Ladder back hardware

[johnjen50]

Hey gents, I’ve always loved the mahogany or teak ladder back helm chairs you see on sportfishers and have a fair degree of competence working with wood so would like to try crafting a few for my bridge. The one thing I can’t seem to find is the hardware attaching the ladder back to the seat. You know, those beautiful polished stainless “L” brackets. Anyone know where I can find a company that sells this type of hardware? Thanks!

[lake of the woods]

Hi John,

I am in the process of finishing my ladder back mahogany helm chair and can offer a bit of advice. I will post photo's shortly of my work.

First I found a used old fighting chair that I purchased from "The Sailorman" in Fort Lauderdale for $250. It was a bargain as they were wanting $450. It was in rough shape. After removing the vinyl from the armrests and taking off the aluminum hinges I used a heat gun and stripped off all the old varnish and sanded it down to bare wood. The hinges were in rough shape from years of salt exposure and had to be replaced. I went to see the people at "Bluewater Chairs" in Fort Lauderdale and was fortunate in that they sold me a set of used chromed bronze hinges for $250. New stainless hinges cost around $500 a set (if they will sell them to you). The used hinges were in very good shape and I only had to clean them up and polish them. I was going to have them re-plated but it would have been cost prohibitive. The hinges were not an exact fit so I used a dremel and a sander to shape the seat to the form of the hinges. I then drilled out any old holes in the seat and back and filled them with wood dowels, sanded it down and then preped the wood for 3 coats of west marine epoxy, sanding between each coat. This sealed the wood from water intrusion. I then put on 6 coats of Epifanes varnish, sanding with fine sand paper between each coat. (cost of sand paper, epoxy, and varnish was approximately $100). I purchased new 316 stainless steel screws for the hinges and drilled new holes and assembled them. I am now in the process of getting new seat and back vinyl cushions made as well as new arm rests upholstered. I am not sure of the cost yet but expect it will be around $400).

I am using my existing helm seat pedestal and chair mounting hardware as it is in excellent shape and heavey enough to manage the additional weight (the new seat will weigh about 75 pounds compared to around 25 pounds for the old seat.

So when all is said and done I will be into this for about $1000. I think even if you build a chair yourself and you have to buy the wood that is what it will cost you.

So far (without the cushions and armrest) I am very please with the outcome and a little surprised by the cost. I though it could be done for less but I did not have the supplies that I needed hanging around.

I will send a few photos later today. I would suggest that if you are in South Florida that you drop by "Bluewater Chairs" their product is absolutely stunning (at about $7,000 per chair).

Mark
Lake of the Woods
1989 40 DC

[johnjen50]

Thanks Mark, yes I will check them out. I already have some beautiful mahogany that I can mill, but you’re right, nice wood costs! I’ve tried looking around up here, RI, to buy an old ladder back just for those brackets but no luck. My aim is to make one like the beauties at Release Marine. If I can’t find any I may talk to a metal fabricator and have one made to spec. Love to see your pix!

[lake of the woods]

Hi John,

I am having problems trying to upload photo's to the Sam's website. I will keep trying. It's more a result of my lack of knowledge on how to do it.

I would suggest that you get the hinge hardware before you start anything else. I looked for hinge hardware in the South Florida area for months without any luck. I contacted marine specialty welders and boat chair manufacturers without much luck. The hinges are really heavy and very thick. They seem to weigh about 15 pounds a set. I tried to find out where companies like Bluewater Chairs get their hinges from but had no luck. Ultimately I prevailed on them to sell me a used hinge set they had hanging around. They were very nice to me but I don't think they want to do that. To have a welder make them you will need a set for him to copy off of. Once made you will have to have it plated. All of this will cost $$$$ and that is just for the hinges. The best solution is to continue to look for an old chair or an old set of hinges online and hope something comes up. Just keep looking and asking. Call Sailorman and Bluewater Chairs (or some of the other ladder-back chair makers) and ask if they can look for a set of used hinges (in good shape) for you.

My chair is currently at the upholsters right now but when it is finished I will contact you and maybe we can skype / messenger / or face time and I can show you how it turned out and what it finally cost me.

Cheers,
Mark
Lake of the Woods
1989 40 DC

[johnjen50]

Mark, yes I would love to FaceTime or Skype and see how yours came out. You’re right, the hinges come first. Everything’s built around them. Thanks for the blue water tip off! Those are beautiful. They remind me of the Release Marine chairs. I’m going to keep hunting for those hinges or brackets. Actually, do you know the correct name for those pieces? I’d like to get a set of the nice thick ones. Thanks for the info, and think warm, summer for us up here is right around the corner!!

[Cricket]

There's 2 painted ladder backs for sale on ebay, no hardware for $200 each. Would be a good start for a build.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LADDER-BACK...gAAOSwto5cu3Hn

The hardware and basically throw away chairs do pop up on Ebay and also in the "marine "junk" stores from time to time.
Just remember there are aluminum, bronze/brass chrome plated, and also stainless parts out there, and each chair company uses/used different although similar designs both on the chair side and also the "claw" for the backrest.
Back in the mid 80's I walked into Rybovich's store in WPB and bought 2 sets of backrest hardware right off the shelf to build my pair of chairs.
The chair builders now guard their parts very closely.

If you're going to have hardware built at a machine shop you might want to take a look at how some of the chairs are now built that do not have a removable backrest. The "claw" has been replaced with what must be a bolt which would be much easier to make.

https://www.releasemarine.com/helm-chairs-1

[johnjen50]

Cricket, funny I was just looking at the Release Marine chairs this morning and thought the same thing.......easier to build. I do really like the look of highly polished stainless brackets connecting the seat to the back though. Sharp. I’ve also started thinking if I can’t find any brackets I could make an “L” bracket from mahogany and notch it into the seat. With a couple of nice polished stainless bowls that might look good too. Thanks.

[Cricket]

Perko used to make a lot of the chrome brass parts for the chair builders, the aluminum parts came from Springfield Marine in MO, their foundry burned to the ground and all of the forms for the castings were lost.
Think most of the parts are probably coming in from the Chicoms at this point.

Look at Nautical Design, they have some chairs using a stainless "L" bracket for the backrest.

[lake of the woods]

Hi John,

I would suggest that you avoid the aluminum hinges unless they are in excellent shape and you cruise in fresh water. The aluminum hinges that came with my chair were junk because of salt corrosion. Just keep looking and ask chair builders (nothing ventured nothing gained).

Mark
Lake of the Woods
1989 40 DC Hull #377

[Cricket]

There's a pair of ladder back helm chairs for sale on facebook.
Looks like they were made by International, which I think is now Pompanette.
Painted not teak, $2800 ask for the pair. Located in Hampton, VA.
Good reference point at the least.

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/li...are_attachment