Alvar Aalto Armchair 406 - how to repair and refinish?  

Artek sells replacement webbing, just do the quick google search & find a retailer/ dealer near where you are.

The finish on the wood frame, try cleaning it first & start from there which version you like, vintage with signs of wear/aging or refinish completely to look like brand new. If you have not done refinishing wood before, try getting how to books from libraries to get a sense of how it is done properly. Refinishing wood is 90% prep work (lots of sanding) & 10% actual refinishing. Go to the Artek website to see what the finishes are for this chair if you want to refinish the wood frames.

Do you know how old is your chair? The really old ones, you do not really want to make them to look brand new but this is something you have to decide for yourself. I hope these helps.

Dear Minimoma,

Thank you for your input.

I'm not going to make it brand new and my plan is to preserve the maximum of the original chair. I don't know when It was manufactured - my guess is 80s. It has a number stamped in 2 places - 113093

1. The straps. I've googled and I've found an Artek replacement webbing as you have advised.

Should I replace the total length of the torn part or just in the place where its worn out? What do you think?

2. Should I clean it with terpentine?

3. The varnish. I've checked Artek.fi site.

They say:

Frame birch natural lacquered.

Is it a shellac lacquer? Or something else?

I think the answer largely depends on what vintage the chair is. If it is really early, then it probably has more value and may need to be professionally refurbished.

If it is later and/or you are dead set on doing it yourself, you are going to need to do some stripping and sanding. Remove all of the strapping. Remove the staples. Figure out what finish it has on it currently. The early ones were finished with shellac, and later switched over to lacquer, if my memory serves me correctly. Shellac is disolved by denatured alcohol, Lacquer by lacquer thinner, mineral spirits, Acetone, MEK ..... Once you figure that out, trip off the finish. When you are sanding, take it easy on the laminated wood areas, because if you burn through one layer to the next, it is pretty obvious.

The linen strapping may be the hardest thing to find.

What specifically are you wondering here?

My main question was about cleaning, stripping and re-varnishing.

But you, Zephyr, and Minimoma have answered my question.

Now I have to found out what kind of varnish I'm dealing with.

It is soft, doesn't look like shellac, which is brittle and give a wood a yellowish shadow.

Lindshammar, I am not sure how Artek sells the replacement webbing. The webbing in your chair looks like it has slightly faded & the new replacement will be much darker. You can make your chair usable by just replacing the broken straps but you will probably notice it every time you sit on it. If you decide to replace all the webbing, save the old ones, you never know another chair might come along in the same color & condition...on the wood frame, try test sanding the underside of the frame that touches the floor to see how easy the old finish comes off. As Zephyr mentioned, take it easy when sanding the wood ( by hand preferably).

Your user name reminds me of an item at IKEA (-:

Minimoma, the legs are very worn out, there is almost no varnish left there. Yeah, I'll try to sand uber-carefully.

Yeah, sure the new straps will be different in colour from the rest, so that's why Im thinking of sewing the pieces of webbing into 3 torn staps in the seat, so it will not be so noticeable as the new black strap totally replaced.

What IKEA item do you mean?

Lindshammar glasv

The Artek website told you it is lacquer. Use satin sheen lacquer, not gloss.

Without going into finishes too much, varnish is different from lacquer, which is different from shellac. These newer versions were surely finished in lacquer. you can find the spray version in a can, or brush it on.

Remove all the strapping. You are going to get dust, lacquer, and all sorts of other ugliness on the webbing if you leave some of it on, and only try to replace the damaged stuff, ... not to mention the old will not match the new and look shabby.

Clean with and oil soap first (like Murphys OIl Soap). If that is not to your liking, then try turpentine.

You will have better results if you remove the lacquer with lacquer thinner or stripper, prior to sanding.

And you will need this tool ( or similar) if you decide to replace the webbing. Good luck.

https://goo.gl/images/vwbX3t

Yesterday I wrote a letter to Artek and I've got a response this morning.

They sell a webbing for 13

Well there you go, you didn't even need our help!

If you look around on the internet, I bet you can find the webbing for cheaper than 260

Have you considered re-arranging the webbing? The two broken lengths are in the center of the seat and bear all the weight. There are two lengths along the edges that could be be swapped into the center for weight bearing. Then, I bet that these pieces of webbing could be spliced back together again with a couple of hours worth of handwork with a needle and thread. I don't mean to overlap and stitch though but to butt the torn ends together and work thread through the webbing across the tear. I have occasionally repaired things like this, and it is very effective if you have enough patience. Neither length of webbing will bear much weight again, but on the outside edges they would not need to. Also, you could stitch a strip of canvas or something to the underside of the webbing across the rear to take the weight.