EAMES CHAIR REPAIRS, REUPHOLSTERY, & REFINISHING

The Eames Design: A Legacy of Shock Mount Maintenance Or Failure

In their Lounge Chair, designers Charles and Ray Eames certainly created a masterpiece, one that has been franchised and imitated for decades by a wide variety of manufacturers. A hallmark is its clean design. In attaching the back to the base, Eames eschewed the use of bolts, choosing to mate the plywood pieces by gluing a rubber "shock mount" between them. The term "shock mount" is largely a misnomer, and somewhat ironic. Because the real shock is when that attachment fails.

Sooner or later, it will fail. The rubber mount encases a metal plate that accepts the armrests' screws. But only glue holds this assembly to the wood bottom and back pieces of wood, and glue does not bond metal or rubber to wood for very long. They simply behave too differently. Or the neoprene gets old and oxidizes, and breaks up or weakens internally. This behavior of rubber is familiar to anyone with old upholstered furniture or an old car seat- the rubber gets brittle and powdery, and nothing can be glued to it. When the bondshock mount separates, often the sitter falls backward and lands with their back on the floor much of the time, which causes terrible damage to the chair. If the sitter falls backward when the mount separates the swinging away of the back fractures the back shell or tears it away from the mount on the other side, causing serious damage to the plywood that neither Herman Miller nor Vitra can repair. Their suggestion is to buy a new set of plywood shells, and get someone local to finish it. This is a poor choice if you have a family heirloom or have grown fond of the chair, or vintage chair worth twice as much as a new chair.

We can repair such damage almost invisibly. But it requires intensive efforts by our European craftsmen. We rebuild the plywood from the inside out, saving the outer layer of the veneer to retain the original flitch veneer pattern of the chair. There can remain a hairline scar where the plywood sheared apart.

Our proprietary solution to the shock mount defect is warrantied for 15 years, and we are the only company to include warranty against breakage of the back shell resulting from a failure of any of the four shock mounts we replace during that period. In contrast, neither Herman Miller nor Vitra has ever warrantied the shock mounts or anything else on a new Lounge chair for more than 3-1/2 years, today for only 3 years. From our observation of thousands of shock mount failures we do not think that the metal-and-polyurethane mounts used today just hold as long as the older original neoprene shock mounts did.

Examples of Herman Miller Eames Lounge Broken Ear Repairs performed by Olek Lejbzon & Co.

Chair #1:

Chair #2:

Chair #3:

Design of the Chairs and use of Shock Mounts- LCW, DCW, LCM, DCM, and Lounge Chair 670-

The first Eames chair was the Eames Lounge Chair Wood - or LCW. This chair used a heavy rubber washer glued to the back support of the chair with a threaded steel plate to screw into.

This shock mount technology was employed again in the 670 Lounge chair. The Eames Lounge Chair Metal LCM had similar wood shells, attached to a chromed steel frame, instead of wood. These chairs also were produced in Dining Chair versions, called the DCW (Dining Chair Wood) and DCM (Dining Chair Metal). The LCW, DCW, LCM, and DCM also were offered in Oak and Ash veneers, sometimes stained a color such as red, or ebonized black.

The Eames Lounge chair is made with three curved plywood shells. Today the exterior shells are made up of seven thin layers, plus a thin decorative wood veneer on exterior and interior.  The veneers are glued together and shaped in a radio frequency press over layers of beech veneer under heat and pressure. The new Eames model chairs are only a little different than the older (vintage) chairs which sometimes used the endangered  prized Brazilian rosewood. Vintage Eames Lounge Chair Plywood Veneers were glued  up with five structural layers. Eames Lounge Chairs 670 have been made with various veneers in addition to the rarest rosewood, including walnut, teak and cherry.

Shock Mount Fragility - Replace, or risk breakage of plywood Lounge chair lower back shell-

Reupholstering the Herman Miller Eames Lounge Chair 670 in Leather Matching the Original Vintage Leather used in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s

Olek can  reupholster  the Eames lounge chair in an aniline dyed, black top grain leather with smooth texture and glossy finish, like  the original vintage leather used.  We can replace padding or supplement down feathers if used, and  reuse the back polyester shell of the cushions and grommets, and zippers if in good condition.

Comparison of Olek and the Herman Miller leather (from Edelman):

Olek                                                  Herman Miller

Top grain, aniline dyed                Filled mid-grain, vinyl pigmented finish(“semi-aniline“)

Original smooth texture               Embossed, graining pattern imprinted

Glossy finish, like original             Matte finish (fashionable today)

1.6 - 2.0 mm   thickness              1.0- 1.2 mm thickness

Expected life 35-45 years            15-20 years (mid-grain not  durable)

Polishing chromed Steel Frames of LCM & DCM Herman Miller Eames Chairs:

Olek delicately polishes out rust pitting in the chrome legs that results from high humidity, with minimal removal of original chrome plating. Below are sample DCM (LCM) chairs with chrome plated steel finish that were hand polished.  The chrome plating perforates with rust from the underlying steel.  The rust can be removed chemically without damaging the chrome, and applying an unnoticeable, transparent finish that protects  the chrome from continuing corrosion

CHAIRS MAY BE SHIPPED TO OLEK FOR REPAIR OR REUPHOLSTERY FROM ANYWHERE BY COMMON CARRIER:

INSTRUCTION FOR DISASSEMBLING EAMES CHAIR:

The cushions are held on clips  (with small snaps  on older chairs) to the wooden shells;  to separate pull each cushion a little bit away from the wooden shell and pull upward on the back shell cushions, or toward you for the seat shell cushion when facing the chair. Use a screwdriver and remove screws attaching the arms to the back wood shell and the seat shell. The seat shell unscrews from the base underneath the chair. Unscrew the back shell supports once the cushions are removed. Unscrew the arm rests after the cushions are removed, supporting the back while you take off the arms

Is my vintage "Eames" Chair Real?

Common Reproductions, and the Vitra Lounge Chair also Licensed by Charles & Ray Eames to manufacture and sell in Europe

After the Eames Lounge chair appeared in stores in the late 1950's, competitors began to copy the chair's design features, with similar chairs produced primarily by Plycraft and Selig. They are easily distinguished from the Eames Lounge Chair by Herman Miller, and from the multitudes of knock-offs produced in China today.

Vitra also produces an Eames-licensed Lounge Chair in Europe, which sells for approximately three times the cost of the Herman Miller licensee Lounge Chair. The Vitra base design is different from Herman Miller's, see below:

Herman Miller Eames Chair Bases are unique among vintage reproductions:

Selig Reproductions of Eames Lounge Chairs

The Selig reproduction of the Eames Lounge Chair, from the 1960's. No shock mounts, uses bolts through the outer shells and directly into the 1/16" thinner steel arms. Thicker shells than the Eames Herman Miller.  Different base, with typical office swivel chair spider mechanism.  Shown without cushions, to make differences more apparent. This chair has a single welting around the arm cushions, the Herman Miller Chair two lines of welting, top and bottom.