For literally millions of years our fore-bearers have been mastering the arts of crafting & wielding hand tools for the betterment of our lives. In a matter or the last century give-or-take, but regardless a mere 0.01% of that time, they have motorised, precision-ised & power-ised to what is today’s modern manufacturing society.

Although I am absolutely a staple-gun queen (it’s difficult to commercialise in this industry with-out), I spend a disproportionate amount of tool-time with my friends below.

My socials I must admit aren’t generally outright educational, in fact I’ve generally avoided online education, simply because I love being face-to-face with my students, and prefer to teach through touch just as much as words, feeling the tension & sound of the webbing & the plump of the stuffing.

But, never-say-never, so I figured I’d take a moment to give a run down of my tools of the trade. I guess a bit of a why & when I use them. We use all of these across our Upholstery Courses.

The Osborne Tackclaw (OSB 146) is a must-have tool for working with older traditional chairs that were built prior to the staples becoming the go-to. Whilst stripping the chair, simply wedge the claw under the tack, then lever. For any stubborn tack, the side of a hammer can be used for some extra grunt by tapping on the handle of the tack claw.

Likewise when stripping modern (or reupholstered) chairs, the Osborne Staple Remove (OSB 120.5) is the go-to tool to, you guessed it, removing or lifting staples. Much like the tack claw, wedge the prong under the staple (with the help of your hammer if need be) and leverage a gap with the angled head. Usually I would use end cutting nippers (or alternately pliers) to lever out the staples to help protect the wood.

This beauty is an extension of my arm. An Osborne Magnetic Hammer (OSB 222) should be in everyone’s upholstery tool kit. Forged steel with a magnetic polished split head, and lacquered hickory handle. The magnetic end picks up the blue cut tacks keeping your hands free (and bruise free), a quick tap to get the tack in place, turn the handle & tap the tack into the wood. So cathartic.

The Osborne Webbing Stretcher (OSB 255) comes in a variety of designs, and as you could expect is for stretching the webbing onto the chair frame. On one end, the rubber keeps any show-wood safe, and the six sharpened steel pins take hold of the webbing to get the right level of taut to ensure your chair won’t sag over the decades.

The Osborne Bent Packing Needle (OSB 508) is used to help tie the springs to the webbing as well as for the loose bridle stitch or loops to tie the hessian to the springs. Although curved needles can also be used, my preference is with this needle.

This set of Osborne curved needles (OSB K-3) includes four round point needles from 3 to 6 inch. These needles can be used for traditional stitched edges, or the smaller needles for slip stitching or blind stitching.

The Osborne Double Round Point needle (OSB 555). My go to for deep buttoning jobs and the deep blind stitching for stitched edged seats. We have both in 10” length and 12” length.

This Osborne Regulator (OSB 520) is used to regulate the stuffing for traditional upholstery. You use it like a rowing oar, to move the coconut fibre or horse hair underneath the hessian. The 10” steel regulator is super-strong & I find the plastic end useful with my upholstery pleats.

These Osborne 3” Upholstery Skewers (OSB 190) are used for traditional upholstery to help fix the top to bottom hessian when creating a stitched edge for your upholstery. These skewers are stronger and longer than regular sewing pins

And finally, where would I be with-out these Osborne 2 1/8 inch pins (OSB 193). These nickel plated 16 gauge pins keep my fabrics & hessian in place to help get that perfect finish.

Hit up our Upholstery Supplies page to find out more on our range of Upholstery Tools, or our Upholstery Tool Kits of course join one of our hands-on upholstery courses to learn how to wield them like a pro.

Tools of the Trade

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