Safely Removing Staples and Tacks

Welcome to this weeks blog edition.

Since I have spent a great deal of time talking about the damage an unthinking technician can impose on a piece of furniture, I thought perhaps it would be wise to illustrate how to avoid damaging a chair as you take out staples and tacks.

There are primarily two types of fasteners used in the upholstery process; tacks and staples. Tacks are a form of a nail that has a flat head and shaft of graduated thickness.

Photo: SHS

They are installed with a tack hammer; literally pounded into the wood.

Staples are composed of “U” shaped wire, which is extremely thin. In this photo we see staples that are partially out of the wood just to the right of the center of the image. Remember you can click on the image to get a better view.

Photo: SHS

Staples are forced into the wood with a hammer action.  The hammer is a sliver of metal in the staple gun.  It is forced by a spring, air or electric to hit the staple out of the gun into the wood.

These fasteners attach all the upholstery materials to the furniture frame. Tacks are used primarily on furniture made before the 1950's when pneumatic staples were introduced. The switch from tacks to staples was gradual with virtually all upholsterers employing staples wholly by the 1980's.

Today I will illustrate the correct way to remove staples; tomorrow tacks. Specifically, I will illustrate how to remove them when they are next to carved wood without incurring damage to the decorative bits and pieces. Later, when I reupholster the chair, the correct way of applying these fasteners will be illustrated.

In this photo we a staple that is completely in the wood with a staple puller positioned in the center of the head. 

Photo: SHS

With one hand holding the staple puller in place, gently tap on the end of the handle of the puller until it forces its way under the staple head and pushes the head up a bit. The business end of the puller will be under the head. At his point put pressure down on the puller handle and the staple will come up.

Once the head of the staple is above the wood you can use a pliers to grab it and twist it out of the frame. These staples were partially pulled out by the action of tugging off the fabric cover.

Photo: SHS

Here I grab and pinch them with the pliers.

Photo: SHS

And here I roll the pliers while still keeping the staple firmly pinched. Enlarge the photo to see the staple is completely out of the wood and in the pincers of the pliers.

Photo: SHS

Finally, this photo illustrates what NOT to do when removing a staple.

Notice the back of the business end of the staple puller is against a piece of finished wood trim. If I proceed to remove the staple using the steps just described, the end of the puller will be forced into the wood trim, scarring or breaking it. Never attempt to remove a fastener with any tool touches finished or carved wood.

Tacks will be covered tomorrow.

Theresa

Yummy Furniture and Design

theresamhs@sbcglobal.net

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Reupholstery 101 on Hold!

You may have noticed - Reupholstery 101 took the back seat as I wrote about the MAASA Conference last week.

This week I will continue to explore more of the inner secrets of the frame. Specifically, I will address the use of multiples types of wood employed in the making of a single piece of furniture, point out things that show age and further document  damage to the frame.

Every time I think I am coming to the end of material to blog about on this chair, I literally pull back another layer to discover something more to document. Here I have pulled back the cotton batting to expose the side rail of the wood frame and discern the wood species.

Photo: SHS

But in doing this I noticed the different colors of cotton batting. The darker layers show their age by the darkening of their fibers.  The top and bottom layers are clearly the more recent additions and therefore whiter than the middle layer. The upholsterer used the older material between the two newer layers to save money.

Here the lighting is more favorable to illustrate the different wood types.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and get a better look! Notice the horizontal lines running through the now exposed wood rail. They are the wood's grain. Notice also that a wood grain is not clearly evident on the leg.

Photo: SHS

They are in fact two different species of wood. It appears that the rail is possibly made from spruce and the leg and other exposed wood from mahogany. Mahogany does have a grain, but it is finer and less visible. This trait makes it perfect to use when the cabinetmaker wants the carving to take the spotlight.

Most wood furniture contains more than one wood species. For example, a furniture tag may say that a desk is made of oak veneer, hardwood and hardwood solids. That means oak veneer is covering an engineered wood made of hardwood particulate aka sawdust. This material makes up the majority of the furniture body.  Solid pieces of hardwood are then used at pivotal locations in the structure where greater strength is required for the product’s durability.*

The description for a Cross Island writing desk from Ashley Furniture states. “The medium brown oak stained finish is beautifully accented by the mortise through ornamentation to create the rustic beauty of finely crafted mission styled furniture.” This sentence says nothing about the physical make-up of the desk. Even the “mortise through” is purely “ornamentation”. Ashley furniture is engineered to withstand the rigors of everyday life.  Most of their case goods are composed of various wood veneers over engineered hardwood solids.

In fact furniture makers have been making their products from multiple wood species for thousands of years. The Egyptians veneered their furniture. (See "veneer" at this link).

