Chapter 36 Ready-Made Roll Edging

Transcription

1 Part 18: Chapter 36 Ready-Made Roll Edging For years it has been in the minds of hundreds of upholsterers that some day someone of a practical and inventive turn of mind would devise a substitute for the building stitching of upholstering edges. The ability to build and stitch upholstering edges on furniture has been recognized amongst craftsmen as an accomplishment that could be only with years of practice, and in as the appearance and stability of a job depended to a great extent on the of the edges, a good edge-maker had a lead on those less proficient in being able to turn out a satisfactory job. Within comparatively recent years the hope of the old time upholsterer for an efficient ready-made edging has been fulfilled. 1

2 Edgings ranging from one-half-inch in diameter to an-inch-and-a-half, filled to the right degree of firmness and yet flexible enough to follow the curves of the average frame, are now available in running lengths. These various sizes are constructed according to the formula of the various producers and patentees, and may be adapted to the necessities of various types of upholstering. For the most part they are filled with a slightly resilient core, covered with a burlap or felt, and machine stitched to maintain a uniform shape throughout the entire length of the piece. In the shaping of these edges to the frame of a piece of furniture it is customary to tack the loose flap of the edge to the top of the side rails at a point that permits a slight overhang of the "roll," similar to the effect provided by a built-up edge. This plan is also followed in the edging of arms, wings or backs of arm chairs of die character shown in our illustrations. The flexibility of these edges permits them to be swung around a fairly sharp curve, but in cases where the edge is required to turn a right angle corner it is necessary to cut out a triangular section of the loose flap and to force the edge to assume the right angle as shown in Fig. A. Where these ready-made edges are applied in mass production it is important that the frames on which they are to be used shall have the requisite depth of seat rails to provide the desired appearance when the subsequent upholstering, including the edge, is applied. In cases where the rail has not sufficient depth to create the necessary appearance an additional wooden strip on top of the frame will assist in providing the required depth. 2

3 For spring edges the loose flap of the roll is sewn to the spring burlaps and in addition to the front of the "roll" is sewn to the wire of spring edge as indicated in our illustration Fig. D. The unvarying uniformity of the edges together with the fact that they can applied by junior help, provides an important economy of production both in time and material. 3

4 We have purposely shown the application of ready-made edges to the type of chairs usually made in the better-class shops because the use of these edges has produced economies in mass production their application to the work performed in custom shops is a logical development of their use. As to durability, the construction of these leaves nothing to be desired on that the filling in each case is suited in density and firmness to the size of the roll and it is a safe prediction that under normal circumstances the roll will outwear the rest of the upholstering. Our illustrations showing representative and typical chairs indicate the sections to which ready-made edges can be applied. Fig. A shows the bending of the edge to be applied to a spring edged seat and Fig. B shows the edge in place and sewn to both the spring burlaps and the wire edge. The other illustrations Figures D, E, and F, are self-explanatory while the adjoining illustration shows a number of standard sizes in which these edges are a available. 4

5 5

6 Chapter 37 How Long Will It Take To Do A Good Job? JUST how much time is a fair allowance for the upholstering of typical furniture pieces is one of the questions about which controversial opinions will always be held and in a craft like upholstering, an hour skimped or an hour extra care is largely a matter of individual inclination, which shop practice and rigid time allowances endeavor to reduce to a common denominator that will signify the "average" job. Some time ago in response to a specific request we set out to discover the time allowances accorded in various shops for the upholstering of a representative group of current furniture types. To make the results of practical use we stipulated that we wanted the time allowances for both the best type of construction and best workmanship as well as the time allowances that might be considered a second grade production-not quite so good as high-class custom-made, but still better than mass production factory quality. We also submitted the same typical pieces to those familiar with mass production allowances in order to get a well-rounded picture of the time requirements customarily accorded in connection with the pieces we submitted. These pieces are now reproduced on this and the adjoining pages, together with the time allowances as designated by the responsible foremen of two metropolitan shops. 6

7 7

8 8

9 9

10 10