ME: The Eight Way Tie

As I mentioned before, it is amazing how much "stuff" goes into a chair... literally. Well, not so much newer chairs (most are just plywood with foam glued to it) but my antique chair has guts.

So, I started with the chair frame...



(it looks so tiny... and empty... and a little sad.)

Then I stretched the webbing and tacked it on...



Now... this was one of those points where I ran into an issue and we had to change things up a bit. Because the wood is so brittle and, well, dug up from being upholstered multiple times, I had to move to staples. I really wanted to do things the old fashion way (tacks) but they kept popping out. So, I modernized a bit and moved to staples... lots of staples. And then I added a few extra straps of webbing and attached them to the side of the frame for just that little bit more support.

Next, I added my NINE seat springs (my instructor, Seymour, said the person who made the chair must have had stock in a spring company, because there was no reason for nine giant springs in this tiny chair) and used a clinching tool to attach them to the webbing. From there, I started my eight way tie...



First was back to front. Next was left to right...



And finally, the diagonals which makes the 8 way tie ...



(Notice the front spring is tied in 8 different locations... that's where the name comes from.)

When dealing with the back (which only had 6 light springs) you don't have to do the full eight way tie, just four is sufficient since it carries less weight than the seat.



And there you have it! The beginning guts of my chair!