Both mahogany and northern white cedar are mentioned in the cut line of an 18^th century Philadelphia Rococo chair pictured on page 114 of John T. Kirk’s American Furniture. On page 116 Kirk states “the use of American white cedar as the secondary wood” is one of the facts that connect the piece to cabinetmakers in the Philadelphia area.(15)

It just makes sense that a more inexpensive, yet sturdy wood would be used in a place that will never been seen by the user instead of using a more expensive primary wood through and through.  

Here is a look at the back rail from the underside where I removed all the webbing. Sadly, bits of the wood broke off as I removed the tacks.  Exposure to heat made the wood brittle. Repeated intrusions by nails caused this back rail to split. If it had been properly nourished with a mist of water and then sealed with oil the damage would have been less.  

Photo: SHS

Before I remove the next piece of webbing, I will moisten the wood to see if it helps alleviate some of the damage. I will only try a small section at first to check if the results are successful.

Notice the staple to the right of the "C" scroll was unable to penetrate the wood because it hit the head of the tack under it. 

Photo: SHS

This illustrates the ill effects of not removing the “leftovers” from previous work.

When the staple turns up like this it often pierces the finish fabric causing trouble on the surface. Leftover tacks and staples often build up near the edges of carved trim. 

That's enough for today. This weeks second post will have to wait until Friday morning! 

Cheers!
 

Theresa

Yummy Furniture and Design

theresamhs@sbcglobal.net

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*In general, deciduous trees are hardwood while trees with needles (pine) are soft wood. 

15. John T. Kirk, American Furniture Understanding Styles, Construction and Quality, New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 116.

The Life of Yet More Objects!

The Mid-America American Studies Association Conference was hosted by the Material Culture Focus Group at the UW-Madison this past weekend.  As a member of the focus group and attendee I can share a few insights with you. This is a continuation of Monday's blog and the highlights of Saturday's earliest Session about Re-consuming Art.

KLH Wells opened with her paper titled The Work of Tapestry in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. She asked "what is the advantage of hand reproduction in an age when photography and other means of mechanical reproduction are available"? Her point of reference is Nelson Rockefeller's contract with Madam Durnbach to hand weave tapestries of Pablo Picasso's work after deeming his original works of art too expensive to purchase. Guernica was commissioned in 1955.

Guernica by Pablo Picasso, Photo courtesy of Google Images

Durnbach insisted on changing the color palette to not one originally used by Picasso. Perhaps this move caused Rockefeller to request that Picasso sign a document endorsing Durnbach's work even though she wove his signature into her work above the mark of her studio, with Picasso's approval!

Here is a photo of the panel.

L-R, Stephen Knott, K.L.H. Wells and Jennifer Scott,  Photo by the Author

Jennifer Scott lightened the mood by presenting Change for Art:Repackaging Art Experiences through the Art-O-Mat.  A short history on vending machines revealed the Greek mathematician Hero devised a vending machine in 15AD to dispense holy water at a temple. Wow!  Art-O-Mat owns 89 machines through which they offer small pieces of original art from about 240 artists.  The works are vended in re-purposed cigarette machines and then offered to the general public at reasonable prices. It's a labor of love for the artists who barely make enough money to cover their expenses. She posed the question, was the art was secondary to the vending experience? This art is being consumed in a different

Courtesy Google Images

Finally Stephen Knott presented "The Obsolete Becomes Eternal: The Paint by Numbers Fad and Its Reception. He mentioned that an online museum of the finished kits is testament to their popularity. Knott argued that the individual hand is apparent in the visual differences between the same kits when executed by different artists. Here are two renderings of a sad face clown for you to examine the differences.  The bottom left image does appear to be darker than the top center, plus the hue of the blue backdrops are definitely different! 

Courtesy Google Images

Courtesy Google Images

Finally he questioned the re-appropriation of these finished works and suggested it is not respectful of the artists who created them. Cheers Mr Knotts! And thank you for traveling all the way from the Victoria and Albert Museum to present!

The highlight of the weekend was Sunday's trip to the Chipstone Collections in Milwaukee. A lively group ascended upon the lovely grounds and Colonial American reproduction mansion. We were greeted by Jon Prown, director of the Chipstone and Kate Smith a Hummel fellow at the foundation.

 L-R Kate Smith, Stephen Knott, Sarah Fayen Scarlett, Gionofer Fields, The Author, Andrea Truit, Jorn Guldberg
 Photo: Jon Prown.

I am astounded by both the collection and the information I take in every time I visit! The collection focus is American decorative arts; specifically furniture and pottery. Kate took us on an hour long tour highlighting the ceramics plus Neoclassical, Philadelphia rococo and Boston 18th century furniture. Luckily I was able to visit with all my favorites! 

