These beautiful chairs were designed by Arne Vodder in 1956 in Denmark, and were made by France & Daverkosen. Vodder is counted among the most influential Scandinavian mid-century designers.
France & Daverkosen, later known as France & Son, was one of Denmark´s greatest makers of furniture, cooperating with several of the big names from the era. The company was sold to Poul Cadovious in 1964 and existed under the name CADO.
These chairs are made with teak wood, cane backs, and leather seats. The caned back is fitted to the chair with brass hardware.
On the chairs that we obtained, the brass end nuts were either badly stripped or missing, and the caning on the chair backs were not serviceable. It’s hard to say which job was more tedious, recaning the back, or machining the brass end nuts. I’m focusing only on the brass end nut and brass sleeve here. In any case, the end result turned out very nicely.
As whenever possible, the dimensions and details were taken of an original end nut and a shop drawing created. After obtaining a brass rod close to the desired end diameter of the nut, the rod was turned on a metal lathe and the proper hole was drilled for threading. As mentioned, several of the nuts and screw portion of the back support hardware were stripped. Where the support screw was stripped, I re-threaded it to a smaller diameter, and then drilled and threaded the nut to the same size. So I wound up with the same dimensions and finish on the outside, but different threading depending on whether the back brass support screw threads were damaged.
I am looking for one of these to repair my Arne Vodder dining chair- is it possible to buy these or would I have to have one made?
Hi Christina, sorry for the delay, several responses got buried unfortunately. I’ve looked through my cabinets and have found an extra brass nut. The problem I’ve seen about 25% of the time is that the threads on the chair back support piece have been stripped over time and the male part needs rethreading and the new nut needs to be threaded to the size of the reworked threads. I can sell you the one I have and you can try it and if it doesn’t fit, return it. If you need a special brass nut made, I can do that but would need the thread size from you. Regards!
I have the same problem! would you make a few brass nuts for my growing Arne Vodder collection?
Thans you, Alissa
Hello, I have an Arne Vodder chair that I love and am hopping it can be fixed. The problem is it is missing the hardware that stabilizes the back. It’s not the swivel hardware that connects to the posts, but the piston and ball portion at the lower part of the back rest. I’ve searched all over and can’t find replacement hardware. Would you be able to recreate something like this? I can send pics. Let me know your thoughts. Please email me direct if this is something you can do.
Graham
Hi Graham. I have the same issue with the need for replacement “ball & piston”, three
screw back back rest holder(s) mounted on the swivel back. I’m OK with the interior post
hold tube ferrels, but need the “ball-piston” piece of hardware. Were you able to locate
any restoration parts dealer who may have this piece for my Vodder chairs #FD183, FD 184 style. Your inquiry/experience is fairly recent. Thank you. Marty Kaye
e-mail: mk55238@gmail.com