spirit that one away.
I'll look forward to seeing pics of that Ally Group seat as you pull it apart. I know you are now really keen to start on it. I need to find a really badly damaged chair that I can pull apart as an exercise and perhaps salvage some parts.
I saw on a video that in the factory when they assemble them they slide the back bar down and use a rubber mallet to get it into position.

ScottB,
Should a chance exist that the leather may be repaired, I have a suggestion. Contact the nearest Porsche dealership and inquire as to who they have repair and restore tears in customers leather car seats.

Good idea. Thanks.
Racecar is dying to pull his chair apart this weekend so he'll tell us how much of a drama that is.

Hey Scott, I hope this helps:
http://www.designaddict.com/forum/Repair/Eames-Aluminum-Group-Side-Chair...
I was wrong about the size of the roll pins on the backrest bar. They're 1/8" x 1/2". They should be reusable.
If you've got the right tools, and a little bit of patience, you can swap those covers.
Best of luck! Let me know if you have trouble sourcing any hardware and I can help with that.