 
The Chipstone also encourages the development of new concepts in furniture.  Recent additions to their collection include a blond oak linen chest by  BA Harrington and a marvelously modern interlocking chair by Hongtao Zhou. Zhou fashioned the chair entirely from wood pieces discarded by his students at the UW-Madison wood studio.

As you can see in the first photo, Zhou's chair can be conveniently stored flat on a peg on the wall. 

Photo courtesy of Hongtao Zhou

 

In the second photo the chair is pictured as we use it; fully open and operational!

Photo courtesy of Hongtao Zhou

And here is an image of Harrington's work at the Milwaukee Art Museum where it was featured in the exhibit "Remains: Contemporary Artists and the Material Past"
 

Photo courtesy of B.A. Harrington's website

You can also use the link on oak linen chest (above) and scroll to page 10 for an article on the exhibit. It was written by Chipstone's Ethan Lasser for the publication Furniture Matters.

The MAASA conference highlighted the effects of collaboration; when people get together for a common good, great things happen! Further, the Chipstone Foundation's acquisitions of the work of these up and coming artisans highlights the value of creative thinking!

Theresa

Yummy Furniture and Design

theresamhs@sbcglobal.net

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Speaker and Participant Credentials:

Kate Smith, Hummel Fellow, Chipstone Foundation
Stephen Knott, V&A/Royal College of Art. (PhD) 
Sarah Fayen Scarlett, Phd Student, Art History
Gianofer Fields, Art History, UW-Madison
Jorn Guldberg, University of Southern Denmark Kolding
Andrea Truit: Material Culture Blog Moderator

K.L.H. Wells, University of Southern California

Jennifer Scott, University of North Carolina-Wilmington

The Life of the Object

The Mid-America American Studies Association Conference was hosted by the Material Culture Focus Group at the UW-Madison this past weekend.  As a member of the focus group and attendee I can share a few insights with you.

Our keynote speaker Hanna Rose Shell educated us on the Haitian pepe (pe-pay) industry. Used clothing is shipped in bales from 1st world countries to the island nation.

Pepe Photo Courtesy Google Images

It is bought, sold and refashioned into clothing more suitable for and in the tastes of the Haitian people. Pepe makers work the garments on foot operated sewing machines. While they are accused of putting traditional tailors out of business, it is more likely that the tailors will adapt and start making pepe as well. The concept was started during John F. Kennedy's term in office and picked up the nick name of Kennedy, as well as Goodwill and Reagan. The cream of the crop is aptly called Hollywood Pepe!

Pepe Photo Courtesy Google Images

I also caught the lecture of the UW"s own Beverly Gordon's figural totems that she creates with natural detritus. For those unfamiliar with the word, detritus refers to organic debris formed by the decomposition of plants or animals. So as a fish rots, its skull would become a material for Gordon to compose with. Other materials she employs are skeletal leaves, the tails of crabs, deer hooves, bones, shells, fabric plus many other plant and animal parts. Gordon’s work is often sculptural. One type is called “Tierra”; objects she fashions with discernable heads and bodies. 

Here are two photos of a tierra composed of a deer leg as the main body part and wrapped in fabric described by Gordon as Deerhead with Cape Back.

Photo courtesy of Beverly Gordon

Photo courtesy of Beverly Gordon

 
Here is another composed of animal bones, a gourd and fabric titled Gallheadwhite.

 

Photo courtesy of Beverly Gordon

I don't know that I have ever seen more creative objects 

composed of such surprising materials! 

Mark Nelson also working at the host University, explored the social ramifications of the popular online game of Farmville. 

Image courtesy Google Images

He noted that this type of "gamification" plays on both the inquisitive nature of humans as well as our need to buy in excess. He called it the gateway drug for those who enjoy the adrenaline of buying. But Nelson was quick to point out that people also enjoy the social connection made through the online community. He noted items are bought and often given away to friends; coining the phrase " virtual reciprocal gifting loop". Here, Nelson is pictured with the session moderator and panel members as we enjoyed an open discussion after the presentation.

L-R Lauren Kroiz at podium, Mark Nelson, Benjamin Wiggins, Rebecca Keyel, Photo by the Author

The conference reminded me collaboration occurs anytime people get together and chat-

where everybody's ideas can have a seat at the table.  

More on this subject tomorrow!

Theresa

Yummy Furniture and Design

theresamhs@sbcglobal.net

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Speaker Credentials:

Beverly Gordon, UW-Madison Professor, Chair of Design Studies Graduate Committee

Rebecca Keyel, UW-Madison, MS Candidate

Lauren Kroiz, UW-Madison Asst. Professor Art History

Mark Nelson, UW-Madison Asst Professor Design Studies
Hanna Rose Shell, Asst Professor MIT Program in Science, Technology and Society, Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows.

Benjamin Wiggins, University of Minnesota

More Frame Damage,..and Bear!

