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Arcade Stool Refurb (pic heavy).
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24-04-2013 4:49pm#1A while back I posted pics of the arcade stools that came from Ronnie:
Pretty cool little things but they really do need refurbishing to be properly usable. The above picture doesn't really convey the true state they were in; filthy/rusty frames, grimy seat covers with a 'used whiff' off them, missing/broken ferrules. They were bought as second hand ofcourse so I didn't expect them to be anywhere near minty. But whatever about the state of the frames I couldn't sit on the seats in that condition. So I thought I would document refurb process in all it's gory detail to show some of the effort involved in getting them back in decent nick. I pretty much followed this excellent guide over on AO (thanks ondafly for finding it).
Frame Cleanup
The first job was to tackle the frames - to get rid of the rust and dirt, polish them up and protect them so they'll last a good while.
Tools Required: A decent pair of rubber gloves, a stack of brillo pads, a few j-cloths, a crappy towel and a basin of warm water with a little bit of washing up liquid in it (refilled many times), chrome polish/protection (Autosol or Meguiar's)
Unscrew the seats, pull out and/or cut off the old ferrules and assess the task ahead. Before pics:
Gave them a decent scrub with wet brillo pads, wipe off excess crap with wet j-cloths and repeat, briefly dry with towel. The crap came off pretty easy actually. On some sections there are tiny little scratches when you look real close, but you can't see them at normal distances, I can live with that.
After pics:
The following day I gave them a decent going over with some Autosol to shine them up and protect them.
Also put on the new white rubber ferrules and that's both frames done:
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Seat Refurb
The second job was to redo the seats themselves - replace the fabric and foam inside and hope that the wooden board was ok as is. The plan was to cover one in red and the other green.
Tools Required: Stretch velour/velvet, 16 x 16 inch foam (1 inch thick), flat head screwdriver, pliers, heavy duty stapler (with staples :pac:) and a second pair of hands.
For the foam I bought this stuff here. The fabric was got from ebay.co.uk after spending ages finding the right stuff (stretch both ways and not crushed velvet) and the colours I wanted - went with red and green.
Red
Green
I used a small flat head screwdriver and a pliers to remove the existing staples (two sets - one to hold the lining in place and a second set to staple the fabric to the board).
Old:
The original foam looks mank, quite a bit of dust from it also. Carefully lifted it out and binned it and the fabric straight away. Wiped down the wooden board, thankfully it was still in ok condition.
Lovely new foam:
Measure around the board leaving a gap so it can curl around the wood when putting on the fabric - will give it the rounded look. I also cut a grove around the foam as shown in the AO guide.
Found a table sheet thing in a drawer and used it as lining for the underside, just a few staples to hold it in place, cut out some holes for where the screws go. Then cut out a section of fabric and started to attach it to the board - needed a second pair of hands to start off the stapling while I held the fabric stretched. Just a few staples initially, stretch the fabric to get an even edge as you go along all sides and staple as required. Lastly punch a little hole in the foam with a screw driver and trim off any excess fabric - not that anyone will see the underside.
The end result turned out pretty good I think.
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Some more pics...
My youngest doing some testing for me. The seats are very comfy and are naturally a perfect fit for under the candy cp. :cool:
Comparison of remaining old seat (left) and newly refurbed (right):
Old:
New:
Completed underside:
Unfortunately the story didn't have as happy an ending as I would've wished. The wooden board of the second stool was too badly damaged to use imo - I wasn't wasting the effort of replacing the foam and fabric only for the board to fail on me anytime soon. I'll see if the local hardware shop can help out with cutting something similar. So for the time being the second stool is just a frame. Bit annoying as I wanted to see how the green fabric would turn out.
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outstanding work man..they look then b0ll0x.
How much did the original ones from Ronnie cost?
I've been meaning to get some as I'm rocking a pair of antique granny chairs at the moment
Feels like I should be sipping tea from good china and eating a hob nob rather than playing a cab.
Maybe you could do an operation transformation on them ...:)
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Sure if you lop the backs off those granny chairs you're almost there
I've a couple of old wooden stools I was thinking of painting white and doing something fancy with the cushion..after seeing andrew76's results though I'm going to get straight on to Ronnie when my credit card is paid off in a couple of days!0 -
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Absolutely stunning!!! :eek: they look brand new now.
I'd say you're over the moon
Mixed feelings if I'm honest. Over the moon with how one of them turned out but I've had to spend quite a bit extra getting it to that state and the job still isn't finished. Still cheaper than buying them brand new and shipped from Japan I think. I guess the important point when buying second hand is to be prepared to spend more and put in some effort with the refurb.unky chop chop wrote: »outstanding work man..they look then b0ll0x.
How much did the original ones from Ronnie cost?
Cheers. Bought them as mini group buy with ondafly, or barged into his purchase to be more accurate! Think they worked out at €60 each including shipping.
But I had to buy the foam, fabric, stapler, polish, brillo pads etc. Probably spent an extra €100 maybe. That's quite a lot imo, and I still have to get wood sorted for the second one.
They do look great though and are very comfortable (especially when compared to the €5 numb arse inducing fold up seats I was using). It's also satisfying to see the effort turn out well. 0 -
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TechnoFreek wrote: »surely it would be cheaper for us if we found someone local to repro Andrews stool.buying two stools each would have to work out cheaper with no effort...compared to the second hand route.
:eek:
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A final update on the stool refurb saga. At the end of episode 1 I had the second stool frame all cleaned up but was left with an unusable board for the seat refurb. The only things to reuse are those four metal screw holder yokes, here it is again:
The Hardware Store
So I popped over to the local hardware place to see if I could get a new piece, found a big ole sheet of plywood for €13 that had the same thickness - brought the original with me to make sure. I had the same problem as when buying a sheet of MDF previously, too big to fit into the car boot so I asked could they cut it in half for me. Also asked if they sold any single drill bits as I'd need to drill four holes for the screw holders.
An absolute legend of a chap working there saw the original board and what I was trying to do, so rather than just cut the sheet in half to fit into the boot (which he did anyway) he went and cut out the correct size for the stool using a hand saw off the shelf. Drilled the four holes, removed the screw holders from the old board and hammered them into the new one, even sawed off the corners to get it more rounded. All that was left for me to do when I got home to was give it a sanding. The chap was a life saver, a true gent. :cool:
The Final Refurb
So after a quick sanding to smooth the edges, it was time to start the refurb process again.
Lovely new wood
Same steps as before, measure out the foam leaving a finger-width gap:
Cut off the excess foam and also cut out a small angle of what will be the underside, it will help the foam curl around the wood when the fabric goes on:
Next I stapled on some lining underneath and cut four holes where the screws will go through. Then it was time for the most awkward part - stretching the fabric around the foam and stapling to the underside of the board where the lining is. Forgot to take pics of this part as it was wrecking my head getting it even from the start. :pac:
Basically, you attach the fabric using four or five staples spaced out on one side, then do the same on the opposite side. Turn it right side up and see how it looks - there will be peaks (no staples) and troughs (staples) but you even them out by pulling on the fabric where the peaks are and stapling. Then repeat for the remaining sides. Once I was happy with the straight edges then I stuck on a second helping of staples further in to make sure the fabric won't tear or come loose.
Here's a pic of the fabric almost done, just a few parts of the top and bottom sides to straighten up. When all done then cut off any excess fabric from the underside. Decided to go with green this time just to see how it looked:
Unfortunately this stool was missing one of the screws/latch pairs, only came with three, but it still secures the seat to the frame no problem and doesn't move about thankfully.
Here's the finished article:
Some shots of both refurbed stools:
Very happy with how they turned out in the end. 0 -
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