Hello everyone,
Scored three of these whimsical outdoor chairs.
All the tubing is repainted over the years in white (I assume there original color),
the wood red, green and blue.
I really like the dynamic of the frame, when looking at it sideways.
The drop down armrest is a nice touch, I think.
I feel the state of the paint takes a lot of potential away from the design, what do you
think? Can you weigh in on my intentions for a bit? Here it is:
I like the idea of using these on the patio, but also indoors, as an accent chair.
In that train of thought I am contemplating sandblasting the frames and stripping the wooden
slats. I would finish the slats with an epoxy or poly varnish intended for boat decking, this would
bring out the color in the wood and would show it's age. I'm not planning on sanding the wood,
just varnish it as it comes out of the stripper.
Now for the metal frames: plan is to sandblast them, then I would like to keep the metal bare.
How do I treat it then efficiently so it can still be used out-doors? Some sort of transparent engine-enamel?
Will this stop the metal rusting? Are there products like this to be found?
What do you make of it all?
And has anyone of you seen this chairs before??
Thanks!
<img class="wpforo-default-image
Read this about finishing wood for outdoors:
http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/difference-between-spar-varnish...
The steel frames are going to be very hard to clear coat. Especially since you are in a wet environment, and possible close enough to the coast to have salt in the air. You have two choices basically: extremely high maintenance chairs that you re-coat with finish perhaps every two weeks to two months, or you faux paint the chairs to look like bare metal which will last for a while.
Penetrol is candidate for the constant maintenance finish. The faux steel finish is probably antithetheical to the wabi-sabi effect you want, and it would be hard to do. See here: http://www.artmetal.com/blog/martinsteelstructure/2011/03/exterior_rust_...
The big challenge with a clear coat finish is that there can be no UV blockers like you can have in opaque paint, so the UV light destroys the finish itself very quickly.
The steel tubes have not yet rusted away to nothing from the inside out, have they?
Whether or not these chairs are worth the effort, time, and expense to completely rehab is a question only you can answer, but these are some thoughts that immediately came to me:
Media-blasting leaves a pitted surface on steel that appears overall as a metallic grey. If anyone still dip-strips in your area, it might be an alternative. But, if a bright, polished look to the steel is your goal, good luck.
Powder-coating with a polyester-based finish is probably the best bet for rust prevention. Hinges, connecting hardware, and any parts that rub together will eventually wear through to bare metal and begin to corrode no matter what is applied. Talk to a good metal refinishing specialist.
Depending on species of wood, original finish, type of paint, etc, you may not like the results of stripping as far as clear-coating. There could be a lot of variation between individual slats if the chairs were originally intended for opaque paint.
A non-poly traditional spar varnish is a better choice than epoxies meant for bright work on boats. Epoxies don't do well exposed to UV. Those beautiful mahogany transoms you see on expensive yachts are the result of a many-step process that includes top-coating with varnish and constant maintenance.
Your chairs are certainly fun. If they were mine, I'm not sure I'd like them as much all grown up.
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