Quick Fix for a Bentwood Rocker

I love Bentwood rockers.  I have had two and think they're just so pretty.  The one I currently have has been moved all over the house, filling in whenever I need extra seating in a room.  After being in a high usage area for maybe too long, I brought it downstairs to protect it.  Unfortunately, I think I was a little too late.  This poor rocker couldn't handle the pressure anymore and its cane seat finally gave up the ghost.

I just couldn't bear to get rid of the chair, but I didn't really want to learn to recane it right now.   I'd seen "before and after" shots where people had reclaimed rocking chairs and thought we could do it.    I pulled out the cane seat and discovered that there is a lip there that can hold a thin board.  Now my biggest problem was a lack of skill with the jigsaw to create a board in the necessary shape.  (I'm pretty handy with the scroll saw, but controlling the hand-held jigsaw isn't one of my strengths...yet.)  Once I explained what I was trying to accomplish, my beloved Superman came to my rescue.    We headed to Home Depot, picked up a small sheet of 5mm underlayment, then headed over to Hancock fabric to pick up a square of foam, and some adhesive to make the foam and the underlayment stay friends and we were ready to salvage this chair. 

First, Superman traced the shape of the seat using the broken cane seat, then he cut out the board and refined the shape with the sander.  Using the board as a template, he traced the shape onto the foam and cut it in the appropriate shape using a bread knife.  At that point, he was ready to glue the foam onto the board...a little spray adhesive sprayed onto the board did the trick.  Oh, he's says it really isn't movable once the foam meets the glue, so keep that in mind.   (He's not big on stopping for pictures, so you'll just need to use your imagination for this process.)   I was ready to cover the cushion with fabric I already had, but he ran with that, too.  A staple gun and a few minutes later, he had the cushion ready to go.  He finished the project off with a few finish nails to attach the seat to the rocker and, viola, my Bentwood rocker is one again usable.   I think the entire project (not including the trips to Home Depot and Hancock Fabric) took about 1/2 hour, maybe 45 minutes.

Not only that, it is sturdier than ever.  This is the xBox chair these days, so it is withstanding the enthusiasm of teenagers.  Need I say more?

One note:  I think I need to hot glue a piece of cording around the seat to camouflage the edge, but I haven't gotten around to it.  I thought you'd like to see the down and dirty, though, to make it easier to picture the process.

A Case of Pepsi and a New Broad Knife...

Well, while most people go out and do exciting things to celebrate their anniversary, Superman and I decided it would be much more fun to have me watch him try to fix our furnace with the aid of Mr. R. (our friend and next-door neighbor). The weather outside was, in fact, frightful, so we really needed a furnace. Since Superman is a handy and Mr. R has a "b****in set of tools" (completely gratuitous Fast Times at Ridgemont High reference), they made it their mission on Tuesday to fix our furnace. They somehow located the part they needed in Spokane (yippee!); they also discovered that the reason we have so many problems with our furnace is that it is a mobile home furnace, NOT a furnace for a house the size of ours. (Obviously, a dilemma for another day!) After many mishaps and too much time spent on treacherous roads, they got the furnace fixed at 9 p.m. on the 30th; a mere 24 hours after we had discovered it was no longer working. Phew! (I think Mr. R felt a strong sense of urgency because he didn't want all five of us descending like a Mongol hoard.) My heroes...truly. (Mrs. R was pretty cool, too, because this meant she didn't have the services of Mr. R for the entire day!)

But, how to thank the friend and neighbor? Superman had already hooked Mr. R up with some Korean food, but I'd done nothing but stay out of the way. Then I had it! Mr. R likes Pepsi like no one you've ever seen. One trip to Costco later, and I was able to deliver a case of Pepsi to Mr. R in time for his New Year's Eve revelry! A case of Pepsi and some daegi bulgogi...what could be better?

(I also had to deliver a 10-inch broad knife to replace the one he sacrificed because it needed to be cut up for the metal which was then welded somehow to create a new part that they couldn't get. Don't you just love men who can fix things?)

So, thanks again for helping keep us warm this winter! You rock!