Stories

  • Wireless Chairs – Restoration

    ByFrank Parker

    Wireless Chairs also referred to as Radio Rockers were produced throughout Australia in various forms from the 1930’s through to the 1950’s. The concept was to have a comfortable rocking chair by the wireless as many hours were spent listening to the ABC or BBC news, cricket broadcasts and scandalous serials. Although designs varied the vast majority of chairs were made like our feature chair with round bull-nosed timber arms.

    Our client from Northam initially approached us at a furniture restoration display in the York Town Hall during the York Heritage Festival. She explained that she had acquired her grandmother’s Wireless Chair and would like to have it restored, upholstered in a linen featuring an Australian floral design.

    When commencing the job we first removed the existing upholstery then using two-pack resin repaired fractured timber and the frame joints. The Jarrah rails were then screwed so the frame was robust and remained square. The Jarrah arms and rear feet were heavily stained and lacquered as in bygone colonial days Jarrah was often referred to as “Swan Mahogany”. These show-wood components were carefully sanded back to bare timber with three coats of low-sheen lacquer applied being sanded between coats then finally rubbed over with super fine steel wool allowing the natural beauty of the timber to shine.  

    Heavy gauge coil springs situated between the rear seat and the base frame create the rocking motion however we filled these springs with cylindrical shaped firm foam to dampen the motion. The upholstery foundation was kept original with jute webbing fitted to the seat, coil springs laced then tied-down then a hessian overlay fitted and the back also having jute webbing fitted then a hessian overlay. We then step into the present and laminate premium foam padding with bonded polyester overlays which provides superior comfort to the original flock and fibre stuffing. The upholstery fabric complimented the restored Jarrah frame with the result speaking for its self. The chair now resides in one of the grand old homes of Northam and will be enjoyed for many years into the future.

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  • Danish Deluxe – Restoration

    ByFrank Parker

    Danish Deluxe commenced operations in 1958 and was located at a series of factories in Huntingdale Victoria. The business was founded by Neville Ashkanasy, John Westacott and Borg Gjorstvang with most of the designing done in house however they also manufactured under licence. Danish Deluxe utilised moulded polystyrene frames to which they had an exclusive licence in Australia. The business grew rapidly reaching national distribution by 1968 and ceased operations in the early 1980’s. 

    Our client who has had a long term involvement and is well known in the local furniture manufacturing industry approached us regarding restoring a Danish Deluxe ‘Trina’ lounge suite. He had been going to restore the furniture for years however it only reached the dismantled stage. He had noticed another ‘Trina’ lounge suite displayed on our social media which we had also recently restored for another well-known Perth furniture family.

    This job was to be given the works so the timber base frames were first sanded then glued using two-pack resin and clamped overnight. The frames were then given another light sand and stained a blended Oak/Walnut returning the timber to its original colour. Then three coats of lacquer were applied with a light sand between coats then a final rub down with super fine steel wool returning bringing the frame back to the original mid-century finish.

    The arms were upholstered using a beautiful full-aniline leather which was top-stitched and moulded well to the polystyrene arms. The internal frames were knocked apart, glued and screwed then linked zig-zag springs fitted to the bases and quality elastic webbing fitted to the back frames. The back and seat carcases were also then upholstered in leather. Replacement seat and back cushion inserts were fabricated using premium foam and then encasing with bonded polyester fibre. The head-rest cushions featured quilted polyester filled inserts providing a more rounded and soft finish. The cushions were upholstered in a similar colour wool but the variation in covering textures displayed a classic mid-century finish.

    This suite restored about five and a half decades after manufacturing now resides in a mid-century Fremantle home. We trust it will now endure another five decades.

    • We are thrilled with the contrast and finish

      Hi Frank  – Alicia and I would like to thank you and your staff for the fantastic craftsmanship that you have done to revive our 1966 Danish Deluxe 3-seater and chairs. 
      I was given the furniture 15 years ago and never had the heart to throw it away. This has been restored to new with the Aniline leather on the base and wool cushions from Kvadrat Maharam on the seat cushion. Both the leather and fabric I have also had for several years, and we are thrilled with the contrast and finish.
       
      Once again, we greatly appreciate the great service and quality of work and comfortable lounge suite now to enjoy.
      Shaun & Alicia
      Fremantle W.A.
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  • Tub Chair Reupholstery

    ByFrank Parker
    tub chairs perth

    These tub chairs were purchased three years ago from a leading WA furniture retailer. The clients paid a high price for these chairs which were sold to them as superior quality Italian made pieces of furniture. The manufacturing labels fixed under the chairs reveal they were made in China.

    The covering which is a very poor quality laminated fabric has delaminated in areas of wear. The frames can only be described as having been ‘slapped together’ by unskilled labour. The poor quality elastic seat webbing was breaking down and the low density foam collapsing.

    As part of the tub chair reupholstery process, a new seat frame was constructed from a single piece of structural grade plywood, laced with heavy duty elastic seat webbing then laminated with high density premium grade cushioning. The furniture recovering of these chairs was finished with a quality Australian made fabric.

    The end result was that the client spent about 70% of the initial purchase price to have their tub chair upholstery problems rectified. This makes a mockery of the old saying “the high purchase price is long forgotten but the bitterness of poor quality remains” as these clients were stung with a high purchase price and left with the bitter taste of poor quality. I guess the moral of the story is “buyer beware” so do your research prior to purchase and maybe look a bit closer to home!

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