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[karlmartn]

Hi!

I've just finished taking apart my first project. But I have a question about repairing the spring system in my armchair. I believe I can change the coil springs without taking apart the whole system. But my question is mostly about the intact and rusty ones. Should I also change them too or just sandpapering them will do the trick? The reason I ask is that I want to sell it after finishing, but I do not want the chair to have any flaws after a couple of days.

[MalcolmM]

Why do you want to change them? If they are broken I could understand, but they look ok. You can use foam to stuff the interior of the springs to give them a little more stiffness. You can get taller springs, but then just add foam to the top of the batting and tie down before recovering. Sprung chairs have a very different feel than foam upholstery, in the days before foam horse hair, hogs hair and cotton batting was used along with other plant fibers like coconut husk and jute to make a chair, coarse feathers were also used. They are a huge mess to work on! If you go the natural material route put a couple of layers of cambric on the bottom to catch all the dust.

The coiled wire is an interesting way to "tie" the springs together, I have only seen hemp/jute cord used myself. Hog rings and clips can be used too.

Good luck.