Wood
All Chair frames are Beech as standard, however some may contain some ply parts. You may choose to upgrade the show wood areas of any frame to one of our special woods such as Ash, Utile, Oak, Walnut or Maple. Please note these options will increase the price. All our timbers are carefully and responsibly sourced. All will meet either FSC or PEFC rules and will also comply with EUTR. Why our chairs are unique.
Polishing
Polishing is a stain or seal coat, followed by 2 coats of PU lacquer. The finish level is matt or satin. You may choose to upgrade to a gloss or Hi-gloss finish. Please note a gloss upgrade will increase the price. We can also finish in oil if you prefer.
Painting (normally only on Beech or Tulip)
We offer painting options to all our chairs. This is a special service and will be quoted for on an individual basis. Colours are matched to any industry standard RAL number or your own sample, in matt, satin or gloss. There is a minimum 5 litre mix on all PU paints so it may not be cost effective if you just want 4 chair legs done. We do keep a satin Black and White in stock.
Upholstery
There are many ways to upholster a chair or settee and we know all of them. In the world of cheap that we all live in some of the upholstery methods used in High Street and internet furniture are simply appalling. Do not think that just because you are buying from a well known store that you are getting something special because the likelihood is, you are not.
Our products are not cheap and we simply will not build cheap. What we offer is the best upholstery builds in the UK. All our builds will last for many years and when the fabric wears out, what’s underneath can be recovered. So what does go into our builds. I have listed below how it works, our default standard is ‘Hotel’ you can upgrade to ‘Classic’ or ‘Artisan’ if you wish.
Hotel
Hotel quality is exactly that. We have designed and tested this build to work in the hardest environments. Hotel and restaurant chairs often get more use in a month than a domestic chair does in a year. We use a heavy duty cross matrix suspension and quality commercial fire rated foams in the build. All panels are underlined to stop sagging. Sewn seams are made with super strong threads and any cushions if used, are heavy duty foams with Dacron wrap. This build is also perfect for your home, lets face it, if it will stand up to a busy hotel, it will be fine for your army of kids, football nights in and the New year’s eve party.
Classic
Classic is a popular upgrade for domestic use. This is a quality build using modern materials but in a classic way . We use springs where we can and the best modern foams in the build. Seams can be blind, top stitched or piped as standard. Cushions where fitted are foam feather wrap for seats and feather/fibre backs. This is the best modern/classic build available anywhere and a method that we use for many of our top end trade customers.
Artisan
For the traditionalists, this is our old school build. Using springs and webbing for suspension, with hair and fibre in the build, no foam is used. Seams are the same as Classic. Cushions are feather and down for seats and backs. We even fit a hand tacked hessian base cloth. This is a true traditional build and will last for years.
Upholstery options available on all three builds:
- Hand nailing
- Space nailing with banding
- Cricket ball stitching to seams
- Cushions can be changed around on all models
- Fabric protection
- Interlining
Fabric suppliers links
Here are some of the most popular fabric houses we deal with. All make amazing fabrics. You can choose and then tell us the fabric you would like and we will order in for you.
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Leather
There is a lot of leather available on the open market. In recommending good suppliers we have had to consider everything from the quality, to value and the environmental issues. Below are links to our favorites. Muirhead for instance are an amazing UK company with stunning products and good environmental credentials. Whistler have some great products from Italy. Futura are brilliant all rounders and great for commercial. However our current house leather is ‘London’ by Sofic Leather. This stunning leather comes in many colours and we can supply at prices that are almost half the price of similar products offered by some suppliers. The whole Sofic range is probably the largest in europe with 85000 hides in stock.
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Fabric/Leather suitability
When choosing your fabric or leather for that matter, you must ensure that your choice of cover is suitable for upholstery. There are many different factors to take into account but remember if you use cheap cover it doesn’t matter how well we build your product the lifespan will be reduced. All the companies above produce quality fabric and leather, that’s why we recommend them.
Fabric: The first factor is whether the fabric is durable. Fabrics which are to be used for upholstery should be tested by the fabric manufacturers to confirm the durability of the fabric. This is generally called a rub test or the Martindale rub test. The higher the rub test, the more hard wearing the fabric. Many cheap fabrics won’t have had the test at all and even if they did they would fail miserably. Different companies rate the tests at different levels. Our experience over the years has brought us to the conclusions below.
Under 10,000 rubs – decorative upholstery only e.g. a bedroom chair or stool that is rarely sat on.
- 10,000 – 20,000 – light upholstery, use in the home e.g. chairs which will not be used very often like formal dining chairs that are used for xmas and birthdays!
- 20,000 – 30,000 – suitable for general upholstery use in a domestic application.
