As some of y’all have experienced firsthand, dogs aren’t content to chew on just dog toys alone…they often need more. Sounds like some humans I know, but that’s another post altogether! In this instance, my friend's dog decided her Eames DCM, or Dining Chair Modern –gasp- would make a tasty treat! Uh huh! But, don’t be a sad panda, this tragedy was turned into a triumph b/c she gave me the chair! Talk about a tasty treat, y’all, damn! This was a modern classic score!
I knew that those chew marks and holes could be easily remedied with some wood putty and light sanding. The rusted chrome legs could be shiny again, thanks to some love from my BFF, Brasso. What gave me the most concern were the two missing gliders on the end of the chair legs. I’d seen replacement gliders sold at various hardware stores, but wasn’t sure they would be the right size for this classic chair. Sure enough, they weren’t. But with some internet digging, I found them at IEC, International Equipment Components, Inc. They don’t normally sell gliders in small quantities, but the sweet salesgirl could hear the panic in my voice, and sold four with a sample fee of $10.
** Did y’all know? The proper size glider is found by figuring out the diameter of the glider post or the hole on the underside of chair leg. To do this, I took the glider I did have to the hardware store to get the exact measurement off of screw size chart. It was 8-32. Who knew?!**
The only other hiccup in the transformation of this chew toy chair was with the wood putty. Wood putty is kinda like play doh, minus the primary colors and intriguing salt-like smell (& taste)! Y’all know you ate your play doh! It’s pliable and spreads easily to fill holes, nicks, etc. in wood. It’s available tinted, the idea being it will match whatever you’re repairing, but it’s also paintable and stainable if need be. Since my chair had some pretty gnarly holes, I knew that no matter how exact a match the putty was, I’d probably need to stain the chair a much darker color, to totally hide the patch job. So, about 25 coats of Minwax Ebony stain later, I came out on the other side with a fabulous chair and not a chew mark in sight! Check it out!
