In the oven or not in the oven? We repair the legendary old chair "Bat"

I will start, perhaps with a brief historical reference.

Genius Josef Hofman today is undeservedly forgotten. In the museums of European cities, some of its creations are kept: furniture, dishes, sketches of designer work. But just some years 110 years ago, at the turn of the century, Hofman was those who installed the canons of a good taste in all pre-war Europe.

This is a fact, because the influence of Wiener Werkstätte, "Viennese workshops", created in 1903 by Joseph Hoffman and Koloman Moser with the help of Indian Verndorfer, was unprecedented.

The purpose of this article will not be an overview of all areas of the activity of the brilliant Hofman, it will only be about the creation of the great master of the furniture series, called the "bat".

Start of the 20th century. In an unprecedented rise industry, culture, education. The Vienna offers a popular cabaret "Bat". The color of society in the evenings is collected in this institution. Gourmet interiors. Modern textile. Ladies in evening dresses and cavallers in perfectly messengers.

To furnish this institution, of course, entrusted a professional. Hofman has developed the design of furniture, and Kon's embodied on his furniture manufactory.

Go back now to the main topic.

The legendary chair "Bat Mouse" went to me in an extremely depressing video. For years, it was kept in the raw room, he lacked the wooden elements and someone managed to intoxicate huge springs into it, the tension of which was practically broken by the king.

First of all, it was necessary to dismantle all foreign ongorids: fabric, sprawling on molecules, springs, ropes, nails.

And this skeleton turned out.

The next stage, of course, gluing. The details of the armchairs were processed by the glue of the German producer braceryite and tightly tightened by clamps.

Of particular interest in working with this chair were the corners of the Tsargi. They smelled and represented the fan rather than the angle. The state "before".

Each layer was painstakingly glued with the same braceryite.

The state "after".

On manufactory for giving wooden billets of the desired form, special devices and presses were used. They are even preserved in museums.

Restoration of the missing wooden parts due to the lack of special adapts promised to be interesting.

The first missing element is a detail of the back. For his recovery, a wann was taken to fit. Locked in water to give flexibility. While he got marked a special template consisting of uniformly dug holes. Next, the original backrest element is taken and used as a template in the disinfect.

The template first was marked by the usual ducts formed by the sevenway, which was placed with an exposed duct. Left per day until completely drying. After drying, the selection element acquired the necessary form.

But with the missing lower part in the form of a horseshoe, fastening legs, I had to apply engineering! Again, due to the lack of presses and fixtures for disintegration, it was decided to make a "horseshoe" of four elements. To fasten them, the principle of puzzle is applied. The upper "horseshoe" is used as a template.

And in conclusion toning and lacquer coating. The seat is made of plywood and conventional foam rubber (maybe with time it remake it to a smaller height, since 10 cm is high, but at hand there was no smaller filler).

This is what the chair looks like after repair. It is quite suitable for use in direct intended.

Was it worth repairing this trash? In my opinion, the answer is obvious.

I hope that this publication will be for respected readers an inspiring factor in order to try their strength to repair furniture and give a stray furniture to the second life.

A source