Here is a photo of the fabric that covered the blog chair's seat.  Notice the deep cut out of the fabric just behind Bear’s tail and on the opposite side in front of his wet nose.  

Photo: SHS

These cuts are made to allow the fabric to go around the arms posts. It is probable that a pattern was made for the the seat fabric when it was first manufactured at the factory. As later upholsterers recovered the seat, these cuts were more likely made during the process of applying the fabric. An astute upholsterer would use the old fabric as a pattern after discerning if its application was accurate. 

Here is a picture of the arm post around which the cutout of the fabric was placed. The majority of the padding that covers the seat is a natural unbleached cotton batting. it is off white and contains tiny dark brown bits of the cotton seed hull. Notice the whiter  filling closest to and surrounding the post.

Photo: SHS

This is a Dacron like substitute for cotton and curled hair. It is similar to the fill inside most contemporary pillows. Any type of fill will compacts over years of use. When the most recent upholsterer recovered the seat, the Dacron was used to fill in the space around the post that had worn down. It is likely the most recent addition to the padding of the chair seat.  It follows that is is probable that the chair seat was not rebuilt by the most recent upholsterer. 

Recall the photo of the long 5/8" staples in yesterday’s blog. 

Photo: SHS

Here is a photo of their removal.  

Photo: SHS

Notice that the pliers grip the fabric. I pull the fabric away from the frame at an angle perpendicular to it. The staples are applied at the same angle.  By removing the staples at the same angle at which they were installed, less wood is taken out with them thereby minimizing damage to the frame. Notice the staples are clean and no shards of wood attached to them. 

The good news is that the 5/8” long staples were not used around the entire perimeter of the chair. 1/2” staples were used around the rest. The 5/8” long staples  were only used on the left side chair rail as you face it.  We call that LSF, or left side facing.  Bad news is that is my clue that the wood on the LSF rail is probably very dry and in poor condition. Longer staples are usually employed to compensate for this condition.  I hope it is not dry rotted. 

Bear would say this frame has had it.....ruff! (:

Theresa

Yummy Furniture and Design

theresamhs@sbcglobal.net

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For more on the wood's qualities and how people crafted in the medium, see John T. Kirk's, American Furniture, Understanding Styles, Construction and Quality, New York, Harry N. Abrams. Section 2, pp 17-25.
 

Nails, Heat and Lack of Moisture = Frame Damage

Greetings from my favorite furry friend Bear!

Photo: SHS

The summary of last weeks work is that nails used in ways unanticipated by the blog chair frame’s designer damage the integrity of its structure. Today we document some of the damage.

In this first photo the webbing is pictured how I found it; metal straps placed over the jute.

Photo: SHS

Next the metal is removed and just the vinyl strips and jute remain. Recall that these thin vinyl strips were nailed through the webbing and into the inner sides of the frame. 

Photo: SHS

Finally, all the quick fixes are removed and we can see how the webbing bulges down from the wood frame.

Photo: SHS

This is a direct result of releasing the metal strapping and vinyl strips used to shore it up.  Re-webbing plus re-installing and retying the springs would have been the proper way fix the sagging webbing, but that takes more time and effort. 

Recall that both of the "quick fix" efforts drove more nails deeper into the chair’s frame and at angles unforeseen by its designer.  In this photo of the under side of the back seat rail, notice the large crack extending from the right and spreading left towards the center. This occurred over time as nails were repeatedly driven into the wood.  

Photo: SHS

Notice the placement of the last nail head on the right side of the webbing. It is below the crack.  This leads me to believe that the crack to the frame existed for quite some time. The damage was obvious and the nail placed under it to keep the crack from spreading further.  This had to be done by the last person to web the chair

Also playing into this picture are heat and humidity. The wood is dry and there is very little moisture left in its fiber. It was probably stored in an attic or placed near a heat vent when in use.  I would have preferred storage in a barn as there would have been more humidity present. The lack of moisture in the wood causes it to crack more easily, especially when all those nails are used.

Further evidence of parched dried wood is in the use of extremely long staples by the chair’s most recent upholsterer technician; used to apply the decorative fabric. 

Photo: SHS

These staples are 5/8” long. The industry standard is 3/8” long. The added 1/4” penetration helps the fabric stay put but also damages the chair further by forcing the staples further into the wood and spreading its fibers.

Undoubtedly I will discover more damage as I remove the rest of the cover. 

So the moral of the today's story is?  Understand the importance of employing an upholsterer who understands that she/he should repair your frame before attempting to recover it.  

Love your dog,..and give him something yummy to chew on! 

Theresa

Yummy Furniture and Design

theresamhs@sbcglobal.net

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For more on the wood's qualities and how people crafted in the medium, see John T. Kirk's, American Furniture, Understanding Styles, Construction and Quality, New York, Harry N. Abrams. Section 2, pp 17-25.