150 Year Old Chair Restoration With Dragon Scales Leather Upholstery

This is a Victorian campaign folding chair. It's about 150 years old and in need of a complete restoration. It's missing the original bolts, along with the seat, but something quite special planned for the upholstery. I'll be using paint stripper to remove the many layers of polish and stain. I'd much prefer to see a visible timber grain. I'll use methylated spirits to neutralise all the nasty chemicals. The chemicals have softened all the glue, making it quite easy to knock all apart. There's only one little piece of damaged timber, it's actually hidden under the seat. I'm mixing up some two-part epoxy glue. I'll add in some sawdust so it blends into the timber frame. I'll put on a few coats of shellac to seal up the timber. I'm going for a walnut finish, it's quite typical for this period of furniture. I'll change to a narrow brush for the final coat. This allows for more control of an even blended colour. This hard wax works as a durable coat to protect the shellac finish. I'm using some string to help work out what the chair's correct open position is. The original seat would have been a nice tapestry or a piece of leather. I'm going to go for something a little less boring. This part of the process is quite involved and time-consuming. I need to play around with the dimensions to make sure it all fits perfectly. And there you have it, one dragon scale. I've got this half-inch foam and I glue it onto a canvas-like fabric. That should help support the weight of the person. I've decided to use this kangaroo leather. It has really nice characteristics and a natural worn look to it. It's just under one millimetre in thickness but it's incredibly strong. So I'm taping my cutting firmly in place. Now I'm going to use a scratch awl to mark some reference points. This is some very firm high density foam. I'll be using these to create a 3D dragon scale effect. This is the piping, it'll go down the side of the seat platform, it'll add strength as well as tidy up the edges. Topstitch goes through all the layers to finish up the dragon. Mark the edge neatly. Time for the hammered look brass nails, I'll tie them with the brass bolts that hold it all together. The nylon tip hammers are great so you don't damage the decorative nails. I'll put some marks on to get perfect even spacing. I'm finding that the polish is a bit too shiny, especially under the lights. I'll rub it back with some super fine steel wool just to take off some of the gloss. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like and subscribe.