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An18th Century Settee Makeover Part 1

John Morris
John Morris
in Woodworking Archives

Featured Replies

I landed a wonderfully fun job, I love these. I get to dig into some history, and at the same time tackle a challenging way to improve on the original design and appearance.


Basically we are disassembling this old settee that we believe is built in the 1700's from our customers research (he is an expert antique collector, and our findings as we break it down).



The upholstery is from the early to mid 1900's, it's coming off completely. We are going to remove the front and side rails too and replace them with curly maple, and install maple slats to support seat cushions made by the customer.


391753_453989051320176_1020368144_n.jpgThis was originally an upholstered piece. The side and front rails are not ornate or figured at all.
The turned upright arm supports have some wonderful hand plane marks in the flat regions.


155131_453989074653507_393715848_n.jpg
This is the bottom shot of the settee, the boards are mostly 12" to 20" in width. No circular resaw marks, which may suggest hand resawn? All the boards are held in place with square head nails angled in. I'll get some nails pulled tonight and I'll be able to hopefully get a better idea of when this was built. I just read a great article by Harp Gallery on determining the age of nails.


580852_453989031320178_1218944394_n.jpg
One of the casters made of cast Bronze or Brass, I am not sure yet.


156643_453989111320170_1569612712_n.jpgThis is going to fun!!!!



John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Good luck on that John, I'll be watching this with great interest, especially the, When it was built part.



I think curly maple will look great in this case, but I do love the look of the current wood, whatever it is. :)



Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

  • Author

I am not sure what the side rails are made of Charles, as soon as I think I know what it is, I'll let yall know, I am horrible at determining the species of old aged discolored lumber! LOL

Charles Nicholls said:


Good luck on that John, I'll be watching this with great interest, especially the, When it was built part.



I think curly maple will look great in this case, but I do love the look of the current wood, whatever it is. :)



Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Alrighty then. Whatever it is, it looks curly. I'd be happy to take it if it isn't going to be used for anything. :)



The old cover almost looks like heavy burlap bag material, I see a lot of fun with this in your future :)



Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

  • Author

Oh I got ya Charles! Yes the uprights and the arms are Curly Maple to be sure! But the side rails under the upholstery is what I was referring too. I have not a clue what that aged old beat up wood is. Sorry for the confusion!

Charles Nicholls said:


Alrighty then. Whatever it is, it looks curly. I'd be happy to take it if it isn't going to be used for anything. :)



The old cover almost looks like heavy burlap bag material, I see a lot of fun with this in your future :)



Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Not a problem John :)




John Morris said:


Oh I got ya Charles! Yes the uprights and the arms are Curly Maple to be sure! But the side rails under the upholstery is what I was referring too. I have not a clue what that aged old beat up wood is. Sorry for the confusion!

Charles Nicholls said:




John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops


Looks like all you'll be saving is the two exposed end pieces and the legs, right? 


So, will you be wrapping the frame around the uprights? Essentially, setting them in a box that will contain the cushions?


Will the upholstery have to accommodate the square part of the uprights? Or, will you use a curly plate/box between the uprights so the upholstered end cushions can be square?


Will you set the slats/plywood for the bottom in a dado so the tops of the legs (and the plate) are hidden?


This is going to be quite interesting. I envy your opportunity to explore history like this.




Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

That looks like a great project John. Take pictures as you open it up and post them. I am interested in how they put it together. How high does it sit. It looks short in the picture.

John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

It is of great interest that I’ll be ardently following this one!  I am such a fan of restoration! 



To know but not to do is not yet to know.
WWW.SAWBLADE.COM

  • Author

Gene, so sorry I have not replied to this, I have been down and out lately, for now I'll say yes, only the ends and arms are being used for the rebuild. I'll elaborate more later tonight I'll answer all your questions, just trying to play catch up right now!!!

Gene Howe said:


Looks like all you'll be saving is the two exposed end pieces and the legs, right? 


So, will you be wrapping the frame around the uprights? Essentially, setting them in a box that will contain the cushions?


Will the upholstery have to accommodate the square part of the uprights? Or, will you use a curly plate/box between the uprights so the upholstered end cushions can be square?


Will you set the slats/plywood for the bottom in a dado so the tops of the legs (and the plate) are hidden?


This is going to be quite interesting. I envy your opportunity to explore history like this.




Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

  • Author

Thanks Claude! I'll get some pics up tonight and I'll delve deeper into an explanation of what is going on with this.

Claude Bradford said:


It is of great interest that I’ll be ardently following this one!  I am such a fan of restoration! 



To know but not to do is not yet to know.
WWW.SAWBLADE.COM





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

  • Author

John, I'll take a measure tonight and let ya know, I can tell you this, when I sat on it it felt way too low, but remember, folks were pretty short back then!

John Moody said:


That looks like a great project John. Take pictures as you open it up and post them. I am interested in how they put it together. How high does it sit. It looks short in the picture.
John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com



John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

At least maybe, their legs were. :-)

John Morris said:


John, I'll take a measure tonight and let ya know, I can tell you this, when I sat on it it felt way too low, but remember, folks were pretty short back then!

John Moody said:




John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops


  • Author

Funny Gene! I can tell yall this, I now have a wonderful plastic container full of 200 plus year old nails of various sizes, all rectangular cut and the longest ones are about 2" tall. I'll save them for our customer in case he wants a project later down the road I can use them, and I'll use the old lumber that came off the settee. I am thinking something rustic with the old lumber and nails. Could be cool. Maybe I'll just put together something on the side for him as a show of appreciation.

Gene Howe said:


At least maybe, their legs were. :-)

John Morris said:




John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops





Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

  • Author

Ok Gene, I am home and ready to answer questions! :)


Yes, the exposed pieces will be the only parts that are actually salvaged from the original settee.


I am considering mortising in the frame into the uprights instead of wrapping the fram, I think have the vertical grain of the uprights break up the frame would look much better than to have a continuous grain of frame wrapping around the entire settee.


We will have solid maple slats for the bottom, they will be resting on a cleat or small 1x1 strip around the inside of the frame. I don't want to mortise or dado in the slats to the frame out of fear of weakening the frame.


I like your idea about the box at the ends so the cushions can be square. What a cool idea, I might have to implement that.I could even put a little door in the top of each box for a till of sorts. This will sit at the foot of his bed, he will use it to dress and to have a seat while he's putting on his shoes. What a great idea Gene!




Gene Howe said:


Looks like all you'll be saving is the two exposed end pieces and the legs, right? 


So, will you be wrapping the frame around the uprights? Essentially, setting them in a box that will contain the cushions?


Will the upholstery have to accommodate the square part of the uprights? Or, will you use a curly plate/box between the uprights so the upholstered end cushions can be square?


Will you set the slats/plywood for the bottom in a dado so the tops of the legs (and the plate) are hidden?


This is going to be quite interesting. I envy your opportunity to explore history like this.




Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton





John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

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