Lockdown turned me into a potato, so I needed a couch ...

[h3nry]

It's been a while since I posted anything here ... but I'm not dead yet.

A friend of a friend was giving away his lathe, so I thought I could learn to turn during the lockdown last year. Of course a free mini lathe meant a very expensive acquisition of tools chucks etc ... then lumber ... nothing so expensive as "free".

So after a few practise bowls, I decided that since I needed a new couch I could build it with turned feet ...

Turning a few bowls may be an unusual way to start a couch build, but that was my jumping off point.

Although I have already finished the project, I thought I'd give you some build photos too, since not much of the woodwork is on display.

Of course any project starts with a trip to the lumberyard, and some ripping and milling.

[h3nry]

The wood for the frame is poplar ... a nice but cheap hardwood, and it doesn't matter if it isn't too pretty.

Joinery was quite simple, a few dovetails, and a bunch of M&Ts to make the frame assemblies. The back was bolted on the seat to make it as rigid as possible.

One of the big troubles I had was learning what a couch frame should look like, since they are always covered in upholstery I couldm't just look at completed examples. And online upholstery videos all concentrate on the upholstery, not the woodwork. And from what I could tell so much modern upholstered furniture is made with such poor quality wood and joinery that I didn't want to emulate it anyway.

But once the frame was ready it was time to think about making it comfortable.

[h3nry]

First webbing is stretched across the bottom to form a base for the springs to rest on.

Then the springs go in ... coiled springs for the seat, sewn into the webbing and tied 8 ways on top, and sinuous springs for the back.

then the springs get covered with a layer of felt and burlap ... and I have something that resembles and functions as a couch ... although not too comfy yet.

[h3nry]

First of two trips to the fabric store to get all the foam and padding needed ...

[h3nry]

The upholstery goes on starting with the deck.

Then the foam goes on the inside arms, followed by some polyester batting, and fabric. Then the outside arms are covered.

Most of the upholstery is just staples onto the frame, but the cover for the small wings had to be sewn to fit first, and then attached.

[h3nry]

The cushions were sewn, then stuffed with foam and batting.

I had originally thought to add buttons to both the seat and back, but decided that it looked better with buttons only on the back, and a plain seat.

With the correct dies the buttons were very easy to make ... I didn't invest in the expensive forming tool ... a pipe-clamp did the job just as well.

The back cushion was then stapled to the frame, with the seat cushion left loose.

[h3nry]

Now it's time to get back to some woodwork ...

starting with a lovely block of 16/4 cherry, it was time to rough out some leg blanks.

Once I had all eight blanks turned, I got a bit carried away and though I could go a bit further, and carve a design on them too ... two legs would be hidden at the back and never seen, so if this idea turned out to be a disaster I could hide the butchered leg there.

However, after carving a knot pattern on two of them, kit seemed to be alright, so I finished off the other six ...

[h3nry]

And finally I wanted some showy wood trim on the face. Originally I was thinking that running the trim all the way round the bottom edge would be nice ... but then I remembered I had made the upholstery go round a compound curve on the sides. I was having enough trouble getting trim to fit on the front which although flat had varying amounts of fabric and padding to cover up at the corners.

I decided to continue with the knot theme on the legs ...

Since the trim would be attached with screws, I made applied carvings that I could attach to cover over the screw holes.

[h3nry]

Finally, after some danish oil on the trim ... it's ready.

I've found before with cherry, that different boards can have a different colour when the finish is furst applied, hopefully as it ages, the colours will even out.

 

Now I have to find out if it will fit through the door into the house ... maybe I should have measured that first!

[Chestnut]

From simple lathe bowls to couch... That's an interesting jump but the couch turned out really cool looking. Not something you see in stores any more. The big question is, Is it comfortable?

[pkinneb]

Wow that is quite the project!! Thanks for sharing.

[wtnhighlander]

Very nice, @h3nry! Upholstered furniture rarely gets posted here, so thanks for providing the full play-by-play.

[Mark J]

For someone new to turning just getting all the legs to come out the  same is an accomplishment, let alone carving and the rest of it.

 

What was the design inspiration?

[Immortan D]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[bradpotts]

Turned out great! The carving really puts the final touch on it. 

[h3nry]

Thanks guys ... yes it is very comfortable ... but now winter is over, I don't have excuses for staying indoors and using it.

2 hours ago, Mark J said:

For someone new to turning just getting all the legs to come out the  same is an accomplishment, let alone carving and the rest of it.

For sure. You may have noticed in some of the photos I also made a matching footstool, so I could practise any unfamiliar techniques before making expensive mistakes on the couch.

I ended up making six legs for the footstool out of 8/4 cherry before I got four the same, and the technique reliable enough to try on the couch legs ... there are still the scars from a few catches that I didn't try to completely remove because it would reduce the bead too much, just have to keep them facing away from the front and nobody will know.

[Chet]

That's an amazing project.  How long have you been doing upholstery and are you self taught or did you take some classes.

[h3nry]

2 minutes ago, Chet said:

That's an amazing project.  How long have you been doing upholstery and are you self taught or did you take some classes.

I've upholstered a couple of simple square foam seats before, but this was my first shot at something substantial, with curves and springs and welted cushions and all the rest.

As for learning ... youtube all the way ... there's loads of people making vids of reupholstering chairs and cushions. It's not quite as complicated as it looks once you get going ... and sewing has similarities with woodwork: at it's most basic it's just cutting raw stock down to shape, and then a bit of joinery to attach the pieces together.

The hardest part was actually the design of the skeleton, knowing where it needs gaps in the woodwork that the fabric can go through and be pulled tight, and where it is important to have a piece of wood for the staples to go into, and where wood is needed to hold the shape, and where it is better to stretch webbing or use foam for a softer shape etc. Nobody seems to talk about that, so I had to mentally picture myself doing the upholstery on my couch before I had even built the frame in order to know how to build the frame that I had to mentally picture to understand the upholstery, it was a bit of a vicious circle ... but I seem to have got there in the end.