Post #416811 by Chip and Andy on Sun, Nov 2, 2008 8:23 AM

On 2008-11-02 06:35, Howland wrote:
As far as the padded arm rest goes--I have never made a padded arm rest before but have used the 'tack-strip' method of upholstery on furniture pieces and the best way I can explain it is.....to draw it out for you. Something like this:

1 - Stand in front of the 'customer' side of the bar.

2 - Lay the fabric out with the good side against the bar top. Line up the edge closest to you with the edge of the bar, the fabric should drape towards/over the 'working side of the bar.

3 - Attach with tack-strip, staples, really good glue, or some combination therein.

4 - Attach your padding to the customer edge of the bar and pull the fabric over the padding. This will conceal the tack-strip/nails/glue.

5 - starting from the center of the bar, pull the fabric tight and staple to the underside of the bar. Work from the center towards the edge, go a little bit in each direction, then the other, etc until you get to the end. Staple at a 45 degree angle to the edge, the attachment will be more durable ( like this | \ \ \ \ \ \ , not - - - - - - -, and not | | | | | | | | | | )

6 - If the end of your fabric on the underside is close to the edge, you will want to put a strip of something to cover the edge so that you don't rub body-parts or clothing against the area where the staples are.

You should now have a beautiful bumper on your bar that should last a good long time.

And, if the padding you use starts to breakdown over time, you can pull the staple from the underside of the bar and add new with only a bit of work.