[DrSus]

Hello everyone,

I recently acquired this Eames chair and it is in rough shape as you can see from the pictures. I would love to be able to restore it a bit to give it a new life but wanted to see what you would recommend, whether it be removing the black paint or retouching. I know plywood is extremely delicate when it comes to sanding so hoping anyone will have any ideas or guidance! Thank you

 

[yomanbill]

From the pictures, it doesn't look too bad. I would just sand it lightly with 220 to give some tooth to the existing paint and smooth the chips and scratches. Prime the spots where bare wood is showing and then re-paint. What ever you choose to use for primer, consider having it tinted as dark as possible. Those edges will likely get banged and chipped again and if you have a light primer under the dark paint, the chips will look even worse. Needless to say, use the most durable paint and primer you can find.

As I was writing the above, it occurred to me that part of the charm of that chair is the wood grain showing through the paint. Adding more coats of paint on top will likely cover that. I believe I would strip it, lightly sand it, and then apply thin coats so that the finished result looks similar. You might also think about just touching up the chips and scratches and leave it as original as possible.

How was that for a wishy washy answer.

 

[Kudzu]

No idea if they ever offered their chairs in black or not? I have never seen anything but wood. But I know that removing paint would be very difficult. It soaks in and there would probably always be a little bit of lack left. So I would probably stick with the black.

 

[DrSus]

Had some of the black left in the grain, but I ended up stripping, sanding and finishing it it with medium walnut oil, I think it turned out pretty good compared to what it was

 

[Kudzu]

Quite impressed you got the paint off! My experience with paint has never been that good. Looks much better too.

 

[yomanbill]

Looks great. Even if a little paint is left in the grain, it just accentuates the book matched pattern. Wonderful.

 

[karishmam]

wow that turned out amazing!

 

[bargoon]

Nice looking chair.