I first met Mick when he repaired an Ercol dining chair leg that had been badly snapped.

 

I have always been interested in Mid-century furniture predominately in restoring show wood and re-upholstering the piece. (show wood being the polished wood you see when looking at a finished piece of furniture)

 

Last year I took early retirement and with my newly gained time set myself a task of restoring the dinning chair. I decided to completely de-construct the chair, take it back to its original wood; this being Beech and Elm and then re-construct it.

 

It was clear I did not have the skill to repair the leg and Mick was able to “turn and splice” a new part to repair the leg.

 

Mick then kindly offered to help and tuition me to put the pieces of the chair back together and this was a start to my journey of working with Mick.

 

After I finished my dinning chair, I picked up an old Cintique chair that I decided to take back to its natural wood and redesign the physical appearance of the chair.

 

Mick showed me how to scrap back to wood cleanly using a cabinet scrapper and how to sharpen the tool, sand and oil the chair. It took a lot of patients, time and perseverance, but the original wood was beautiful once completed.

 

The Cintique chair back and seat had springs which aged the chair considerably and I wanted to update it.

 

With Micks help and expertise together we made a jig, laminated 2 curved rails to match the curve of the top rail and make a seat frame. Mick taught me how to drill cleanly through the show wood, screw and fix the curve rails I made, make cross grain pellets in matching timber which we used to plug and conceal the screws.

 

To finish the chair, I used Danish cords to string between the two new curved back rails and made cushions for the seat and back.

 

I am delighted with the overall finish of the chair and am very pleased and grateful for all the help, tuition, tips and use of Micks workshop and tools.

 

In the future I have asked Mick if I could have a try at woodturning which I’m looking forward to. I hope you enjoy the transformation photos.

 

Thank you, Mick,