Working on fixing up some Burke 115 Chairs - ST-TOS Bridge Chair!

[sapper36]

I've had some partial Burke 115 chairs kicking around the garage for a while - I have two good ones that swivel in the house - The two in the garage have broken missing hardware & swivel Mechanisms - Thought I'd document the long slow build up!

Finally picked up a set of Triangle, Back & cushion from Ralph Miller - So here it goes:


Spring Return Mech & assorted washers & bearings


Pieces of the swivel Mechanism - This one is broken in 3 pieces - Interestingly the working burke chairs don't have this piece & the mechanism is cast into the base of the chair. I picked up a Burke 116 at a local mechanic for free!!! & It has this piece unbroken in it!


Bits of the swivel mech held together - The post on the upper base gets bolted through the central tube & a spring & tube with bearing on the end goes in the off center tube for the return mechanism. - The upper part of the base is tilted underneath for the return spring to center it.


Top of the Swivel Mech - Screws to top of the lower base through holes in the upper base


Side view of the swivel mech



Bottom of the propeller base with built in swivel on top, The lettering on the base with the broken swivel is much softer - Maybe coated over too many times.


Comparison of two bases from bottom

 

[sapper36]

So where I can use a bit of help...

The set of 4 Screws & bolts in the first pic hold the seat to the upper part of the base - I'm having a hard time replacing those since they are missing on my beater chairs.

Anybody got an idea for replacing that cast aluminum swivel mech? I'm assuming getting somebody to cast in aluminum is going to be stupidly expensive, I was considering getting a functional disk & tubes welded from steel maybe...

Return Spring, sleeve bearing, washer bearings & self tapping screws I'm not too worried about, found some close enough parts.

The foot pads on the ends of the legs appear to be a molded plastic or rubber - Think I'll carefully pry one out, remaster it to restore thickness & cast them from a stiff polyurethane. Think I can sell some to other restorers?

 

[Treadwell]

I can't think of anyone who would know better than Ralph!

 

[sapper36]

So managed to find the disc bearings & a bunch of the other hardware - By Buddy welded the broken swivel mech back together (Didn't know you could weld cast aluminum?) Still need to replace one of the swivel mech & one of the spring/bearing mechs - Here is a pick of the spring & the bearing.

The Spring fits in the tube & then slides into an off center hole in the Swivel Mechanism. The bearing sits in a little cup that fits at the top of the tube & the spring then pushes the bearing against the tilted under surface of the upper chair base. This cause the chair to spin back to center.

Any suggestions for terms to search for on this little bearing cup?

 

[sapper36]

BTW - Got my broken swivel mechanism welded together, but it's not as smooth as the unbroken ones.

 

[Havely]

Hi there,

I am looking for a few of those plastic glides that go on the bottom of the Burke chairs that you restored. Did you end up making any, and if so, could I buy some from you?

Best,
Havely

 

[Burke115]

- - - Updated - - -

Here's my question,
Do I remove what appears to be a 'C' clamp from the top of the Mechanism in order to remove it from the base?
What about the nut at the bottom?
Once apart, how do you recommend cleaning ?

Thanks

 

[Burke115]

Also, did you ever find a solution for the feet of the chairs and suitable replacements for the screws and T-nuts?
I'm also finding it impossible to find those star washers that are concaved rather than flat?