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how is a seat like this upholstered?

3K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  PUREAUDIO 
#1 ·
A customer of mine brought in a pair of custom built seats made up of plywood and foam. My question is how are these sewn and upholstered. Are the bolsters sewn to the insert and then upholstered or are the bolsters upholstered separately from the insert? How are they attached: staples, listings, glue, other? Just so everyone knows I borrowed these pics from Interiors by Shannon, hope he doesn't mind, they are close to what I need to build up.

Thanks
 

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#3 ·
Hooligan32 said:
A customer of mine brought in a pair of custom built seats made up of plywood and foam. My question is how are these sewn and upholstered. Are the bolsters sewn to the insert and then upholstered or are the bolsters upholstered separately from the insert? How are they attached: staples, listings, glue, other? Just so everyone knows I borrowed these pics from Interiors by Shannon, hope he doesn't mind, they are close to what I need to build up.

Thanks
Depending on how the frames are made, they could be done in any of the ways you mentioned, or a combination of the ways you mentioned. Obviously the picture of the foam without the upholstery is different than the finished product in the other picture. There is no headrest defined in the first picture, but there is in the second picture. The division of the headrest area would have to have something to hold it that way the way it looks. Why not give Shannon a call? He's a nice guy and he will talk to you.
 
#6 ·
How do they upholster this kind of seat?

The quick version!

The bottom bun is usually done as three separate pieces. Bolsters, and center pad. They are almost always held down between each other with a long wire and hog rings.

The seat back is a little different. The two side bolsters and the back cover are sewn together to form one piece. this is then wrapped around the back of the seat and held in a similar fashion as the bottom is. The center pad with the headrest area, are again a separate piece but done in a similar fashion as the bottom.

I have done several Ricaro and Flow-Fit seats that are built this way.
 
#7 ·
Custom made like that are usually glued on the facings, stapled on back, with a cover clipped in place. At least according to Sid Chavers, Ron Mangus and Don Taylor in their educational videos and books, and a conversation I had with Chavers. But I've not done one with wood on the backrest.
 
#8 ·
Usually seats like this do not have any wood to staple to like Chavers and Mangus like to do them. The frame is usually tube steel and the bottom is steel and usually a flexalator of some sort on the bottom. That is the reason why they are usually wire and hog rings.

Good luck!
 
#9 ·
DanTwoLakes said:
There is no headrest defined in the first picture, but there is in the second picture. The division of the headrest area would have to have something to hold it that way the way it looks.
Those are the same seats. But the area in question is more in the shoulder portion. No headrests. You get that much definition of seperatioin with 1/2" sew foam, and that chrome piece pulls it in further giving more definition.

Either way, with that tyoe of seat, you maintain shape with hog rings, listing wires and or glue. The hard part is shaping them consistently if you don't use a mold or shaping guide.
 
#11 · (Edited)
That looks super, nice job. Do the bolster areas get done first and then the center sections like a boat's captain's chair? Is the outside of the seat back separate, or attached to the bolsters? How are they attached, staples, hog rings, listing wires? Do you have any pictures of the bare frames?
 
#12 ·
Dan,

I will be adding a seperate back piece to it, the whole seat is modular the bolsters come off so they can be upholstered partially then screwed back on to finish wrapping the upholstery around the outside edge.

Actually I upholstered the centers first then the bolsters attached. I used staples throughout the build, like i said they are all plywood and foam, so really no framework to speak of, which means they are not all that safe, compared to stock retrofitted seat.
 
#13 ·
That seems incredibly unsafe to me. I was expecting them to have some kind of brackets to hold the back and seat together, do they have that, are they assembled differently like with hinges of some kind, or don't they get assembled at all? Are the seat and back just two solid pieces of plywood? How are the bolsters made, are they just plywood also, or are they more substantial than that? It seems to me they would have to be stronger.
 
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