- 30,000 – 40,000 – very hard wearing fabric suitable for domestic upholstery in the home, which will receive a lot of wear. Also suitable for general use in a commercial environment e.g. a restaurant or hotel.
- 40,000 plus – this is the toughest of fabrics and we now see some amazing fabrics reach 100,000 rubs. Use it anywhere it will get severe use, Kids play rooms, nursing homes, hotels, nightclubs etc.
Please note that we reserve the right to refuse to use unsuitable fabrics or at least advise that they should not be used.
Leather:
Leather is a natural product and the uniqueness of each hide is individual, no 2 hides are the same. You will find on occasion growth lines, scars and other natural marks which add to the beauty of leather and should not be regarded as a defect. If you want us to cut around every mark and scar you must tell us but this could double the amount of leather used. Selecting the correct type of leather is important to the final look and feel. Full pigmented leathers are the most popular and best all round product, they are harder wearing than a full or semi aniline leather. Aniline or semi aniline leathers will mature over time and develop a patina which some people think enhances the appearance, to others it just looks dirty, in either case it adds character. Pull up leathers have a special finish that changes colour as the upholsterer stretches or buttons the leather, a fab antique look. If you need any help in understanding leather just ask.
Upholstery fire regulations
Domestic fabrics must either meet the UK fire regulations, or be used with a schedule 3 interliner. The fire regulations are inline with the Furniture and Furnishing (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. Your fabric must come to us with a fire certificate. If it does not and we can not identify what its fire status actually is, we will install an interliner at extra cost.
Fabrics to be used for Domestic Upholstery must be tested in accordance with BS 5852 part 1, and must pass both the cigarette and match tests B and H:
- B – Resistant to smouldering cigarette tested over standard foam plus 2 oz polyester wrap (Cigarette test).
- H – Match resistant (Match Test)
- BM – If the fabric does not meet these standards, it will often be classified as BM indicating that it is Exempt under the Fire Regulations and may only be used for upholstery with a schedule 3 interliner or alternatively fabrics can sometimes be FR back coated to bring them up to the required fire safety standards, you will need to check with the fabric supplier to see if this is possible.
If fabrics are to be used in a commercial /contract environment such as a hotel, restaurant, bar, nursing home etc or any public space then further fire regulations must be adhered to. In these instances, the fabrics must meet BS 5852 parts 1 and 2, when it will be classified as Crib 5 or BH5.
Leather hides in almost all cases will meet the domestic regs. Many leather hides can be supplied to BS5852 Crib 5 when used in conjunction with the correct foam composition. Marine (IMO), automotive and aviation (FAR) standards can also be achieved on some leathers, please contact the supplier direct for details.
Internals must also meet the relevant fire regs. Internals will include foams, linings, fibre etc. We only work to the highest of these regulations. Therefore all products we make will be suitable for both domestic and commercial subject to what you cover them in.
The Chair Vault
Our frames
Each frame is handmade in Britain to exceptional standards by our highly skilled craftsmen and women. We can make any number of chairs to order, be it a fabulous one-off designed wing chair, ten tub chairs, or a hundred dining chairs for a restaurant. The possibilities are endless and don’t forget we make settees too.
It all starts with the frame. The frame is the skeleton of every chair we make. Without it, the upholstery would not have anything to be attached to! Obvious you may say but in the world of throw away we all live in, the frame is the first thing that gets compromised in cheap furniture, which is why they collapse and break.
All our frames are made the proper way. All are hardwood but some are now hybrid, this is where we introduce some ply for extra strength or to produce complex shapes. We use Beech as the main timber with other timbers used for legs and show wood areas. All joints are dowelled or tenoned and we use oversize corner blocks in all chairs to keep the frame rigid. Many of our smaller orders are still hand cut on band saws and ripsaws and this is why the cost can be higher. Larger orders will be made using more hi-tech equipment like our massive CNC machining centre.
The art of the Chairbler
Our frame making staff are skilled in the ancient art of the ‘Chairbler’ the 17th-century name for a ‘Chairmaker’. The name came about around this time because the art of chair frame making was considered so specialised that it became separated from other forms of woodworking. This division of craftsmen was noted by Thomas Sheraton in 1803 when he wrote: ‘Chair-making is a branch generally confined to itself, as those who professedly work at it, seldom engage in making cabinet furniture’. In France, the Chairmaker was known as a ‘Menuisier’ and guild regulations actually forbade them to engage in cabinet making. In our workshop today our Chairblers still specialise in frame making and our cabinet makers do just that and tend to stick to making cabinets or crossover products. Mind you, they are not ruled by the guilds like the French were and both departments help each other and enjoy adding each other’s skills to their own knowledge.
