Harry Bertoia would be 100 years old in 2015. Knoll has a really nice video of how the Bertoia chairs are manufactured at the first link below and embedded above, and the second link has some nice stories about him. I love seeing the jig that each individual wire is fitted into before it’s spot welded together to become a chair.
http://www.knoll.com/knollnewsdetail/Harry-Bertoia-Salone
https://www.knoll.com/knollnewsdetail/Harry-Bertoia-Centennial-Celebration
I started stripping this white ottoman that I picked up on craigslist last year. It has a vinyl type coating called Rilsan (Nylon 11 according to wikipedia). On the outside the coating looked alright, but there were a few spots where it was rusting. The sandblaster that I have access to at the techshop wouldn’t touch this stuff. On a small level, the sand just bounces off. If you’re in a similar situation I’d recommend getting it acid dipped or sandblasted somewhere. I have way too many hours in this project…
Chemical stripping with the best toxic strippers from Jasco etc. Wear long sleeves and don’t flick this stuff around with the brush because it burns. Getting it in your eyes is a serious problem.
After a few coats of stripping and scraping I got busy with other projects and the ottoman stayed in a half finished state until one day I put it outside on the patio and was resigned to let it rust a bit.
Other projects finished 6 months later and I don’t know what to do with myself so I come back to this ottoman. A lot more sandblasting and the base is ready for powder.
I got a torch and started burning off the rest of the rilsan. This doesn’t work that well because it just gets all melty and runs down the wires. Many more hours later though and the top is ready for powder too.
Ottoman is finished now, except for the bolts. It’s satin black and really needs a cover to be comfortable. The large diamond chair is next. Hopefully the chrome isn’t as tenacious.
