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[malachiconstant]

I have a beautiful banker chair on a swivel that I date to the late '30s or early '40s based on the branding. The upholstery is wearing thin and the seat is uncomfortable so I'm reupholstering it, which looks to be something the chair is made for. It came with ornamental upholstery tacks all around the seat cushion and seat back.



I am replacing the cushions with high density foam and covering it with a fabric based on William Morris' The Strawberry Thief.

This is my first attempt reupholstering a nice piece of furniture and I have a few questions:

1. The chair has been reupholstered a few times and the part of the wood that secures the upholstery is looking a little worse for wear. Is there anything I should do to the chair while I have the upholstery off to take care of the wood?

2. Along the same line, is there anything I should do differently in terms of securing the new upholstery onto the chair? (Was just going to staple it down and try replacing the tacks into their original holes for decoration, which is how it seems to have been done previously.)



3. The wheels aren't in the best condition, although the casters seem fine. Is there a way to resurface/replace the wheels so that it rolls more smoothly, or should I just avoid it altogether since they are very possibly original to the chair?



Also receptive to other advice on this project. It seems straightforward to me, but sometimes you don't know what you don't know.

Thank you!

[Ron Henningsen]

I use a product called PC 7 to repair holes such as shown in your pic. The advantage is that it hardens but doesn't become so brittle that a nail will split it up into small pieces. You could therefor fill the holes in the wood and reinstall the decorative head tacks and everything would work. No wood splitting yet great contact to the studs of the tacks to hold them in place. The downside is that this product is dark in color which in your case doesn't matter as you wouldn't see it.
I'm going to try and attach a pic of the product. Order it on-line, home depot type of stores etc.
Be sure to work it into the holes with a firm putty knife as you are filling a blind hole and it takes some effort to get the product in.

[malachiconstant]

Thank you, Ron! I'll look into getting some PC 7 for the holes. Would I still staple the upholstery or are you suggesting the tacks would be enough if I fill the holes first?

[Ron Henningsen]

I have few chairs as I'm just starting in auto upholstery and others will be more qualifies to answer for the chair upholstery but if I were doing it I would staple it for the holding power then would use the tacks after the fabric was in place.

[MalcolmM]

If you can disassemble the wheels you could turn them on a late to make them round again, presuming there's enough material left on them, or replace the wheels with new plastic ones but keep the housing for authenticity.

[malachiconstant]

Rob, thanks for the follow up. That's what I'm planning on doing so it's good to have some confirmation.

Malcolm, thanks for the suggestion! Hadn't thought of either of those ideas, I think I might give them a shot.