Showing posts with label Takara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Takara. Show all posts

Thursday, 6 June 2013

Takara Barber Chair Restored - Part 2

Part 2 on the restoration of mechanical barber chair. As I understand it, the Takara barber chair was made before the 1940s according to the barber who gave them to me. Of course he bought it second hand. I have been going to this barber ever since I started paying for my own haircut.

And the first cut of the final product...
 photo 08BarberChairAtHomeWeb01.jpg

So I put the barber chair in my living room and got a earful from my wife… She said it is so old looking, blah, blah, blah… So I did the unthinkable. I took apart the chair again and decided to look for a company to clean and chrome all the metal parts. Even after the first round of restoration, you would not believe the amount of hair still found on the chair!
 photo 09BarberChairAtHomeWeb02.jpg

Found one in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park willing to take it on. Took a lot of persuading before they agreed to do it for me. But only for one chair and that took another 3-4 months. Take apart the chair myself was an interesting exercise. And the toughest part was putting it back together… another round of headache but well worth it!
 photo 11BarberChairFinalProductWeb01.jpg

And now, the final product... Finally!
 photo 12BarberChairFinalProductWeb02.jpg
 photo 13BarberChairFinalProductWeb03.jpg

Took me about one whole year from start to finish to have it fully restored. Satisfaction!

Friday, 31 May 2013

Takara Barber Chair Restored - Part 1

The barber chair… they don’t make them like they used to. Mechanical hydraulics with no electronic components, these chairs can last forever. I was lucky enough to inherit 4 of such chairs after the Chinese barber decided to retire. So I decided to have them refurbished.


Takara Original Condition photo 01BarberChairOriginalConditionWeb.jpg

So started the journey to find a carpentry company who was willing to take on this project. Never knew it was so difficult to find someone who wants to refurbish barber chairs but finally found one in Woodlands.
Takara Original Condition at Factory photo 02BarberChairOriginalConditionatFactoryWeb.jpg

Although it seems like a simple task, it is very labour intensive. Firstly, they needed to take the chair apart, clean and remove all the hair, take apart the cushion etc.
Removing the Old photo 04BarberChairRestorationRemovingTheOldWeb.jpg

The frame was a sight to behold.
Takara Barber Chair Frame photo 03BarberChairFrameWeb.jpg

And I never bothered to know what was inside a seat on the barber chair – actually cushion with coconut husks.
Old Cushion Stripped photo 05BarberChairOldCushionsStrippedWeb.jpg

Then we had to choose the colour of the leather and the type of cushioning we wanted. Three had the maroon colour…
Cushion Maroon Colour photo 06BarberChairNewCushionsMaroonWeb.jpg

while one opted for the beige leather...
Cushion Beige Colour photo 07BarberChairNewCushionsBeigeWeb.jpg

Wait for the final product... coming up - Part 2