Читать книгу The Upholstery Bible - Cherry Dobson - Страница 12

Materials and fabrics are anchored and attached to furniture with tacks, staples or gimp pins, using a hammer or staple gun. Tacks can be bought in boxes of 100 gm (3½ oz.), or small packets and staples in boxes of 2,500.

1 Laid cord is used for lashing down springs. It has very little stretch and is made from hemp, flax and jute. It is available in 250 gm (9 oz.) or 500 gm (18 oz.) balls.

2 Twines and cords are made from flax, jute and hemp and come in graded sizes 1 to 4 Waxed twines made from flax are stronger than those made from other fibres, and are recommended for all upholstery work. Nylon twine is cheap and good for buttoning, and can be used instead of laid cord to tie down springs. Twines come in 250 gm (½ lb) balls. No. 3 is a good all round twine to use.

3 Piping cord is commonly made from cotton and makes piping. It can be natural or pre-shrunk. Use the pre-shrunk type to make cushions that will be washed. The thickness of the piping cord depends on the type of fabric used.

4 Staples come in sizes similar to the tacks above. Longer staples are used for webbing and hessian, and short ones for calico and top covers.

5 Cut or blue tacks come in two basic types: fine and improved. Fine tacks have a small head and are used on fabrics with a close weave, such as top fabric or calico. Improved tacks have larger heads and are used on loose-weave fabrics such as webbing, hessian, and scrim. They come in the following lengths: 16 mm (5/8 in.) improved tacks for webbing, and for anchoring spring ties; 16 mm (5/8 in.) fine tacks for webbing where the wood is liable to split; 13 mm (½ in.) improved for hessian; 13 mm (½ in.) fine tacks for tacking through thicker layers of cloth; 10 mm (3/8 in.) improved tacks for attaching scrim when constructing a stitched edge; and 10 mm (3/8 in.) fine tacks for attaching calico and top coverings.

6 Decorative nails are patterned with a brass or bronze finish. They can also be coloured and are used individually to anchor the top fabric.

7 Nail strips are used to cover the cut edges of leather or vinyl furniture.

8 Domed nails are plain with either a brass or bronze finish and are used for close nailing or attaching a nail strip.

Gimp pins (not shown) are small, fine, coloured tacks, which come in 10 mm (3/8 in.) and 13 mm (½ in.), and are used to attach braid and gimp. They can also be used as a final fixing to coordinate with the top fabric.