Morris Chair cushions?

[Taylor Vaughan]

To those of you who have built a Morris Chair with the straight back slats, What kind of cushion material and how thick do you use for the back cushion? I just finished one in walnut with the straight back slats. It seems the firm foam 4-6 in. is way too hard and 6 in. loose fill is too soft (you can feel the back slats poking through). Will super soft foam do the trick? A combination of foams? How thick, what type? I am ready to throw mine in the fireplace. All help will be greatly appreciated.

[Brian Penning]

A good upholsterer would know for sure. (One did a great job on mine)

http://www.brianpenning.com/index_files/image4311.jpg

[Taylor Vaughan]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have been to three already. Each is quick to give their opinion and heafty price but they do not sit in these chairs or have the experience of those of you that have them. Pro uph. is why I already have a loose fill cushion and a 4 in. HD foam (plus dacron wrap) cushion. I am runing out of $ and patience with the pros.

[Ben Rafael]

Try calling some of the woodworking schools that teach how to make morris chairs. They probably have the number of upholsterers who know what they are doing.

[Brian Kerley]

One way to add some softness is by taking the firm foam, reducing the thickness, and adding some softer foam on top of it, followed by dacron/fiber fill/cotton (pick your material). This will give a layer of softer material with a more firm interior that should provide the support you are looking for. If you want to keep the pieces from moving, you can spray a little 3M adhesive on both and it'll keep the foam pieces stuck to one another.

If that sounds like too much work, you should know that there are many different types of foam. Open cell will feel different from closed cell. And even then there are different levels of firmness in the foams out there. If you can find a really good upholstery supply shop, you should be able to find what you need.

[Jeff Bratt]

Here are two videos that show the whole process of making cushions for a Morris chair - http://www.woodsmith.com/issues/155/videos/adding-cushions/.
The basic construction of the back cusion is - a piece of 3" high density foam wrapped with three layers of polyester batting. The cushion ends up about 5" thick.