Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

[Woodonglass]

Well I finally got all the relatives and Grandkids out of the house and headed to the shop to get started on making the rear bench seat for the "Blue Flamingo" Will be 60" wide 18" deep with 18" Back. I posted pics of the start of the upholstery on my Boat thread but I thought I would start this new thread and try to document the entire process from start to finish, just in case anyone else wants to try and build their own from scratch. I got a FREE couch off Craigslist and salvaged the foam out of it. Built the frame from southern yellow pine and coated it with epoxy. The video will tell the rest. More to follow as I progress.

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

"donor couch" (lol)... I love it. thanks for posting this.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Thanks wood,

Even though I am quite a ways away from even thinking about any upholstery, this is going to fun and educational to watch...

Regards,
GT1M

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Well here's Volume #2 of this project. Again I ain't no Cecil B. DeMill, but hopefully you can learn something from this.

 

[Jon Sob]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Awesome video Wood .... I am impressed how you tackle these little projects with excellent end results. My hats off to you my friend! Thanks for sharing that with all of us.

 

[fmjnax]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Nice Wood! This has been something I have been thinking about doing for my boat so it's great information for me!

 

[fmjnax]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

I don't want to steal too much of your thunder here Wood, but I just had a thought to entertain an opinion on. My current seats are still in good shape (my deck seats are brand new, actually!). Feasible to just dismantle them and re-upholster with the color scheme I want? I would imagine I could be careful about it and end up having a pretty good pattern from the old upholstery.

And back on the topic, did you use a heavy duty thread or thicker needle for the vinyl? I made a couple of blocking pads for the little league football team I helped coach a couple of years ago, but having never done any thing of the sort before I just winged it. I used some foam from JoAnn's, picked up some vinyl, and used a heavy duty thread and a thicker needle. I can't remember the needle size or the exact thread, but I'm wondering if that is really needed/recommended or if there is something different/better for marine use.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

I don't want to steal too much of your thunder here Wood, but I just had a thought to entertain an opinion on. My current seats are still in good shape (my deck seats are brand new, actually!). Feasible to just dismantle them and re-upholster with the color scheme I want? I would imagine I could be careful about it and end up having a pretty good pattern from the old upholstery.

And back on the topic, did you use a heavy duty thread or thicker needle for the vinyl? I made a couple of blocking pads for the little league football team I helped coach a couple of years ago, but having never done any thing of the sort before I just winged it. I used some foam from JoAnn's, picked up some vinyl, and used a heavy duty thread and a thicker needle. I can't remember the needle size or the exact thread, but I'm wondering if that is really needed/recommended or if there is something different/better for marine use.

When I re-did my fishing seats earlier this year, I did exactly what you are thinking. I used a de-stitching tool and dismantled the old covers and used them as patterns for the new ones. They turned out great and I used this as a learning experience on how to make the bench seat from scratch.

Just stating what I learned from Googling and researching. I use #18 Schmetz Leather Upholstery Needles and DABOND UVR POLYESTER THREAD V 69 MARINE 4oz SPOOL WHITE. Like I said, I used foam from a Donor Couch off of Craigslist and covered it with Plastic WalMart Bags. The Density of the foam is a little "Light" but for "FREE" I'm not complaining to much. My total cost for this bench seat will be under $75 bucks. Like I said, I'm a Cheap Old Bast@rd!!!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

This video is a general sewing video. Just some setup and how to info on basic Sewing Machine setup and stuff I gleaned from experience and watching hours of Youtube videos and reading stuff. Hope it helps some of you.

 

[Mike Lammert]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Wood, you are a regular Martha Stewart on that thing!! Better watch out, the wife will have you making throw covers for the sofa before you know it!! Just kiddin with ya! Your work looks great! Anywhere you can save a buck these days, go for it! Keep up the great work, I'm following!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

WoG, I've heard of donor boats, but donor sofas????? Truly making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If I tried recovering my seats I know my thumb would be stitched to the seat. Great job and thanks for showing us how you did the deed. This should be a sticky!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Thanks for all the kind words, but I am strictly an amatuer and learning with every stitch. I just hope some of this will encourage others to give it a try. I really don't think it is that difficult. But I'm just a dumb Okie,so what do I know.

Here's a Pic of the base of the seat with the Cover semi-installed. Still need to pull and push and tuck and prod and staple etc....

You can see more on Page #23 in My Flamingo thread.

 

[duhmey]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Truly truly a creative use a resources! Any thoughts on how long your water proofing (walmart bags) technique will be good for? I had thought of using industrial saran wrap (the stuff they use on pallets of goods) as a water proof'r but hey if this works I have a TON of walmart bags around here

Keep up the good work Wood, you do phenomenal work and an equally good job of documenting it.

Show us more!

DOH

 

[pmillar]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Outstanding work there. I share DOH!'s concern about the shopping bags since some bags are designed to be (relatively) biodegradable.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Just checked out your videos, great job--very clear & well-narrated, good continuity. I don't know if I'll ever attempt this, but if I do, I'll know where to find some good videos!

I too might consider some more permanent plastic than WM bags, I save plastic shopping bags for various things & have found them to be among the least durable. Any particular reason you went with those, or you just had them around? Will they be noisy when you sit on them?

Thanks for the efforts & sharing your talents!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

When I Re-did the Fishing seats, the plastic they had on them was about the equivalent of the plastic from the dry cleaners. Pretty thin and flimsy and yet... It was still in tact, no tears and it was 25 years old. I guess sinc it is glued to the foam it makes it last, not sure but I figured the WalMart plastic was twice as thick as what was on there so I figured it would last at least 25 years. I may be completely wrong since I did not consider the biodegradeable aspect. As far as noice, absolutely none. I use em cuz like I said I'm a cheap old bast@rd.

 

[wagnerz]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Outstanding work there. I share DOH!'s concern about the shopping bags since some bags are designed to be (relatively) biodegradable.

Didn't Al Gore in his movie prove that those Walmart bags will survive for like 25,000 years and even a nuclear bomb could not destroy them?

 

[Outback Jack]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Thanks for the video's and Great job on the upholstery work Woodonglass . Will definately be watching the videos before I start again. Any new pointers I can pick up will help me .

Jack

 

[lakelover]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

Didn't Al Gore in his movie prove that those Walmart bags will survive for like 25,000 years and even a nuclear bomb could not destroy them?

If that's so, I'm going to make a bimini top out of them for my boat.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Making a Bench Seat (Frames, Foam & Upholstery) w/Videos

One more thing about the plastic. It does help in keeping water from saturating the foam but more than that it's main purpose is to keep the cloth backing of the vinyl from chafing the foam and turning it into powder. At least that's what the pro's said on YouTube and Google. My BIL told me this evening he would have used the plastic that people use to cover their home windows with for winterizing. It is very durable since it resists the elements throughout the winter months. I might get a kit at Walmart and try that for the back portion just to experiment. I googled WalMart bags and found out they are NOT biodegradable so Maybe Al was right.